Project Support Officer

UNOPS is Fund Manager for the Livelihoods and Food Security Fund (LIFT), a multi-donor fund established in 2009 to address food insecurity and income poverty in Myanmar.  LIFT has reached more than 9.4 million people, or roughly 26 per cent of Myanmar’s population and is active in almost half the country’s townships. For more details visit http://www.liftfund.org/. 

The purpose of the assignment of Chin Project Support Officer is to support the State Department of Social Welfare (DSW) to implement the Maternal and Child Social Cash Transfer Programme in Chin State (MCCT Chin).  The Project Support Officer will work closely with the Chin team of the State Department of Social Welfare to increase their capacities and directly support them in project cycle management, budget planning and preparation, quarterly work plans preparation and monitoring, coordination with key stakeholders at all levels of state government, monitoring bi-monthly registration and cash disbursement procedures, and preparing regular reports to the head of the DSW implementation team in Nay Pyi Taw.

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Officer (Livelihoods and Food Security), close collaboration with DSW MCCT State Coordinator and the State DSW MCCT team and in accordance with UNOPS policies, procedures and practices, the Project Support Officer will be responsible to provide support to DSW MCCT team in Chin State, including the Hakha DSW MCCT Coordination Unit as appropriate.

The Project Support Officer will focus on five priority action areas: (a) Capacity building of Chin DSW team (b) Quarterly Budgeting and Work Plan Development, (c) Monitoring and processing bi-monthly registration and cash distribution procedures, (d) Reporting, and (e) Stakeholder Coordination

For all the functions below, the Officer will work in an advisory role to DSW and in particular the DSW MCCT State Coordinator. He/she will contribute and support proactively the team members, in order to develop progressively the capacity and autonomy of the DSW team in the management of projects.

• Organize on-the-job and formal trainings as per a capacity need assessment and plan.

b)      Quarterly Budgeting and Work Plan Development

• Prepare quarterly budget and reports to the Budget focal person of DSW MCCT;
• Support State Coordinator in preparing the quarterly work plan;
• Support the State Coordinator in implementing and monitoring the work plan;
• Support the State Coordinator in processing expenses and other claims submitted by the township Case Managers.

c)       Monitoring and processing bi-monthly registration and cash distribution procedures

• The Project Support Officer will be expected to provide support to the State DSW coordinator to monitor and verify bi-monthly registration and cash distribution procedures;
• The Project Support Officer will also be expected to play a supporting role in the implementation of a Management Information System (MIS) as it is eventually rolled out.

d)      Reporting

• Monitor all reporting cycles and ensure that reports are submitted in a timely manner to the appropriate stakeholders;
• Help prepare reports as assigned by the State Programme Coordinator.

e)      Programme Coordination

• Support the State Coordinator in organizing program related meetings and events in Chin State as directed;
• Support the State Coordinator in coordinating with all stakeholders of the program in Chin State. The Project Support officer will be expected to liaise closely with all government stakeholders, especially General Administration Department (GAD) and Department of Health, as well as the UNICEF support officer and the SCI Consortium and qualitative monitoring teams.

Deliverables

Deliverables will be agreed during a two week inception phase at the start of the assignment. 

Education

• Secondary Education is required. A Bachelor's Degree in finance and management or related field in planning would be a strong asset. Other areas of academic training may also be acceptable depending on the quality and extent of work experience.

Work Experience

• Secondary education with a minimum 8 years of relevant project management experience, including project cycle management, budgeting, planning, monitoring and coordination, is required. Or A Bachelor degree with minimum 4 years of similar experience is considered as equivalent.
• Experience in supervising teams and building capacity is required.
• Proven experience in coordinating and working closely with different stakeholders.
• Good knowledge of the government (DSW) internal administrative structure and processes is desirable.
• Experience of working with government systems would be an asset;
• Experience of working and/or cooperating with multiple development partners, including multi-lateral institutions would be an asset;
• Computer literacy in Microsoft packages (MS Word, MS Excel) is required.

Language

• A high level working ability in both written and spoken English and Myanmar is required.
• Knowledge of local language(s) spoken in Chin State would be a distinctive advantage.  

• Professionalism – The incumbent requires the ability to identify and analyse issues and recommend solutions. He/she will have to be able to work systematically, accurately and under pressure.
• Self-reliant – The incumbent will be required to take imitative with a minimum of supervision, including planning, organizing and coordinating multiple stakeholders according to agreed priorities and deadlines.
• Strong interpersonal skills - The Incumbent is expected to  establish and maintain effective working relations with people in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity, and with high level stakeholders. 

• 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.  

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.