Capacity Building Senior 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.

UNOPS Pakistan (Project Office) is part of the Bangladesh Multi Country Office in the Asia Region. UNOPS commenced operations in Pakistan in 1999 and significantly up-scaled activities from 2005 onwards to support populations affected by and vulnerable to earthquakes. In 2010, UNOPS opened a permanent office in Islamabad to support the Government of Pakistan and other partners to undertake humanitarian and reconstruction services, following the most devastating flood in the nation’s history.

UNOPS Pakistan has been implementing projects in the areas of early recovery and reconstruction of community infrastructure, project management, monitoring and evaluation, community development, fund management, human resources management, procurement and infrastructure design and implementation.

Supported strategically by a regional operational hub and UNOPS headquarters in Copenhagen and within the overarching framework of the ONE UN Programme, UNOPS Pakistan continues to deliver projects across the country under its core delivery practices of sustainable infrastructure, sustainable procurement, and sustainable project management. 

With a steady growth of the project portfolio in recent years and a new strategic direction, UUNOPS in Pakistan is currently implementing projects in the following thematic areas: Green and Clean energy; Rule of Law; Health Procurement; and HR services.

• Improve quality and reach of water supply services and increase access to community and household sanitation (Infrastructure);
• Provide more effective, gender-responsive and transparent WASH services through enhanced capacity of government and communities (Capacity Building);
• Reduce waterborne diseases and improve resilience of communities through improved community and household hygiene practices (Behavioral Change).

1. Liaison with public and semi-public entities active in the WASH sector; 
2. Analysis of WASH services providers’ service gaps and capacity gaps; 
3. Analysis of WASH services providers’ policies, structures and procedures;
4. Development of service enhancement and capacity building plans;
5. Procurement of third-party capacity building services; 
6. Implementation of capacity building programmes;
7. Monitoring and reporting on project’s capacity building components; 
8. Personnel management

• Under the guidance of the Senior PM/DPM and the WASH Specialist, identify and coordinate contacts at operational level with public and semi-public entities providing water supply, sanitation and solid waste management services (Public Health Engineering Department, Cities Development Authorities, Municipal Water & Sanitation Services, etc.). 

• Conduct in-depth analyses of the service gaps and capacity gaps of various public and semi-public entities providing water supply, sanitation and solid waste management services using observatory and participatory methods (interviews, questionnaires, workshops, etc.), both with staff of those entities (across all levels) and with users of the services they provide. 
• Map existing/potential stakeholders supporting capacity development of those public and semi-public entities and review their activities. 
• Highlight weakness, strengths, threats and opportunities. 
• Draft structured, concise and comprehensive reports on findings. 

• Conduct reviews and analyses of the governance models, funding mechanisms, policies, structures, procedures and culture of various public and semi-public entities providing water supply, sanitation and solid waste management services. Assess the adequacy and effectiveness of those governance models, funding mechanisms, policies, structures, procedures and culture. 
• Conduct reviews and analyses of the degree to which those governance models, funding mechanisms, policies, structures and procedures are actually followed and implemented. Identify possible gaps and their causes. 
• Highlight weakness, strengths, threats and opportunities. 
• Draft structured, concise and comprehensive reports on findings. 

• Research (inter)national best practices and success stories in similar contexts. 
• Under the guidance of the PM/DPM and the WASH Specialist, propose modifications to the governance models, funding mechanisms, policies, structures and procedures of the public and semi-public entities assessed in view of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the services they provide. 
• Propose capacity building programmes to bridge the service gaps and the capacity gaps identified and foster the desired culture, detailing the methodology, timeframe and resources required to implement those programmes.
• Participate in high-level meetings with decision makers  (led by the PM) where proposals for organizational design changes and proposals for capacity building are discussed. 
• Under the guidance of the PM/DPM and the WASH Specialist, develop/review capacity building material (courses, seminars, workshops, etc.), using participative and engaging methods tailored to the target audiences. 
• Develop measurement and evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness of the capacity building activities.

• Participate in the preparation of tender documents for the provision of capacity building services; advising the PM and other team members on the best selection criteria and drafting documents in UNOPS e-sourcing procurement system.
• Participate in the related tender processes (conduct pre-bid meetings, provide clarifications to bidders, participate in bids opening, etc.), always acting in compliance with the provisions of the Procurement Manual.
• Participate in the evaluation of the related bids (conduct detailed and substantiated evaluations, verify and assess the references submitted by the bidders, etc.), always acting in full compliance with the provision of the Procurement Manual.

• Conduct training of trainers courses to prepare the third-party capacity building services providers to deliver the programmes. 
• Organise, schedule and oversee the implementation of the capacity building programmes by the third-party services providers. 
• Whenever required, act as a facilitator/trainer and deliver directly key elements of the capacity building programmes. 

• Monitor the effectiveness of the capacity building activities and suggest adjustments of methodology and capacity building material based on the lessons learned from current practices.
• Conduct pre- and post-programme knowledge assessments to measure effectiveness of capacity building programmes, and knowledge growth of trainees and report the data collected in a dashboard (with ICT support as required). 
• Report timely and accurately on the progress of all the capacity building components of the project, with a focus on impact, quality, risks & issues, and lessons learned. 

• Lead and motivate supervisees (Capacity Building Associate, Project Management Support Associate) and act as a role-model. 
• Ensure that behavioural expectations of supervisees are established. 
• Set performance objectives with supervisees and conduct performance reviews fairly, accurately and timely.
• Guide, mentor and coach supervisees through frequent exchanges, identify and nurture talents. 
• Monitor  safety and security of supervisees (in particular those working in the field) and comply with UNDSS standards at all times.

• Master Degree, preferably in Engineering, Management, Project Management, Human Resources Management, Economics, Law, Political Sciences, Social Sciences or equivalent. 
• Bachelor Degree, preferably in Engineering, Management, Project Management, Human Resources Management, Economics, Law, Political Sciences, Social Sciences or equivalent plus 2 additional years of relevant experience in lieu of a Master Degree.

• Contract type: Individual Contract Agreement Agreement (ICA)
• Contract level: Local ICA Specialist (L-ICA 9)
• Contract duration: Ongoing subject to satisfactory performance, continued relevance of the role to the project and funding availability

• 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.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• 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
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
• 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.

Mobility:
The position will be based in Peshawar with frequent travels to Karachi and occasional travels to Islamabad. Candidate is also expected to travel regularly across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces for extended field trips.

Cover Letter:

Applicants are required to submit a Cover Letter with their applications. Applications without Cover Letter shall be discarded. 

Gender mainstreaming: 

In line with UNOPS’ global gender parity strategy, female candidates are especially encouraged to apply.