Construction Engineer

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education, and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.
To accelerate the progress towards universal basic education in Côte d’Ivoire and in line with the Education sector plan, UNICEF Côte d’Ivoire is supporting the Ministry of education to implement compulsory basic education policy. One of the pillars of that policy is the construction and rehabilitation of schools with the objective of creating a child friendly learning environment and maintaining children in school until they complete their basic education.
To ensure compliance with norms and standards for school building design and construction including those related to gender and the education of children with disability, UNICEF Cote d'Ivoire seeks the support of qualified and motivated young engineers to achieve its objective.
In addition to duty station specific vaccine requirements, appointments are subject to confirmation of fully vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the appointment. It does not apply to UN Volunteers who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their contracts.
UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for UN Volunteers with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process and afterwards in your assignment.

Under the technical supervision of the Construction Specialist P3, the incumbent will be responsible for the development of national standards and innovations in construction techniques (such as Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks CSEB/BTSC, Recycled plastic construction materials, Climate resilient designs, Circular economy approaches) to support achievement of the construction and rehabilitation of school’s facilities including latrines and water points, mobilize local communities, in compliance with project's goals and objectives.
He/she will provide technical expertise in designing, assessing, implementing, and monitoring UNICEF's construction project as well as in development and in the Infrastructure Emergency Response. The incumbent of this new position will complement UNICEF's continued focus on supporting local communities to build their capacity to plan, implement and monitor all construction and strengthen UNICEF positioning, as the lead agency in these interventions, which is partly built/renovate on the construction expertise.
More specifically, He/She will be in charge of the following tasks:

- Ensure the availability of accurate, complete, and up-to-date information required for effective education construction programme and project design, implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation, including gender disaggregation; provide support for sharing the information with relevant partners and draft sound construction programme budgets for review by the supervisor.

- Enhance education construction programme efficiency and effectiveness through implementation and monitoring activities with various implementing partners, including monitoring UNICEF inputs, local conditions and resources, flow of supply and non-supply assistance and education construction programme status. Ensure all technical inputs and cost estimates related to the education construction components are accurate.

- Analyze collected data and information and prepare progress reports including monitoring and reporting indicators by gender; draft changes in education construction programme work plans and assist in identification of required supplies and equipment as well as in the drafting of Country Programme recommendations related to the education programme and other construction programme documentation, assuring accuracy and consistency with established rules, regulations and plans of action, and provide support for consultation with partners as required on planning and implementation of Country Programme activities.

- Ensure the appropriateness of financial, administrative and supply documentation; verify that education construction programme expenditures are within allotments and that data is consistent with the programme information and database. Follow up on queries, including with and by partners, or initiate corrective action on discrepancies. Review and certification of interim payment certificates. Monitoring construction expenditures. Tracking of commitments and project budgets. Verification of supporting documents prior to payment processing.

- Compile data, information and evidence about construction programme implementation training and orientation of technical materials, including the Eco-friendly Construction concept and child friendly school approach, to promote knowledge sharing with donors and media.

- Ensure effective communication and networking is developed and maintained through partnership and collaboration with all stakeholders.

- Collaborate with Operations staff to implement internal controls systems and resolve day-to-day issues or discrepancies in financial or supply management, as part of the usual tendering construction process, providing support for orientation and training of all implementing technical partners on related construction issues, the Eco-friendly Construction concept and UNICEF financial and supply policies and procedures.

- Liaise with the sections of Supply and Logistics, Education, WASH and CSD to ensure technical specifications and contractor's work meet the needs and requirements of beneficiaries, especially regarding child friendly designs. Ensure compliance of all infrastructure projects with UNICEF accessibility standards, Child-Friendly Design principles, environmental sustainability requirements, MOSS/MORSS requirements and relevant DFAM guidance.

- Coordinate with other partners of Ministry of education including responsible of construction projects supported by donors, in central and decentralized level, others UN Agency, and NGOs to ensure compatible and appropriate standards and costs are used in all the UNICEF buildings.

- Preparation of design and technical documents: Draft scope of works based on programme requirements, budgets and site constraints; Review designs, drawings, technical specifications and bills of quantities; Follow up technical approvals and permits with relevant government entities.

- Support to procurement process: Preparation of tender documents; Participation in bidders' conferences; Technical evaluation of bid; Support to CRC submissions and procurement reviews.

- Updating market assessments and shortlists of contractors.

- Work closely with the UNICEF consultant engineers, as well as other partners, to ensure that the programme goals are achieved; Observe and report back to head of section activities under construction projects and to UNICEF management any concerns about the overall construction process.

- Assess the capacity of UNICEFs partners in this project, to identify their strengths and possible weaknesses.

- Assess the capacity of UNICEF's partners and develop recommendations to maximize their strengths; propose solutions to minimize the risks.

- Visiting each active construction site at least once every month should be timed to coincide with significant construction activities, such as pile driving completion, foundation excavation completion, steel fixing and formwork inspection, concrete pouring and formwork striking.

- Contract Management: Support contract amendments; Review and process variations; Assess extension of time requests; Support application of liquidated damages; Assist in contract close-out; Prepare contractor performance evaluations.

- Ensure detailed records are kept of all construction activities, enabling real-time tracking of construction progress