Partnerships Officer

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.

Jerusalem Office – UNOPS Project Management and Infrastructure Centre of Excellence

Since the opening of the Jerusalem Office in 2006, UNOPS has significantly strengthened its operations in Palestine. Our expert knowledge, skills and management systems contribute to the sustainable development of public infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank, including Area C and East Jerusalem.

In recognition of its ability to affect and lead positive change, the Jerusalem Office  has been named the UNOPS Project Management and Infrastructure Centre of Excellence.

The Jerusalem Office is the first UN office to receive the Level 4 P3M3 Maturity Model certification in project management by APMG. This certification demonstrates the well-structured, standardized and defined project management processes and methodologies applied to projects, generating the best results desired by our partners.

This achievement is part of a broader agenda to increase the Office’s impact on development projects, by improving our services and adding value to the outcomes of our partners’ works. The office has benchmarked its capabilities against international industry level standards and through this has achieved several prestigious certifications, including ISO 9001 (Quality Management), ISO 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety), ISO 14001 (Environment Management) and Level 4 P3M3.

Under the oversight of the Director of the UNOPS Jerusalem Operations Center and direct supervision of the Partnerships Advisor the incumbent will be responsible for the following:

1. Partnership and programme development planning

-       Contribute to the development of partnership and programme development plan in line with UNOPS Strategic Plan and Regional Strategies including country context and analysis of development and humanitarian landscape.

-       Coordinate and collaborate with relevant Partnerships personnel at local, liaison and HQ level as well as Project Managers and project personnel of the country office.
2. Develop opportunities

-     Monitor and evaluate humanitarian and development trends and needs to identify areas of collaboration within UNOPS mandate and existing capacity.

-     Research events, publications and announcements, to track and screen opportunities for possible UNOPS interventions and identify trends that will drive partnership opportunities

-     Contribute to the identification, design, formulation and negotiation of new projects and programs

-     Coordinate proposal development process including the drafting of concept notes and project document briefs for discussion with partners.

-     Coordinate technical and financial requirements, and negotiate proposals to close new project opportunities.

-     In liaison with HQ, draft agreements and/or contractual documents required for the signature and implementation of new projects.
3. Representation and interagency partnership

-       Establish partnerships with UN agencies, international organizations, governments, foundations, international NGOs and private sector organizations to diversify project opportunities.

-       Participate in and report on the relevant inter-agency, donor and government coordination meetings including addressing project development issues in consultation with UNOPS project managers and technical experts when required.

4.  Knowledge management and innovation

-       Contribute to the ongoing research, development and implementation of best practice and innovative approaches to maximise performance and sustain achievements in project and partnership development.

-       Contribute to the dissemination and sharing of best practices and lessons learned for planning and knowledge building within project and partnership development.

-       Provide regular feedback on existing systems, tools and resources to ensure its relevance to day-to-day operations.

The effective and successful achievement of results by the Partnerships Officer impacts on the performance of the Jerusalem Operations Center by maintaining a robust and diverse pipeline of project opportunities under the direct supervision of the Partnerships Advisor, which leads to sustainable growth of UNOPS and strengthens the achievements of UNOPS management results and the fulfilment of its mandate.

• Communication: Strong interpersonal and communication skills (spoken/written), including the ability to listen to and incorporate the views of stakeholders; Ability to communicate clearly and effectively (both verbally and in written); ability to tailor language, tone, style and format to match the audience.

• Teamwork:  Proven ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries; ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
• Client orientation: Ability to identify clients’ needs and suggest appropriate solutions; ability to establish and maintain productive partnerships with clients.
• Planning and Organizing: Ability to develop clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; ability to foresee risks and allow for contingencies when planning; and, ability to identify priority activities and adjust them as required.

• Advanced university degree (Master degree or equivalent) in Business Administration, political science, international relations or related fields. A first level university degree with a relevant combination of academic qualifications and experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

• Minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience project development, research and report writing, strategic planning including experience at the international level, and facilitating partnerships.
• Good knowledge of the situation and challenges in the Middle East is an asset. 
• Prior working experience in the region is an advantage.
• Experience with inter-agency and governmental planning processes is desirable.
• Prior experience working with bilateral and multilateral donors is required.
• Computer literate, in particular MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint is required.
• Experience in the UN system is an asset.

• Fluency in written and spoken English. 

• 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.