Partnerships Senior Officer (Head of Provincial Project Office)

UNOPS – an operational arm of the United Nations – supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by successfully implementing its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian, and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve peace and sustainable development.
UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management, and human resources.


Working with us
We are proud of our people. With a wealth of knowledge and skills in various disciplines – engineering, finance, human resources, ICT, leadership, project management, procurement, and more – they help tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time. Their work around the world supports progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).


At UNOPS, we offer a range of short- and long-term opportunities in various environments and duty stations – from Denmark and Kenya to Mexico, Switzerland, Myanmar, Senegal, Uganda, and many more.


Diversity
With over 5,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,400 personnel recruited on behalf of our partners, spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced and diverse labor force — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs. We continually strive to maintain our gender-balanced workplace. We encourage qualified underrepresented groups as per UNOPS Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion Strategy to apply for our vacancies.


Work life harmonization
UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.

UNOPS Nepal Context:

During 2015 - 2021 UNOPS has engaged closely with the  Government of Nepal and several development partners in reconstruction efforts of the government of Nepal including assessment of damaged buildings and enrollment of beneficiaries into housing grant schemes. UNOPS supported homeowners engaged in the reconstruction process,  modernization and improving policing services, retrofitting damaged houses and reconstruction of disability friendly schools and delivering some essential equipment to support COVID 19 response efforts. The functional objective of UNOPS Nepal is to deliver its projects in an efficient and effective manner in alignment with government priorities following UNOPS rules and regulations, so as to achieve the outcomes sought by the clients and funding partners and contributing to the achievement of SDGs.

Project Information :
UNOPS is expanding its operational support in South Asia and has recently established its presence in Nepal with six projects signed with DFID, USAID and World Vision supporting Nepal Government Institutions. UNOPS will provide advisory and technical assistance services with its expertise in Procurement, Project Management and Infrastructure, as well as providing capacity building to key stakeholders. The initial projects are located across all 7 provinces of Nepal, while the major project team works from UNOPS Kathmandu-based country office.

Job Specific

DFID will contract UNOPS to carry out a “Project Coordination Unit" (PCU) Project in close cooperation with BEK leadership. BEK through UNOPS will work closely with the new provincial and local Government to coordinate programmes in the province and provide technical assistance through existing programmes, as appropriate.

The Partnerships Senior Office (Head of Project Office) in Province 2 will be in charge of the implementation of the project at provincial level and will be based in Janakpur) with frequent travel to Kathmandu (monthly). The purpose of the assignment is:

• Building a strong relationship with the Provincial and Municipal (urban and rural) governments in the area as well as other important stakeholders.
• Providing local political analysis to DFID to inform programming.
• Linking capacity building needs of the Provincial and Municipal Governments to existing BEK-funded programmes and designing additional support packages as needed.
• Developing a good understanding of DFID-funded programmes in Nepal and Coordinating BEK-funded activities in the province.

• Oversee risk in the Province and specified neighboring province.

Under the direct supervision of Senior Project Manager, the Partnerships Senior Officer (Head of Provincial Project Office) will be responsible for:

●        Contributing in setting up the project unit in the province, including renting and equipping the provincial office (if required) and recruiting project unit staff.

●        Proposing and assisting in implementing a stakeholder engagement strategy for project coordination activities in the province.

●        Developing and consolidating a network of contacts among civil society, community, and political parties in the province.

●        Coordinate  with  a broad range of stakeholders as required.

●        Providing regular information about the political landscape of the province to BEK and developing in-depth analysis of the most relevant topics.

●        Providing regular information about the risk landscape of the province to BEK.

●        Conducting a needs assessment for Provincial and Municipal Governments as necessary and developing a capacity building strategy based on existing BEK-funded programmes and additional resources.

●        Mapping all BEK-funded activities in the province, establishing coordination mechanisms and joint reporting.

●        Managing staff of the Project Coordination team in the Province (Political Analyst, Field Coordination Associate, Project Support Assistant, Driver and Consultants).

●        Acting as a security focal point for the project office.

●        Reporting monthly on Project Coordination activities to the Team Leader.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

The Partnerships Senior Office (Head of Provincial Office)  performance will be monitored through:

●        The timely delivery of outputs as per the project plan (stakeholder mapping, stakeholder engagement strategy, political analysis reports, capacity needs analysis, BEK-funded activity mapping, coordination mechanisms etc.)

●        Monthly reports and monthly coordination meetings with the project’s team and leadership.

●        Regular visits in the province by the Team Leader, UNOPS senior management and BEK leadership.

• Bachelor’s Degree in political science, sociology, governance, development studies, conflict resolution and peace building, management or another relevant field is required;

• Contract type: Local Individual Contract Agreement (LICA)
• Contract level:  LICA Specialist 9
• Contract duration: Ongoing ICA – ‘Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance'.

• 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 embraces diversity and it is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, color, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, or disability.
• 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.  
• The post is open to Nepali National only. 
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.
• 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.