Partnerships Associate (re-advertised)

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.

Afghanistan

With more than 20 years of experience in the country, UNOPS Afghanistan focuses on providing maximum support to the Government and people of Afghanistan through delivery of projects and services in line with the government’s national priorities. The UNOPS Afghanistan Country Office (AFCO) serves as an organizational mechanism to deliver a range of projects for which UNOPS has been designated as the implementation agency. At present, UNOPS AFCO is implementing a number of projects in a range of sectors including infrastructure (roads, bridges, justice and security, health, and water supply) development, procurement services, HR services, capacity building, and humanitarian protection, amongst others, on behalf of the Government of Afghanistan, the international donor community, and other UN agencies.

The functional objective of UNOPS AFCO is to contribute to the achievement of the development outcomes sought by the Government of Afghanistan. The aim of UNOPS AFCO is to provide efficient and cost-effective implementation services on behalf of all our partners to support the reconstruction and development of the country. UNOPS AFCO’s mission is to exceed the expectations of all stakeholders in the delivery of AFCO’s services, at all times, in all places, in all circumstances, in order to improve significantly the lives of all Afghans in need.

Partnerships:

• Support in identifying funding/partnership opportunities within governments, UN agencies, bilateral and multilateral organizations, non-governmental organizations, foundations and the private sector,

• In conjunction with the Partnerships Specialist, develop expression of interests, concept notes and proposals for potential new projects and prepare budgets and costing for all new project proposals,

• Upload and maintain all files in the OneUNOPS system,

• Support in liaising with relevant HQ units and Afghanistan Country Office functional units to ensure all UNOPS internal controls are processes are adhered to,

• Support in the coordination and participate in meetings with donors and partners and produce high quality meeting minutes and action-oriented summaries,

• Conduct country specific research and analysis on donor and partners focus areas, funding cycles, processes and identify opportunities for Afghanistan Country Office project development,

• Support the Partnership Specialist in revisions of budgets, legal agreements, project scope and timelines as and when needed and in accordance with UNOPS internal controls and processes,

• Publication and sharing of information and knowledge with colleagues, clients and partners,

• Preparation of briefing materials as required for mission travel and/or discussion on project activities,

• Support the Partnerships Specialist and AFCO PDU, in engagements with potential partners,

• Update and maintain the tracking sheet and provide data on the Business Acquisition pipeline,

• Maintain up-to-date stakeholder profiles and partners databases.

Communications:

• Act as AFCO Communications Focal Point,

• Responsible for AFCO newsletter, intranet, current posts and other channels,

• Represent UNOPS at the UN Communications Group meetings,

• Develop AFCO visibility materials,

• Maintain up to date pictures library and provide support to project teams in producing good quality success stories.

Knowledge Management & Innovation:

• Implement standards, tools and templates provided by HQ to effectively manage partnership and project development within AFCO to enhance/maintain UNOPS effectiveness as a provider of project services for sustainable results.

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

• Contribute to the dissemination of lessons learned and sharing of best practices for planning and knowledge building among partnership and project development colleagues. 

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

• Support projects’ teams to respond and resolve any incidents and other events that may affect projects’ implementation.

a. Education 

• Secondary education required, Diploma or First university degree with two (2) years of progressively relevant working experience preferable in one or more of the following disciplines: international affairs, business administration, social sciences, economics, environmental studies, development studies or another field relevant to international development assistance is desirable.

b. Work Experience 

• 6 years of relevant experience in communications, partnerships or similar roles.

• Experience in partnerships, project/programme development, resource mobilization,  business administration, and/or outreach is desired.

• Experience in producing high quality proposals is desired.

• Experience from UNOPS or other UN agencies is an asset.

c. Language

• Fluency (oral and written) in English is essential. 

• 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.