Natonal Project Support Officer

• Support the Project Manager in ensuring UNOPS Policies and Procedures, Financial Rules and Regulations (FRR) are adhered to for efficient project implementation and progress;
• Monitor project financials and advise the Project Manager accordingly;
• Track expenditure and take relevant action when required to revise budgets (realignment and amendment);
• Monitor and record best practices and innovative approaches within UNOPS FRR; identify and show alternative options according to Activity needs;
• Managing information flows and overseeing change controls, risk registers and issue management; document and feedback lessons learned and best practices
• Supporting the project planning process;
• Maintenance of all supporting project financial documents for audit and review processes;
• Management of work packages within the project as and when required;   
• Assist the Project manager in monitoring of the project quality indicators and undertaking monthly assurance tasks on behalf of the Project Manager
• Supervise Project Assistant(s) within the Team, to ensure work efficiency and quality at all times.

2. Financial and procurement management:

• Maintain all supporting project financial documents for audit and review processes.
• Ensure accurate data entry into UNOPS ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system.
• Monitor project budget and financial expenditure and all administrative procedures in line with the work-plan.
• Prepare the project’s operational and financial completion requirements – e.g. financial and narrative completion reports, settlement of any pending contractual and financial obligations/commitments, full receipt of donor/client contributions, assets disposition, personnel separation, among others.
• Process direct payments and advance requests and prepare project budget revisions.
• Produce financial reports; including developing financial monitoring and reporting formats as per UNOPS requirements.
• Support the Project Manager by monitoring budgets, cash flow and reporting on expense obligations to ensure that deliverables are met.
• Alert the Project Manager or any financial shortfalls and over-expenditures.
• Propose budget revision and initiate corrective action when necessary.
• Coordinate vendor communications, meetings, and reports as necessary 

3. Project monitoring and reporting:

• Provide substantive inputs to assist the Project Manager in the preparation of project reports and documents.
• Maintain records of project files and other supporting documents.
• Maintain the following records: Quality Register, Configuration Item Records and all other registers/logs delegated by the Project Manager.
• Support the Project Manager in maintaining the following:

    i. Project Document Archive

   ii. Procurement, HR and Finance files as required by OI.LG.2018.03

• Manage the compilation, consolidation and analysis of relevant data of the mission.
• Assist the Project Manager in the preparation of project completion reports and ensure compliance with contractual obligations.

4. Coordination and Liaison:
• Contract management of all contracts (Procurement, HR, Service Contracts etc) under the Project
• Proactively coordinate/liaise with support units on all administrative matters related to contract management
• Liaise with UNOPS support service offices for project-related administrative and operational matters such as payments, contract management, recruitment of personnel, procurement of goods and services and assets management.
• Liaise with the Programme Management Office (PMO) Team Members to complete project assurance related tasks.

5. Knowledge management and innovation:
• Support the compilation of lessons learned as per defined reporting format.
• Contribute to the dissemination and sharing of best practices and lessons learned for planning and knowledge building.
• Contribute to expertise in tools and techniques.
• Collect feedback, ideas, and internal knowledge about processes and best practices and utilize productively. 

6. Operational and Logistic Support:
• Support development and maintenance of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) based management information systems to  ensure real time tracking and asset management under the project activities.
• Liaise with the Finance Unit to process and monitor all payment requests within the Project
• Assist the Project Manager in monitoring all HR requirements and related activities under the Project.
• Preparation of Terms of Reference (ToR) for required inputs in the projects (staff, individual and institutional consultancy services, procurement of goods and services, organization of training, seminars, etc.), with expert and/or client support as required.
• Providing induction briefings to newly recruited staff and render support to consultants in the course of their assignment.
• Supervise and review submissions for Contracts, Purchase orders, Waivers and related documents prior to final approval.
• In accordance with UN and UNOPS Security Policies, manage travel for all personnel in the Project Team
• Organize all project and stakeholder meetings as and when necessary, and maintain records of these meetings.
• Maintain records of project files and Activity reports in hard and soft copy.
• Prepare budget forecast and periodic financial reports as requested.
• Review weekly Activity reports and quarterly financial reports with respect to outputs based on work plans and budget forecasts.
• Liaise with finance and logistics/procurement units in tracking commitments and disbursements.
• Identify operational, administrative, financial and other bottlenecks that may impede project delivery; recommend solutions and take appropriate remedial action.
• On behalf of the Project and as directed by the Project Manager, participate in periodic visits to the project sites within Sierra Leone to review compliance with recognized procedures.
• Establish and monitor an internal control system for all administrative actions
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Project Manager.

Impact of Results 
The Project Support Officer directly impacts on achievement of project results by assisting the Project Manager to adhere to project management methods and strategies, reduced risks, cut costs and improved success rates.  This consequently reinforces the visibility and image of UNOPS as an effective service provider in project services and management and strengthens its competitive position as a partner of choice in sustainable development and project services.

• This is a local position, therefore only Nationals of the duty station or applicants who are legally entitled to be employed in the duty station will be considered.
• 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.
• Freetown is a Family Duty Station.
• 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.