Senior Management Team

D2 - Director, Division of Administrative Services (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

Chris Kirkcaldy is the Director, Division of Administrative Services (DAS) at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, the UN Headquarters in Africa.

Reporting directly to the Director-General of UNON, Mr. Kirkcaldy oversees the Division of Administrative Services (DAS) which is responsible for the provision of human, financial, physical and IT services. DAS delivers services to UNEP, UN-Habitat, the Resident Coordination System and other global, regional and local UN system clients, spanning humanitarian, peacekeeping and development programmes. Chris Kirkcaldy provides guidance to UNEP and UN-Habitat management teams and plays a role in the formulation and implementation of UN reforms.

Equipped with over 25 years of experience in the United Nations Secretariat in Nairobi, New York, Geneva and Vienna, Mr. Kirkcaldy has held an array of cross-cutting positions in a number of UN Secretariat entities, specializing in programme administration, budget and financial management.

Chris Kirkcaldy holds a MSc. (Econs) in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA in Politics and Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

D1 - Chief of Staff, Office of the Director-General (Germany)

Mr Obinna Okamgba serves as Chief of Staff in the Office of the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON). He brings nearly two decades of experience across national, regional, and international contexts, including extensive service within the United Nations system in both field missions and Headquarters.

Most recently, Obinna served in Mogadishu as Senior Special Assistant to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia. During a period of mandate transition and heightened political sensitivity, he supported three successive SRSGs and led the SRSG’s Front Office, overseeing the management and coordination of the Office’s work across political, security, humanitarian, and operational pillars, while maintaining close engagement with Member States and the Federal Government of Somalia and supporting the SRSG’s political engagement and good offices. Previously, Obinna served as Special Assistant to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the African Union in Addis Ababa, supporting the SRSG’s engagement with the African Union Commission and its Member States, including in politically sensitive contexts and in support of the United Nations’ good offices, while facilitating coordination across United Nations system actors.

Earlier in his career, Obinna served at United Nations Headquarters in New York, where he worked on political portfolios covering Africa, Europe, NATO, and the Middle East, including providing support to the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara. Obinna began his professional career in diplomacy at the German Permanent Mission to the United Nations. A lawyer by background, he holds LLB and LLM degrees from University College London and was called to the English Bar in 2005. He also holds a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School and is fluent in English and German.

D1 - Chief, United Nations Department of Safety and Security (Jamaica)

Peter Marshall is the Chief, Security and Safety Service at UNON and Principal Security Adviser, Kenya and Eritrea. He has had a long career as a senior leader within the United Nations Security Management System and has extensive experience in leading large and diverse teams, providing security for large facilities and operating in complex and challenging environments.

He has served in several peace keeping/political missions, Iraq, Cambodia, Mozambique, South Africa and Liberia and has been a Chief of Security for some 30 years in Thailand, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and with ICTR, Arusha, Tanzania and most recently in Ukraine as the Principal Security Adviser. Mr. Marshall has received extensive training by the Metropolitan Police as well as the former UNSCOORD as a hostage/crisis negotiator and is a qualified Investigator. He is the recipient of the DSS Bravery and UN Gender Champion awards. He is a national of Jamaica.

D1 - Director, United Nations Information Service (Kenya)

Sandra Macharia has been the Director, UN Information Service (UNIS) in Nairobi, covering Kenya, the Seychelles and Uganda since July 2023. The UNIS is part of a network of UN Information Centres spanning the globe, which are part of the UN Department of Global Communications (DGC).

Ms. Macharia has over 20 years of experience in strategic and crisis communications, as well as policy and programme development. Prior to her current role, she served as Chief of the Africa Section and Editor-in-Chief of Africa Renewal in the United Nations Department of Global Communications. In addition, she previously held several positions with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) including Deputy Communications Director ad interim, Regional Communications Adviser for Africa, Special Assistant to Assistant Secretaries-General, and Communications Officer, serving in different locations including New York, Addis Ababa and Nairobi.

Prior to the United Nations, she worked as a producer, reporter and news anchor for news outlets including Reuters, BBC World Service, Nation TV/Nation Media Group and Kenya Television Network.

D1 - Director, Division of Conference Services (Russia)

Edmond Oganian is the Director of the Division of Conference Services (DCS) at the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), the UN’s African headquarters. In this role, he leads a team responsible for providing comprehensive conference services, including meetings planning and coordination, documentation management, translation, interpretation, editing, and report writing, as well as publishing and other related support services.

With extensive experience in the UN system, Edmond has previously served as Chief of the Russian Translation Unit in DCS and as Acting Chief of the Translation and Editorial Section. He began his career as a Russian translator at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and most recently served as Chief of the Conference and Documentation Services Section at the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok.

He holds a Specialist Diploma in Foreign Languages and Civil Engineering from the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia in Moscow and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the United States International University in Nairobi. Edmond is fluent in English, Russian, and Spanish.

Aitor Magunacelaya Gonzalez

D1 - Chief, Human Resources Services (Spain)

Jack Howard

D1 - Principal Programme Management Officer (United States of America)

Jayni Thankachen

D1 - Chief, Information Communications and Technology Services (India)

Stephen Stannah

D1 - Chief, Integrated Support Services Officer (Ireland)

Vanda Andromeda

D1 - Chief, Budget and Financial Management Service (Indonesia)