Solid Waste Management Specialist

Background information – Cities Alliance

Cities Alliance, which is hosted by UNOPS, is a global partnership for the promotion of cities in poverty reduction and sustainable development. Headquartered in Brussels and supported by a Secretariat, it is a unique partnership with a diverse membership including – global organisations of local authorities, national governments, international non-governmental organisations, foundations, knowledge networks and multilateral organisations – which have come together to strengthen both impacts and coherence in urban development. Cities Alliance is a global leader, with a strong track record in grant making, that supports strategic city planning, slum upgrading strategies and national policies designed to make cities more inclusive and sustainable. Members promote longer-term and integrated work programmes, while actively promoting gender equality throughout all activities

Background information – job specific

Within the scope of the Liberia Country Programme, Cities Alliance is managing two EU-funded projects. Both projects are related to urban development in Greater Monrovia with interventions in the informal areas. Together, they represent USD 7 million. The Country Programme delivers technical assistance around municipal planning, urban policies and strategies, capacity development, community development, municipal services as well as small scale urban infrastructure. The Solid Waste Management Specialist will join a team of international and local specialists.

Cities Alliance is seeking a highly motivated, experienced, and skilled professional to manage the implementation of the EU-funded project that focuses on Waste to Energy options for Primary Waste Collection in Liberia.  The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Specialist will be responsible for a) leading technical advice to planning, implementation and monitoring of Waste to Energy Project; b) coordinating with relevant partners and stakeholders working in municipal/ SWM sector for programmatic alignment;  c) Managing and disseminating knowledge and lessons learned internally and externally; d) coordinating the implementation of the Waste to Energy project with other Liberia Country Programme projects.  

The Solid Waste Management Specialist will be supervised by the Liberia Country Programme Manager and will work in close collaboration with the EU Project manager – Waste Management, and the Cities Alliance Secretariat to ensure successful monitoring, evaluation and learning activities of the Liberia Country Programme.

Background information – European Union

The Member States of the European Union have decided to link together their know-how, resources and destinies. Together, they have built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development whilst maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedoms. The European Union is committed to sharing its achievements and its values with countries and peoples beyond its borders.

The European Union is one of the largest international development cooperation partners of Liberia. This project is funded under the Global Climate Change Alliance+ (GCCA), which was established by the European Union (EU) in 2007 to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with developing countries, in particular least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS). It started its work in just four pilot countries. Today it has a budget of more than €300 million and is one of the most significant climate initiatives in the world. It supports 51 programmes around the world and is active in 38 countries, 8 regions and subregions and at the global level. By fostering effective dialogue and cooperation on climate change, the Alliance helps to ensure that poor developing countries most vulnerable to climate change increase their capacities to adapt to the effects of climate change, in support of the achievement of the Sustainable Developmnt Goals (SDGs). Where this benefits their poverty reduction objectives, the Alliance also helps such countries to participate in the global climate change mitigation effort.

• Conduct research activities to identify and select beneficiaries and of the project;
• Prepare technical documents;
• Participate in procurement processes as a technical resource, including preparation of bidding documents and evaluating technical submissions of bidders;
• Lead the coordination of technical and implementation matters to ensure delivery of outputs as scheduled;
• Visit the implementation sites regularly to monitor and report on the activities;
• Assist the Country Project Manager in the follow-up of technical tasks related to SWM subprojects;
• Monitor and oversee the provision of services by contractors and consultants in coordination with the country team;
• Review progress and financial reports (invoices) submitted by contractors and consultants and recommend to Programme Manager the release of payments;
• Coordinate meetings ensuring necessary integration with other sectors;
• Prepare progress reports/ updates on SWM projects for Cities Alliance management, donor, and/ or other recipients;
• Support the Country Project Manager in embedding sustainability dimensions including social and gender inclusion, environmental and economic aspects into SWM subprojects;

Management of the Waste-to-Energy Project

• Identify risks and propose risk management strategies to ensure smooth implementation of the Energy to Waste Project;
• Monitor and evaluate performance of service providers;
• Draft the Terms of Reference for the procurement of a study of a costed business model and available alternatives on Waste to Energy and its integration into the Primary Waste Collection System;
• Provide oversight to the drafts of the study, ensuring that the study is properly disseminated for inputs from stakeholders in Liberia;
• Draft the Terms of Reference and procure a consultancy firm and/or individual who will design training modules on Waste to Energy for Community Based Enterprises, local and national government officials;
• Oversee the implementation of the aforementioned training modules;
• Prepare Cross-Visits and On-the-job training of representatives of Community Based Enterprises, local and national governments;
• Providing oversight to the implementation of Small Grants and/or loans on Waste to Energy Alternatives in the geographic scope of the project;
• Manage and supervise the realization of agreed project deliverables, taking responsibility for overall progress and use of resources and initiating corrective action/s, where necessary;
• Support the awareness and outreach campaign which will be implemented in coordination with the EU-funded Primary Waste Collection project

Stakeholder Management and Coordination

• Ensure proper engagement with stakeholders (internal and external) for effective planning and implementation of municipal SWM interventions in a coordinated manner;
• Represent Cities Alliance in related sub cluster coordination forums, technical working groups and to liaise with relevant stakeholders for programmatic and technical alignment and coordination;
• Support the Cities Alliance team in Liberia in the preparation of technical communication and/ or documentation on SWM interventions.
• Contribute to the dissemination and sharing of best practices and lessons learned for development planning and knowledge building;
• Coordinate engagement with the Covenant of Mayors Sub-Saharan Africa (COM SSA) and support the Country Programme Manager in triangulating the coordination between COM SSA and the European Union Delegation to Liberia.

Gender Mainstreaming

• Ensure the Waste-to-Energy project pro-actively includes gender considerations and adequately mainstreams them through the implementation of targeted and mainstreaming actions;
• Ensure that the project activities, outputs, and indicators mainstream gender.
• Promotes a gender-responsive institutional environmental of the office in accordance with UN Values.

Perform other related duties as assigned by supervisor.

• Minimum five (5) years of professional work on Solid Waste Management;
• At least 1 year of experience in supporting development programmes in the Global South is required.
• Previous experience on Waste to Energy options for Solid Waste Management is highly desirable;
• Familiarity with the work of the Cities Alliance and other multilateral, bilateral and civil society development partners in urban development is desirable.
• Knowledge of International Frameworks on Climate Change and Resilience as well as their international and national reporting needs will be considered an asset. 

• Ability to work collaboratively and operate effectively across at least three of the following thematic areas: Solid Waste Management, Primary Waste Collection, Integrated Solid Waste Management, Recycling Projects, Waste-to-Energy, the Green Economy, Climate resilient development, gender mainstreaming 
• Ability of promoting constructive dialogue between diverse stakeholders and of communicating clearly and respectfully at the highest levels of government and with civil society required.

• Contract type:  Individual Contractor Agreement
• Contract level: Local Specialist Level 10
• Contract duration: Ongoing ICA – ‘Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.’

• 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.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• 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.  

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 is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.