Senior Operations Officer

The Legal Group (LG) advises UNOPS management, project offices, regional offices and other specialized units within UNOPS on institutional, commercial, and administrative law matters. Legal Advisors at UNOPS provide legal advice in the areas of public international law, dispute resolution, commercial law and administrative law. This legal advice spans various topics, including host-country agreements, privileges and immunities, disputes with external parties, administrative/HR law, partnership agreements, grants, procurement contracts, and the establishment of hosted initiatives, joint programs, and multi-donor trust funds. It also involves working with outside counsel, pro bono law firms, and the UN Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) as needed.

The incumbent is expected to independently manage assigned operational portfolios and workflows, determine priorities, interpret and apply applicable policies and procedures, identify operational risks and recommend appropriate course of action, with a particular focus on the Legal Group’s Dispute Resolution Practice. The role supports improved communication, knowledge management, efficient service delivery and the smooth administration of dispute resolution matters. The Senior Operations Officer contributes to the effective management of this portfolio by ensuring that operational, contractual, financial, procedural and information-management requirements are systematically monitored and addressed. The role provides independent operational analysis and recommendations to support timely decision-making, risk mitigation and effective management of dispute-resolution matters.

The Senior Operations Officer provides specialized operational management and advisory support to the Legal Group, with primary responsibility for the operational management of the Dispute Resolution Practice. The role independently coordinates and oversees complex operational workflows, monitors portfolio performance, identifies and mitigates operational risks, and provides analysis and recommendations to support the strategic decision-making by the General Counsel, Management Specialist, and legal advisors. 

 1. Operational Support and Coordination

• Provide operational and administrative support to the Office of the General Counsel and the Legal Group, with a particular focus on the Legal Group’s Dispute Resolution Practice.

• Oversee the operational administration of contracts, purchase orders, invoices and payments associated with the Dispute Resolution Practice, ensuring compliance with applicable policies, timely processing, accurate records and effective follow-up of outstanding actions. 

• Support procurement processes and long-term agreements for external counsel and other service providers, including supplier registration, procurement records, contract administration and coordination with procurement colleagues.

• Assist with the preparation, formatting, proofreading, organization and filing of legal submissions, correspondence, exhibits, and other case materials, including related filing logistics such as indexing, electronic filing and courier arrangements.

• Manage operational coordination with external counsel, arbitral institutions, tribunals, vendors and other external stakeholders, ensuring timely exchange of administrative, contractual, financial and procedural information and effective follow-up of agreed actions. 

• Serve as the primary operational focal point for assigned external service providers and institutional stakeholders, resolving routine and non-routine operational issues and escalating substantive legal matters to the appropriate legal advisor. 

• Coordinate responses to audit and similar requests, in consultation with the Legal Group’s Dispute Resolution Practice and other units as needed.

• Support the Management Specialist, General Counsel and legal advisors with day-to-day operations and key events.

2. Monitoring and Reporting

• Maintain the operational portfolio-management framework for the Dispute Resolution Practice, including trackers, calendars, dashboards and monitoring tools covering disputes, external counsel, contracts, procurement actions, financial commitments, invoices, deadlines and other critical operational milestones 

• Provide periodic portfolio analysis to identify emerging risks, resource requirements, delays, financial exposure and operational bottlenecks, and recommend corrective actions to management.

• Collect, organize, analyze and summarize operational, qualitative and quantitative data to support portfolio monitoring, budget tracking, planning and decision-making.

• Prepare analytics and reports, updating spreadsheets, dashboards and other tools for the Management Specialist, General Counsel and legal advisors.

• Coordinate inputs for audit responses, budget planning, management updates and corporate reporting exercises.

• Contribute to the identification, assessment and monitoring of operational risks associated with the Dispute Resolution Practice, including risks relating to contractual obligations, procurement, financial commitments, deadlines, records management, external counsel and case administration. 

• Develop and maintain risk-mitigation actions and advise management on emerging risks requiring attention or escalation. 

• Provide regular operational briefings and analytical reports to the Management Specialist, General Counsel and legal advisors on portfolio status, operational risks, financial and contractual matters, deadlines, performance trends and areas requiring management attention. 

• Prepare decision-support analysis and recommendations for management on operational, resource, process and risk-management matters affecting the Dispute Resolution Practice. 

3. Knowledge Management and Knowledge Sharing

• Support the Legal Group through document creation, including Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, Microsoft Office documents, charts, organizational charts, surveys and other knowledge products.

• Set up and manage project-management tools, run regular reports, extract and analyze data to support planning, monitoring and decision-making.

• Maintain and administer case and knowledge-management systems for the Legal Group, with a particular focus on Legal Group’s Dispute Resolution Practice.

• Coordinate the development and ongoing management of the Legal Group's operational knowledge-management framework, ensuring that dispute-resolution information, precedents, lessons learned, guidance, workflows and key operational records are structured, accessible, accurate and appropriately maintained. 

• Analyze information and lessons learned across matters to identify recurring operational issues, trends and opportunities for institutional learning, and translate findings into improved processes, guidance and knowledge products. 

• Assist with testing new applications, implementing technical changes and improving tools used for document management, case management, reporting and collaboration, including Google Workspace tools.

• Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing within the Legal Group and externally, including by analyzing, formalizing and disseminating lessons learned and best practices.

Required:

• A Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Business Administration, Public Administration, Administrative Management, or related fields, is required

Desired:

• A Master’s degree, preferably in the above-mentioned fields or related, will be considered an asset and may substitute for 2 of the required years of experience

Required:

• A minimum of four (4) years of relevant professional experience (or less depending on academic credentials)  in administration, operations, office management, legal administration, procurement support, contract administration, invoice management, project support or related areas

• Experience using Google Workspace, including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Gmail and Google Calendar, as well as Microsoft Office

Desired:

• Experience supporting procurement processes, vendor management, contract administration, purchase orders and invoice/payment processing

• Relevant experience working in an international organization, international company or multicultural setting.

• Experience working with UN organizations and knowledge of UN/UNOPS processes and systems

• Experience with/knowledge of AI tools

• UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• 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. 
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the selection process, which may include various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of a wide range of nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. We strive to sustain and strengthen this diversity, fostering an inclusive working environment where all personnel are treated with respect and have equal access to opportunities.
• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to a fair and transparent selection process and welcome diverse perspectives, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and persons with disabilities.
• We are committed to enabling all candidates to perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require support or reasonable accommodation to complete any assessment, please inform our human resources team upon receiving your invitation.
• UNOPS has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment, and other forms of abusive conduct, including discrimination, abuse of authority, and harassment. To uphold these standards, background checks are conducted for all final candidates to help ensure that individuals with a history of such conduct are not hired. By applying for a position with UNOPS, candidates acknowledge and consent to these verification processes.
  

• 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.