UNOPS in South Asia
UNOPS Operational Hub in Nepal provides technical, operational and administrative support to 5 countries in the South Asia region: Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. UNOPS’ work in this region focuses on the construction and operation of high quality sustainable infrastructure and sustainable procurement, project management, timely provision of services, and the use of most relevant technologies. One of the main focuses on UNOPS work in South Asia is to reduce the vulnerability of population to unsafe infrastructure, maximize the impact of public investments in infrastructure, and improve the effectiveness and financial viability of the public services delivered out of key public infrastructures. Such projects provide social and economic benefits to vulnerable populations across the region, and contribute to poverty eradication. Projects target a range of sectors such as education, health, urban development, environmental services, climate change mitigation, as well as a range of “soft” support in Capacity Building, operations and maintenance of public assets, local governance, etc.
Recently, UNOPS, UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women developed a joint programme in Bangladesh which aims to sustain the resilience of human and economic development in Bangladesh through inclusive, gender responsive disaster management and risk informed environment. This joint programme focuses on developing national capacities in the areas of: risk-informed and render-responsive development planning, capacities to address mega disasters in gender responsive manner, improved capacities of selected public institutions to achieve resilient institutions through risk-informed, gender-responsive infrastructure systems, enhance women’s leadership disaster response and management; and finally, to strengthen community-level preparedness, response and recovery capacities.
Under the Joint Programme, UNOPS in particular is providing technical assistance to Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and other public institutions to achieve resilience outcomes through designing and constructing risk-informed, gender responsive infrastructure systems and lay the foundations for long-term resilience actions in socially inclusive infrastructure systems in Bangladesh. In particular, UNOPS will contribute to the achievement of the overall programme by:
Strengthening LGED asset management system and decision making capacities for determining priorities associated with new development, maintenance and/or retrofitting of existing assets; - Strengthening project evaluation criteria and capacities within LGED and other divisions, improve coordination and reduce duplication;
Creating an applied understanding and capacity to introduce the concept of failure
-Analysis to enhance build-back-better in reconstruction; - Strengthening LGED professional capacities for Junior and mid-level engineers in the areas of design, construction and management/maintenance of resilient infrastructure;
The Senior Project Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the project(s) and provides services to the different donors, partners and beneficiaries. He/she is expected to meet and exceed the organizations performance and delivery goals
The Senior Project Manager is responsible to produce/read the project initiation documents (PID), Legal Agreement and the Technical Assistance Project Proposal (TAPP) and have a thorough understanding of the terms, conditions, and the respective roles and responsibilities of the partners/stakeholders to ensure the project(s) products are capable of meeting the business cases for both UNOPS and the client. Success of the Project(s) and hence Project Manager will be based on the Success Criteria of UNOPS engagements which are linked to the below responsibilities.
Purpose and Scope of Assignment
The Senior Project Manager will be over-all responsible for the management and delivery of the Joint National Resilience Program commitments as contained in the approved work plans and budgets. He/she will be working closely with the government counterpart of the project for the smooth, efficient and effective achievement of the outcomes of the project. He/she will also coordinate and work alongside the other Joint NRP project partners, technical teams and stakeholders.
Stakeholder Management:
● Establish solid working relationship with the project board (Executive, Senior Users and Senior Suppliers), client and key stakeholders
● Manage communications and ensure stakeholders are aware of project activities, progress, exceptions and are in a position to accept handover products
● Advise the client on issues that may impact the achievement of their outcomes (including issues of sustainability and post project requirements such as maintenance)
● Manage the information flows between the Project Board/OC Director and the project(s)
Delivery and performance:
● Develop and maintain project plans
● Implement approved project plans (including the establishment of milestones) within tolerances set by the project board
● Embed sustainability dimensions including social and gender inclusion, environmental and economic aspects into the project life cycle.
● Manage the production of the required products, taking responsibility for overall progress and use of resources and initiating corrective action where necessary
● Liaise with any external suppliers or account managers
● Authorize Work Packages
● Advise the Project Board and OC Manager of any deviations from the plan
● Identify and manage risks so that maximum benefit to client and stakeholders is achieved
● Manage and review product quality and ensure products are accepted
● Monitor and evaluate performance of service providers
● Identify and report potential business opportunities for UNOPS to supervisor
● Identify and report threats to UNOPS internal business case to supervisor
Procedures:
● Follow the Project Management Cycle Instructions and ensure that all organizational policy is complied with (Organizational Directives and Administrative Instructions)
● Prepare/adapt the following plans for approval by the Project Board:
i. Project Initiation Documentation;
ii. Stage/Exception Plans and relevant Product Descriptions
● Prepare the following reports:
i. Highlight Reports
ii. End Stage Reports
iii. Operational Closure Checklist
iv. End Project Report
v. Handover Report
● Maintain the following: i. Electronic Blue File; ii. Procurement, HR and Finance files as required by those practices as per OD12.
● Ensure that all expenditure complies with UNOPS Financial Rules and Regulations (FRR).
● Manage budgets, cash flow and obligations to ensure that deliverable are met and payments to contractors and personnel are received on time.
● Understand and manage UNOPS overheads, allocable charges, and related corporate charges as they apply to the project
● Understand the unique structures of the UN and budget appropriately for personnel
● Manage and remain accountable for expenditure against the budget (based on accurate financial reports)
● Where the Project Manager has no delegation as a committing officer, s/he retains these responsibilities and will monitor and instruct/request others to carry out the relevant commitments and disbursements.
Knowledge Management:
● Participate in the relevant Communities of Practice
● Actively interact with other PMs and the PM community to share case studies, lessons learned and best practice on the Knowledge System.
● Provide feedback to Practice Leads on policy, supporting guidance with an aim towards continuous improvement of UNOPS policies
● Complete lessons learned as per reporting format
● Incorporate lessons learned from others as per planning format
Personnel Management: if applicable
● Lead and motivate the project management team
● Ensure that behavioral expectations of team members are established
● Ensure that performance reviews are conducted
● Identify outstanding staff and bring them to the attention of the OC Director
● Have a thorough understanding of UNOPS personnel contract modalities (including ICA and Staff)
● Select, recruit and train team as required by project plans
● Perform the Team Manager role, unless appointed to another person(s)
● Perform Project Support role, unless appointed to another person or corporate/programme function
● Ensure safety and security for all personnel and comply with UNDSS standards
Core Values and Principles:
● Understand and respect UNOPS sustainability principles
i. Look for ways to embed UNOPS sustainability principles in day to day project management
ii. Seek opportunities to champion gender equality in the workplace
iii. Champion and communicate project’s sustainability and resilience aspects with key stakeholders
● Understand and Respect National ownership and capacity
i. Understand the principles of the Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness and mainstream them into the project plans
ii. Seek opportunities to recruit qualified local staff
iii. Look for ways to build capacity of local counterparts
● Partnerships and Coordination
i. Understand the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) and how the project will support UNOPS role in the implementation of the UNSDCF.
ii. Strive to build strong partnerships and effective coordination among relevant project actors (e.g. United Nations, governments, and non-governmental organizations or other relevant partners)
● Accountability for results and the use of resources
i. The project management processes are designed to deliver maximum accountability, transparency and results. If a project or processes is not in line with this, it is the responsibility of the PM to raise the issue to a supervisor
● Excellence
i. Contribute to innovation and the adaptation of best practice standards of sustainability and quality.
How to apply:
For more information and to apply, please visit below URL;
https://jobs.unops.org/pages/ViewVacancy/VADetails.aspx?id=19766