Project Associate

Recently, the UNOPS, UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women developed the 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 system 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 over-all 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 infrastructures;

Within this context, UNOPS is a need of Project Associate that will provide support to the project implementation in the areas of liaison, reporting, training and coordination.

The Project Associate will report to the Team Leader. She/he will be expected to conduct regular missions to field to monitor and interact with project stakeholders in the implementation of the project activities. She/he will support the UNOPS Project Team Leader to develop and strengthen coordination, documentation and reporting mechanisms of the project, in order to ensure; i) a timely and consistent reporting on project implementation, both for internal and external purposes; ii) a regular coordination with the key partners especially government counterparts for the smooth implementation of the project; iii) support for the logistics and operation requirements for trainings, workshops and consultations; iv) a creative communication about JP-NRP Project achievements in Bangladesh; and vi) an effective use of financial and human resources from monitoring and reporting purposes.

Specifically:

a)      Provide support to the project implementation planning, reporting and documentation

• Work in close coordination with Joint National Resilience Programme, other UNOPS projects and participate in UNOPS Management/planning exercises as required;
• Support the development and regular review of the monitoring and reporting framework for the National Resilience Programme (UNOPS component)
• Work closely with the Team Leader and Project Team members to implement the monitoring and reporting plan in a standardized and coherent manner
• Support logistical preparations for training events, seminars and workshops
• Drafting of regular project progress reports to UNOPS Management, donor and other recipients for review by the Team Leader;
• Support the planning, reporting, project design and resource mobilization efforts of UN providing technical services;
• Supports the Team Leader and the whole project team to ensure all project administration tasks are completed in accordance with customer and internal processes and governance;
• Support in preparing, holding and documentation of project meetings;
• Liaise with the key project partners and other delegated personnel as maybe requested by Team Leader

b)      Provide support in the administration of project and management of contractors/ consultations

• Draft terms of reference for contractors and consultants and prepare recruitment requests
• Assist with the translation of project documents to and from Bangla and English;
• Support and follow up with processing, administrative, financial and procurement tasks required for project execution in collaboration with UNOPS operations section;
• Monitor the provision of services by contractors and consultants in coordination with relevant partners;
• Receive and check technical outputs sent by contractors/ consultant before handing over to the Team Leader and administrative section for final processing;

c)      Support to the implementation of the Project Communications and Branding Strategy and Plan

• Coordinate with UNOPS communication team for the implementation of the project communication and branding strategy
• Support the Team Leader in coordinating with external project stakeholders by attending meetings, preparing or editing reports, meeting minutes, power point presentations and other documents, as maybe required
• When required, support the Project Team Leader and/or Hub Communications Officer in gathering and assembling information relevant to the National Resilience Programme and the partners
• Draft press releases and technical articles on the NRP project implementation, for both internal and external publications
• Prepare Project communication templates, press releases and presentation materials
• Draft and contribute content for inclusion in UNOPS Hub, Regional and HQ newsletters
• Support the communication activities of LKOH by providing necessary content and material

d)      Support the processes on documenting lessons learning and sharing processes of the National  Resilience Programme

• Support the Project Team Leader in developing the Learning Agenda for the Joint Programme and developing mechanisms for documentation
• Assist the Team Leader in managing the lessons learning, evidence base and sharing processes of NRP
• Document and maintain the lessons log, risks and issues of the Project implementation using the exiting UNOPS templates

e)      Liaise with appropriate LGED and Government of Bangladesh counterparts for the successful              conduct of agreed actions based on the project implementation Plan

• Document the key action points during meetings and interactions among UNOPS, LGED and other project stakeholders
• Coordinate and liaise with appropriate government partners
• Support Team Leader and Project team members to set meetings with government partners and counterparts
• Follow through actions points with different government offices as required and agreed.

Education/Experience

• Secondary education with 6 years of relevant work experience or a Bachelor’s degree with 2 years of relevant work experience is required. A Master’s degree in the relevant field of studies may substitute for some or all of the required work experience.

• Experience in data analysis and report writing, monitoring, reporting, evaluation and communication desired.

• Demonstrated experience in working alongside government partners and stakeholders is required.

• Functional knowledge of M&E frameworks is desired.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English (able to prepare and write complex documents) and proficiency in computer skills especially Microsoft office applications.
• Ability to build strong relationships with internal and external partners.
• Sensitivity to internal and external communication protocols and diplomacy
• Strong organizational and analytical skills.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Openness to change and ability to manage complexities
• Strong initiative 

• Certification in monitoring and reporting desired

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  
• This post is only open for candidates who are nationals of Bangladesh
  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns. Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

UNOPS supports the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to serve people in need by expanding the ability of the United Nations, governments and other partners to manage projects, infrastructure and procurement in a sustainable and efficient manner.

Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, our vision is to advance sustainable implementation practices, always satisfying or surpassing our partners’ expectations.

With over 7,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical and management knowledge they need, wherever they need it.

A flexible structure and global reach means that we can quickly respond to our partners' needs, while offering the benefits of economies of scale.