The UNOPS Africa Regional Office, based in Nairobi, Kenya, oversees the delivery of over 250 projects across 40 countries, with a focus on fragile and conflict-affected settings. Supported by more than 1,000 personnel across five multi-country offices—spanning North, West, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, and the Horn of Africa—the office advances national priorities through strategic initiatives in Climate Action, Health, Infrastructure, Peace and Security, Middle-Income Country Support, and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The Regional Office provides strategic leadership, operational support, and oversight in key areas including Partnerships, Communications, Management and Oversight, Infrastructure and Project Management, Health and Safety, and Security. By promoting excellence in project delivery, fostering knowledge sharing, and driving continuous improvement, the office contributes to sustainable infrastructure, transparent resource management, and a better quality of life for communities across the continent.

Based in Nairobi, UNOPS East and Southern Africa supports sustainable development across 14 countries, including Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe. Since 1995, UNOPS has expanded its footprint in Kenya, delivering services in project management, infrastructure, procurement, and financial management. Across the region, the office implements diverse, partner-funded initiatives that respond to national priorities. In Mozambique, this includes delivering specialized equipment (EU), supporting health services (UNICEF), promoting agro-processing (KOICA), and advancing peacebuilding efforts through a Multi-Donor Fund. UNOPS also supports agricultural input distribution and the Northern Crisis Recovery Project, both funded by the World Bank. In Malawi, efforts include developing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) centres in partnership with the EU and the British Council. These initiatives reflect UNOPS’ commitment to strengthening national capacities, enhancing service delivery, and supporting progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region.

The Accelerated Partnership for Renewables in Africa (APRA) is an African country-led international partnership that brings together governments and stakeholders working to accelerate the deployment of renewables to enhance energy access, energy security and enable green industrialisation. To accelerate and optimize the implementation of APRA on the ground and enhance its operational and programme management capacities, UNOPS/ESAMCO is hosting the APRA Implementation Office (APRA IO). 

The role focuses on external relations support and coordination, helping to translate APRA’s objectives into concrete collaborative activities and initiatives, while ensuring alignment with guidance from the APRA IO Director and UNOPS policies and procedures. The Programme Management Specialist will:

• Maintain regular liaison and coordination with key stakeholders;

• Help to identify and shape new partnership and collaboration opportunities;

• Support resource mobilisation; and

• Assist with APRA IO’s representation and strategic outreach.

Functions / Key Results Expected 

1. External liaison, stakeholder engagement and day-to-day relationship management

2. Support the development of partnership opportunities

3. Support the resource mobilisation and donor engagement

4. Representation and communication support

5. Reporting, data collection and analysis

6. Knowledge management and innovation

External liaison, stakeholder engagement and day-to-day relationship management

• Maintain regular contact with key APRA stakeholders.

• Support the development and implementation of stakeholder engagement plans, ensuring timely information-sharing.

• Coordinate stakeholder engagement and communication activities (briefing calls, follow-up emails, meetings), ensuring effective preparation and follow-up.

• Ensure stakeholders are kept informed of activities, progress and planned deliverables.

• Maintain updated contact lists, engagement logs and records of meetings to support consistent and coherent external relations.

Development of partnership opportunities

• Monitor and analyse climate, energy, economic and development trends, as well as partner priorities, to help identify potential areas of collaboration.

• Research and systematise information on relevant events, initiatives, funding windows and publications to detect opportunities for engagement.

• Contribute to the preparation of concept notes, briefing materials and talking points to support the Director and team in external outreach.

• Support, as requested, the negotiation and formalisation of new partnerships and programmes.

Support to resource mobilization

• Regular updating of donor and partner mapping, including analysis of priorities, instruments and potential entry points for APRA.

• Support the proposal development process by drafting sections, consolidating technical inputs and ensuring data and figures are up to date.

• Assist in the identification of new project ideas in line with APRA strategy, country priorities and partner interest.

• Support the establishment of contacts with potential partners, including organising and documenting meetings, preparing summaries and agreed follow-up actions for internal use.

Representation and Communication Support

• Contribute to the preparation of materials, presentations and key messages for meetings, forums or events.

• When designated, participate in working groups or coordination meetings, providing agreed technical input and preparing follow-up notes for the APRA IO Director and team.

• Support communication and visibility activities for APRA partnerships.

Reporting, data collection and analysis

• Support the preparation of donor reports, helping to ensure results-based and coherent reporting.

• Prepare inputs for ESAMCO quarterly assurance reporting for APRA IO and other internal reporting requirements, as requested.

• Collect and organise data on APRA IO activities, outputs and partnerships to inform reporting, briefings and presentations.

Knowledge management and innovation

• Contribute to creating a learning environment by sharing lessons learned from stakeholder engagement and partnership processes.

• Actively interact with the wider ESAMCO and UNOPS community, sharing relevant case studies, lessons learned and good practices.

• Stay abreast of latest developments and good practices in stakeholder engagement, partnership development and energy/green industrialisation, and participate in learning activities to advance own proficiency.

• Help ensure relevant lessons learned are captured and shared in a timely manner.

• Provide feedback to corporate and functional practice groups on policies, tools and systems related to partnership and external relations, to support continuous improvement.

Required

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in a related discipline with 7 years of relevant experience OR

• Master's degree (or equivalent) in a related discipline with 5 years of relevant experience is required.

Required

• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience  in institutional coordination, stakeholder engagement, external relations, project management or similar.

• Substantial experience working in multicultural teams in a developing-country context (preferably in Africa).

• Demonstrated experience liaising with government counterparts and/or international partners.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.

Desired

• Experience supporting partnership-building or external relations functions (e.g. donor liaison, coordination with international organisations, foundations or private sector).

• Experience working on energy, climate, environment or development issues in Africa.

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• Please note that UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 
• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities. 
• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda. 
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.