Project Support Officer

UNOPS in South Asia

UNOPS Operational Hub in Sri Lanka provides human resource, operational, procurement and administrative support to 5 countries in the South Asia region: Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. One of the main focuses on UNOPS work in Bangladesh is to reduce the vulnerability of population to unsafe infrastructure, maximise 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, 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 resilience building.  The joint programme focuses on developing national capacities in the areas of: risk-informed and render-responsive development planning, capacities to sustainability and resilience 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 is providing technical assistance to Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and other public institutions to achieve resilient infrastructure outcomes through designing and constructing risk-informed, gender responsive infrastructure systems that lay the foundations for long-term socially inclusive infrastructure systems. 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;

UNOPS is establishing a project team that will ensure the timely and effective implementation of the planned activities in accordance with the detailed work-plans. In this regard, UNOPS is seeking the services of a Project Support Officer (PSO) who will be responsible for providing operational support to the project implementation throughout the course of the project.

The Project Support Officer will work under the guidance and supervision of the UNOPS Project Manager/Team Leader the UNOPS-NRP Project and report to the same. S/He shall provide support to the delivery of projects budgets in the areas of finance, procurement, and HR.  This is a high-level position within UNOPS Bangladesh Country Office, Project and Hub.

Specifically, the incumbent will be responsible for the following substantive tasks; this list is not representative of all the duties required but indicates typical duties and responsibilities:

Project Support

• Provide support to the Country Operations/CM, HOSS or PM:
• Implementation of activities in accordance with UNOPS rules, regulations, policies and strategies;
• Preparation and maintenance of project files, including internal and external project reports. 
• Manage information flows and oversee change controls, risk registers, and issue register
• management by establishing document control procedures 
• Manage assigned delivery of work packages and take responsibility for progress. 
• Coordinate and liaise with the Project Manager on the implementation progress. 
• Advise the Project Manager of any deviations from the plan and update plans. 
• Work with Project manager to identify and manage risks. 
• Maintain all supporting project documentation (HR, finance and procurement) for audit and review processes.
• Ensure accurate data entry into OneUNOPS ERP
• Monitor project budget, expenditure and other processes in line with the work-plan and standard Hub formats.
• Prepare budget revisions and projections as necessary and may be requested by PM
• Support the PM/ Country Manager or the Hub Head of Support Services (HOSS) in the monitoring of budgets and cash flows utilizing standard UNOPS formats and routines.
• Alert on any financial shortfalls and over-expenditures
• Coordinate vendor communications, meetings, and reports as necessary
• Provide substantive inputs to assist the PM/CM/HOSS in the preparation of project reports and documents
• Support the PM in maintaining the Electronic Blue File (EBF) and other documentation in accordance with Organizational Directive (OD) 12.
• Assist the PM in project completion and closure actions.
• Support the compilation of lessons learned 
• Contribute to the dissemination and sharing of best practices and lessons learned for planning and knowledge building

Key Skills

• Computer literate (MS Excel and Word) and ability to operate existing Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (OneUNOPS) is preferred;
• Understanding of project framework and environment;
• Knowledge of UN core values, rules and regulations an asset is an advantage;
• Excellent English skills, both verbally and in writing, local languages an advantage;
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work in a team to achieve organizational goals;
• Ability to plan and organize tasks effectively;
• Excellent coordination skills.

Education:

• A Master’s Degree in a relevant field (e.g. Business Administration, Logistics, Emergency Management, International Relations).
• A combination of Bachelor’s degree with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of the education requirements outlined above

• A minimum of 2 years relevant and progressive professional experience, specifically in the field of Project Management and Operations Management with focus on monitoring, reporting, development, and coordination.
• Experience in capacity development or development program implementation operating contexts, including coordination mechanisms with government and private sectors, donors, security an asset. 
• Experience and demonstrated knowledge of UN rules and procedures in Procurement, Finance, HR Management and administrative rules and regulations will be an advantage.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and one of the officially recognized native languages of Bangladesh is required

• 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.