Project Analyst - IIWM Project [Open to Tier 1 & 2 applicants]

Tiered Approach

In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:

• Tier 0: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
• Tier 1: Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
• Tier 2: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
• Tier 3 or no tier indicated: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates

Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.

Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Uganda in close collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE), the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ministry of Local Government (MoLG), the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), and Masaka City Council (MCC) is implementing the Improved Integrated Waste Management Project (IIWMP). Funded by the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE), the project responds to Uganda’s urgent waste management challenges, which are characterized by low collection rates widespread open dumping and burning, and unsafe handling of Health Care Waste (HCW). These practices contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, environmental pollution, and public health risks, and they are exacerbated by rapid urbanization and climate vulnerability.  The long-term goal of the project is to enable Uganda to establish an efficient Municipal solid Waste (MSW) and HCW management system that minimizes greenhouse gas emissions and maximizes resource recovery by reducing waste, promoting recycling and recovery, and adopting alternatives to landfilling to improve the city. 

The project is anchored in Uganda’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, the Green Growth Development Strategy (2017/18–2030/31), and the draft National Waste Management Policy. It also aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3 (health), SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 11 (sustainable cities), SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production), and SDG 13 (climate action). By strengthening the regulatory framework, piloting an integrated waste management system in Masaka City, and preparing a model for national scale‑up, the project aims to transform waste from a liability into a resource. The project is structured around three main outputs/ Work Packages (WP) namely: 

• Work Package 1: Support policy approvals, dissemination, and operationalisation for waste management in Uganda: Strengthening the regulatory and institutional framework for waste management in Uganda through the development, validation, and operationalisation of key policy instruments. This includes national and local strategies, standard operating procedures (SOPs), guidelines, and byelaws, as well as capacity building to support their effective implementation.
• Work Package 2: Improved solid and health waste management practices in Masaka City (pilot project): Design, construction, and operationalisation of integrated waste management systems in Masaka City, covering both solid and healthcare waste streams. This includes feasibility studies, infrastructure development, capacity building, and private sector engagement to demonstrate a functional and scalable circular economy model.
• Work Package 3: Project scale-up: Translating the results and lessons learned from the Masaka pilot into a scalable infrastructure to address the wider needs of the city and supporting the application process to additional funding instruments (e.g., GEF9).
• Work Package 4: Establish a Project Management Unit (PMU) to manage daily operations, planning, budgeting, procurement, and reporting, while supporting the National Project Board. It delivers a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) system, including digital monitoring and MRV, to track results. Moreover, it implements a communication strategy and supports donor coordination and quality assurance.

Given the multi-dimensional nature of the Project, its engagement with numerous national and local stakeholders, and the simultaneous implementation of policy reform, city-level pilot interventions, and preparation for national scale-up, there is a clear need for dedicated project management capacity.  In this context, UNDP is seeking the recruitment of a National Project Analyst who will ensure effective coordination among partners, timely delivery of activities across all work packages, adherence to UNDP and donor requirements, and consistent monitoring of progress and results outlined in the project document.  The National Project Analyst will provide the leadership and operational oversight required to manage risks, ensure quality implementation, and translate the project’s strategic objectives into tangible and sustainable outcomes.

Purpose of the position

Under the overall supervision of the Team Leader, Nature Climate Energy & Resilience Unit (NCER) at the UNDP Uganda Country Office and in close collaboration with designated national counterparts, the National Project Analyst (NPM) is responsible for the day-to-day management and implementation of the Improved Integrated Waste Management Project (IIWMP). The NPM is responsible for adhering to and fulfilling all reporting requirements established with the National Project Board (NPB) and the Donor. 

The NPM ensures the effective, efficient, and timely delivery of project outputs and outcomes in accordance with the approved Project Document, Annual Work Plans, UNDP rules and regulations, and donor requirements. The position provides operational leadership to translate strategic objectives related to policy reform, pilot implementation, and scale-up planning into concrete and sustainable results contributing to national priorities and UNDP programme objectives. Perform any other related duties within the functional scope of the NPM as required to ensure the effective functioning of the Project Management Unit and the Organization. 

Level of responsibility / accountability

The NPM is fully accountable for project implementation and operational performance and exercises delegated authority for project management functions, including:

• Planning, coordinating, and managing the implementation of all project activities across all work packages, ensuring coherence and alignment with approved plans and budgets;
• Managing and supervising the project team, consultants, and service providers, and ensuring effective performance and delivery of assigned outputs;
• Managing and approving project-related transactions and operational decisions in line with UNDP financial, procurement, and administrative procedures;
• Applying Results-Based Management (RBM) principles, including monitoring of performance indicators, preparation of progress reports, and adaptive management of activities;
• Ensuring compliance with UNDP quality standards, risk management requirements, safeguards, and donor reporting obligations;
• Providing substantive and technical inputs to strategic decisions related to integrated waste management, climate mitigation, and sustainability of project results.

Enabling environment

The Project Analyst contributes to the establishment and maintenance of an enabling institutional and partnership environment necessary for effective project delivery and sustainability. The incumbent facilitates coordination and collaboration among government institutions, local authorities, UNDP teams, and development partners, and actively participates in relevant technical working groups, coordination mechanisms, and stakeholder platforms. The NPM promotes knowledge sharing, cross-sectoral cooperation, gender-responsive approaches, and institutional capacity strengthening in support of integrated waste management reforms and climate-resilient development. 

Internal / external focus of the Job

The NPM serves as the primary operational focal point between UNDP, government implementing partners, and the donor. The role will be performed in close coordination with the Project Management Unit (PMU), Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) as the key government counterpart, and other project partners including the Ministry of Health (MoH), National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), Ministry of Local Government (MoLG), and Masaka City Council (MCC). The NPM will be based in Masaka to ensure effective oversight of the pilot implementation, with regular travel to Kampala or elsewhere for coordination meetings. In performing these duties, the NPM will seek strategic guidance from the National Project Board (NPB) and the Project Assurance functions (UNDP Uganda and UNDP Chemical and Waste Hub). The NPM will also work closely with the PISTA programme within the UNDP Rome Centre, which provides strategic, technical, and quality assurance support to ensure alignment with donor requirements and to receive operational and technical guidance. 

Internal focus: The NPM works in close collaboration with UNDP programme, operations, procurement, and finance units to ensure integrated planning, compliance with corporate procedures, efficient use of project resources, and timely and accurate reporting. The incumbent regularly informs UNDP management of implementation progress, risks, challenges, and proposed mitigation measures. 

External focus: The position requires regular engagement with national and local stakeholders, including line ministries, regulatory authorities, Masaka City Council, technical institutions, civil society organizations, and the donor. External interactions occur primarily at senior technical and managerial levels and aim to:

• Coordinate implementation and policy processes
• Facilitate approvals and alignment with national priorities
• Promote stakeholder ownership and sustainability of results
• Support knowledge exchange, visibility, and preparation for project replication and scale-up

Duties and Responsibilities

Specifically, the Project Analyst key roles include: 

Strategic leadership and project management

• Lead the overall implementation, adaptive management, and strategic oversight of the IIWMP, ensuring alignment with the project's Theory of Change, results chain, and approved work plan;
• Supervise and manage the day‑to‑day operations of the Project Management Unit (PMU), including oversight of PMU staff, consultants, and technical specialists engaged to support project implementation;
• Ensure the project's governance structure functions effectively, including organizing regular meetings of the National Project Board (NPB), preparing agendas, and ensuring follow-up on decisions;
• Work closely with the existing National Technical Working Group (TWG) and all relevant stakeholders on waste management to provide timely and high‑quality technical inputs during the planning and implementation of project activities;
• Lead and coordinate the recruitment and contracting processes for all project-related experts, consultants, and service providers, ensuring timely and quality technical inputs. 

Policy and institutional support

• Lead the project's support to national and local institutions in drafting, finalizing and operationalizing key policy instruments;
• Coordinate and facilitate stakeholder consultations, validation workshops and capacity-building sessions for national and local government staff to ensure effective adoption and implementation of new policies, SOPs, guidelines and regulatory instruments;
• Support the establishment and strengthening of institutional cooperation mechanisms to ensure alignment across relevant stakeholders. 

Pilot project implementation

• Oversee the contracting and management of firms/consortia that will conduct the detailed feasibility study (DFS), Detailed Engineering Design (DED), Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), and Gender Analysis and Action Plan and any other project‑related studies or consultancies, coordinating the quality assurance and option appraisal processes as well as the permitting acquisition;
• Oversee the entire procurement cycle for the construction and operationalization of the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and the healthcare waste treatment facility, planning the procurement strategy, preparing and reviewing documentation, managing the solicitation and evaluation processes, ensuring compliance with UNDP rules, coordinating stakeholders, and supervising contract implementation to ensure timely, high‑quality delivery;
• Provide oversight into the construction and commissioning phases, working closely with the construction supervision engineer and Health Safety and Environment (HSE) supervisor to ensure adherence to quality standards, safety requirements, and compliance obligations; 
• Support Masaka City Council in defining the plant's operating model and operator contract and lead efforts to build the capacity of municipal and healthcare staff to ensure effective long-term operation and maintenance (O&M);
• Coordinate the design and implementation of a city-wide circular economy awareness campaign, engaging local partners to promote behaviour change;
• Contribute to the mainstreaming of social and environmental standards and gender equality and social inclusion throughout project interventions. 

Scale-up and sustainability

• Lead the development of comprehensive scale-up plans, drawing on evidence and lessons learned from the Masaka pilot; 
• In coordination with Partners, lead the identification of opportunities for co-financing and resource mobilization from potential financiers to enhance project sustainability and support scale-up. 

Monitoring, reporting, and knowledge management

• Establish and maintain the project's Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) system, ensuring regular collection and analysis of data against the monitoring plan;
• Ensure the development and operation of a digital Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) platform to track waste flows, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and project impact, in line with climate finance requirements, as well as the verification of the project eligibility under waste management carbon methodologies;
• Oversee the preparation and timely submission of all required reports including quarterly and annual progress (technical and financial) reports, in line with project assurance and donor requirements;
• Ensure the preparation and quality of key monitoring and reporting outputs, including risk review reports, MRV reports, commissioning and HSE reports, workshop reports, and back-to-office reports (BTORs);
• Ensure that project accountability mechanisms, including a grievance redress mechanism, Incident reporting mechanism, are fully operational, responsive and effectively implemented;
• Lead the development and implementation of the project's communication and visibility strategy, ensuring that project results, lessons learned, and best practices are effectively disseminated to national and international audiences;
• Identify capacity-building needs and lead the implementation of related activities outlined in the ProDoc, ensuring that training and other relevant capacity-building initiatives are delivered in a consultative manner, involving technical experts and key stakeholders, including government, private sector, NGOs, donors, and academia;
• Ensure documentation and consolidation of lessons learned throughout project implementation, including the preparation of a final lessons learned report and contribution to the end-of-project evaluation. 

Financial management 

• Manage the project budget and ensure that all expenditures align with approved Annual Work Plans (AWPs) and comply with UNDP financial rules and regulations;
• Prepare and monitor project workplans, budgets and procurement plans, ensuring transparent, efficient and compliant procurement processes throughout the project cycle;
• Ensure proper financial closure of the project in line with UNDP requirements;
• Lead the finalization of the Project Document (ProDoc) and its annexes, including incorporating feedback, coordinating the review process, and facilitating formal approval by relevant stakeholders. 

Stakeholder engagement and partnerships

• Cultivate and maintain strong collaborative relationships with all project partners to ensure effective coordination and successful project delivery;
• Ensure meaningful participation and inclusion of women and youth in all project activities, in line with the project's gender and social inclusion objectives.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional arrangement

The National Project Analyst will report to the Team Leader -Nature Climate Energy and Resilience. The organogram is attached in the annex.

Competencies

Core Competencies: 

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline 
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements 
• Learn Continuously:  LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible 
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident 
• Engage and Partner:  LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination 

Cross Functional & Technical Competencies:

Business Management

• Working with Evidence and Data              
  • Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making 
• Digital Awareness and Literacy   
  • Ability to monitor new and emerging technologies, as well as understand their usage, potential, limitations, impact, and added value. Ability to rapidly and readily adopt and use new technologies in professional activities, and to empower others to use them as needed. Knowledge of the usage of digital technologies and emerging trends.
• Customer Satisfaction/Client Management  
  • Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs. Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients’ immediate requests. Ability to anticipate client’s upcoming needs and concerns. 
• Communication   
  • Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience. Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media, and other appropriate channels. 
• Monitoring & Evaluation  
  • Ability to systematically monitor results of strategies, programmes, and activities with a view to make sure that they are being implemented effectively; Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback and reporting on the consistency or discrepancy between planned activities and programme management and results.
  • Ability to make independent judgment of the management and results of strategies, programmes and activities based on set criteria and benchmark, keeping in mind the needs and concerns of client, current and upcoming.
  • Knowledge and understanding of monitoring and evaluation frameworks, concepts, methodologies, systems, processes, and tools. Ability to make an independent judgement based on set criteria and benchmarks. Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns

Finance: 

• Budget management          
  • Ability to support budgetary aspects of work planning process, drawing and management of team budgets 

2030 Agenda: Planet 

• Nature: 
  • Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Civil Engineering, Building/Construction Engineering, Environmental Management/Engineering, Sustainability, or related field is required, or   
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.  

Experience:

• Applicants with Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field of study are not required to have professional work experience. Applicants with a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) are required to have a minimum of two (2) years of relevant professional experience at the national or international level in programme/project management, including implementation and coordination. 

Desired Skills

• Demonstrated experience in feasibility, Detailed Engineering Design and Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for large infrastructure development projects and at least one (1) for waste management infrastructure;
• Demonstrated experience in waste management solutions, waste to energy, promotion of circular economy, green economy, environment and climate change, sustainable development, systemic design/portfolio approaches, or innovation is desired skills; 
• Experience in managing projects of similar complexity and nature with international agencies, including demonstrated capacity to actively engage with different stakeholders to achieve the project objective;
• Knowledge of and familiarity with United Nations Development Program (UNDP)/Development sector policies, procurement procedures and operating knowledge;
• Experience in collaborating with international and national experts and institutions;
• Sound understanding of key software packages (MS Office);
• Strong communication skills and ability to engage with different types and levels of stakeholders. Ability to gather data and process information;
• Excellent interpersonal skills to network among the national team and beyond to other national institutions; 
• Problem solving skills/experience. 

Required Languages

• Fluent in English Language.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination. 

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles. 

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Use of AI by candidates

Applicants are invited to read UNDP’s guidance for candidates on using AI responsibly in UNDP recruitment and selection

Scam alert

UNDP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process. For further information, please see www.undp.org/scam-alert. 

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