Project Management Support - Senior Associate (Grievance Redress)

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.

Under the direct supervision of the Senior Project Manager, the Grievance Redress Senior Associate provides support to the project team in ensuring that complaints from communities are effectively and efficiently handled, responded to and resolved in a timely manner. The Grievance Redress Senior Associate works closely with the Social Safeguards Senior Associate and the Environmental Safeguards Senior Associate. 

Summary of Key Functions  

• Set up a simple, practical and efficient grievance redressal mechanism (GRM) for the project, as described in the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) and the Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP), that allows for all stakeholders of the Project to register grievances easily and, for the project management and all Facilitating Partners, to respond to them efficiently as well.

• Prepare and set-up grievance uptake channels, as per the ESFM, to facilitate the wide variety of project stakeholders. This includes a toll-free phone line .

• Ensure the set-up, maintenance and regular updating of a GRM related database, that will register all grievances received with details, and produce input/output-based reports on the same.

• Prepare reports on the grievances received and trends to be included in the quarterly progress reports of the project to the World Bank

• Train Facilitating Partners (FP) and UNOPS Community Liaisons Senior Associates to set up and train the designated grievance redressal committees (GRCs) in the rural communities and urban project sites on the project’s agreed GRM at the field level. 

• Work with management to set up and train higher level GRM committees, and ensure that they include women and senior personnel trained in gender-based violence and in sexual harassment and their redressal, and have distinct mechanisms in dealing with the same as per the GRM and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) Action Plan in the ESMF.

• Ensure that protocols are developed and institutionalized to link the GRCs at various levels efficiently.

• Working together with the Communications Officer, provide support in the design of a communication plan for disseminating GRM as a whole, and especially the update and feedback channels to the public.

• Ensure the Monitoring and Reporting Officer and Deputy Project Manager or the environmental and social safeguards team are immediately informed and briefed on grievances that could impact on the overall project, and are supported in taking quick actions on the same.

• Ensure that all grievances that contain severe incidents are reported to the Project Manager and the World Bank within 48 hours, as per the ESMF.

Impact of Results

The effective and successful achievement of results by the Grievance Redress Senior Associate directly impacts on the development and performance of the project. It confirms UNOPS’ role as a key and trusted partner to the World Bank, and UNOPS’ position as a critical service provider, in all challenging work environments. Given the current political and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, this project would support the urgent repositioning of AFCO and strengthen UNOPS presence and visibility in Afghanistan, raising the profile of UNOPS  in the global humanitarian context. 

Monitoring and progress controls will be in accordance with work plans that the Supervisor and incumbent will prepare at the beginning of the assignment.   

Qualifications and Experience

a.  Education

• A first-level university degree (e.g. Bachelor) in management, business administration, development studies or other relevant discipline is required. 

b. Work Experience 

• A minimum of 3 years of experience in designing and managing grievance redressal mechanisms for development projects is required.

• Experience working with the World Bank, UN agencies or other donor agencies, government ministries, and/or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is valued.

c.  Languages

• Fluency in English is required.

• Fluency in Pashto and/or Dari is desirable.

This VA is open only for Afghan nationals under CTG contract modality not UNOPS ICA.

• 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.