Project Management Senior Officer

Background Information - Job-specific

WEC (Water & Energy Cluster) Background:

The Water, Environment and Climate (WEC) portfolio, based in Vienna, and with offices based globally is part of the UNOPS Global Portfolio Office. The Portfolio has built strong partnerships and is effectively managing a portfolio of over 500 million USD over the last 15 years to support key initiatives with fund management, project implementation and administrative support.

WEC effectively operationalizes partners' agendas with global approaches, as well as regional and country specific activities focused on climate action, protection and conservation of the environment. Partners profit from WEC’s ability to operationalize and/or scale up their important substantive agendas, including in support of key multilateral environmental and climate agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, the Cartagena Convention as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.

The NDC Partnership:

The NDC Partnership is a global coalition of countries and institutions collaborating to drive transformational climate action through sustainable development. In 2015, the world endorsed the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Nations signal their commitments to the Paris Agreement through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - each country’s strategy to cut its own greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience against the negative effects of a changing climate. The Partnership advances the goals of the Paris Agreement by bringing together nearly 200 countries and institutions in new ways to accelerate NDC implementation and enhance ambition over time. The Partnership’s work through 120 partners supporting almost 80 countries produces many examples of impact, lessons learned and ideas for the future. The Partnership is governed by a Steering Committee, co-chaired by two country representatives. The Partnership’s work is facilitated by a Support Unit based at World Resources Institute in Washington DC and the UNFCCC Secretariat in Bonn, Germany. UNOPS supports the NDC Partnership and its Support Unit through the Water, Environment and Climate (WEC).

Under the overall guidance of the NDC Partnership Support Unit’s Regional Manager for the Anglophone and Lusophone Africa Region and in coordination with the UNOPS WEC Head of Programme, the incumbent will support the Regional Manager for the Anglophone and Lusophone Africa Region in day-to-day work of regional engagement including; partnership building at the regional level, preparation of inputs to respond to regional or multi-country information requests; regional level and regional aggregation of knowledge and information; monitoring and reporting for the aggregate region; documenting lessons learned and best practices for implementing CE strategy at the regional or multi-country level. This includes applying knowledge tools and communication work of the Support Unit (SU) to drive implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in its member countries.

Regional Strategic Engagement and Coordination

Support the Regional Manager in developing the regional Annual Work Plan (AWP), keeping track of the implementation of its activities, updating teams regularly and rolling-up country-specific information to report back to the Support Unit’s Management Team through quarterly stock takes.​

Support the Regional Manager in the oversight of country-related work of the NDC Partnership in the region, flagging key support needs, priorities and strategic engagement.

Support coordination and partnership building activities at the regional level​ including but not limited to organizing coordination meetings with regional and national partners and keeping track of developments, including through the preparation of formal and informal communications.

Lead and prepare information to support the Regional Manager in efficiently responding to requests related to regional or multi-country topics from different Partnership’s workstreams, countries and partners

Responsible for the multi-country analysis related to climate change action of requests by Regional Manager, Governments and/or Implementing and Development Partners based on public documents, national targets and country portfolios,

Support the Regional Manager with the internal coordination of global and of regional teams including preparation and synthesizing information from team meetings, preparation of meetings, note taking and regular reminders of tasks​

Keep the Regional Manager and the Country Engagement Directors appraised of all management and ad-hoc requests from implementing and development partners, regarding country engagement in the region

Support the Regional Manager in planning and conducting timely onboarding of new CES and other regional team members​, including new countries

Regional tracking and data management

Provide regular follow ups of country progress update reports monthly and quarterly from NDC in-country facilitators, deliverables from other embedded advisors in the region, and work with Country Engagement Specialists to ensure the completeness of relevant online repositories.

As required, draft high-quality, & consistent multi-country or regional briefing notes, and help identifying impact stories of support through the Partnership, and ensure these are given visibility via relevant internal and external channels.

Provide input to the Communications and Knowledge and Learning teams for the development of success stories of change that the Partnership can promote; challenges and opportunities in coordination with relevant staff members of the NDC Partnership Support Unit from different work streams.

Track and report on progress trends in Anglo/ Lusophone Africa region against the NDC Partnership's M&E Framework​ in collaboration with relevant staff members of the Support Unit

Conduct or support research and regional analysis at the request of Partnership Development Senior Manager, Governments or Partners​ in collaboration with relevant staff members of the NDC Partnership Support Unit from different work streams.

Support the Regional Manager in ensuring timely updates from CES of regional sections of SharePoint, Monday boards, Salesforce, and any other online system for team coordination and internal reporting.

Collect and compile input from the region to feed into internal and external communication channels such as Country Engagement biweekly meetings, SU Weekly Updates, Country Engagement Opportunity Updates, Newsletters, country/regional focal points lists, country quarterly reports folders, NDC Implementation Plans and narrative reports, country pages and other written products of partnerships supported work.

Regional Learning and Knowledge Management

Lead and support the technical organization of regional events and meetings, with multiple partners and countries in coordination with other staff members of the Support Unit, (e.g., prepare invitations, materials, talking points and post-event analysis)​

Lead regional knowledge management, in the Support Unit’s Information Management System. – the kNook in collaboration other staff member of the Support Unit.

Documentation of regional trends, lessons learned, best-practices & knowledge changes related to regional level approaches to country engagement​

Engage in continuous learning and contribute to the RPO community by working closely with and learning from other RPOs under guidance from Regional Manager to build a community that leverages common standards, best-practices, and shared knowledge​

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) preferably in international relations, international development, economics, finance, administration or a related field is required.

Bachelor's degree in combination with additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.
Experience

Required:

At least 2 years of experience (or more depending on academic credentials) in international cooperation and/or project management related matters on developing countries from the target region of Africa, specifically Anglophone and Lusophone Africa.

Demonstrated skills set in dealing with large database, spreadsheet.

Experience in the development sector within the African region is required, preferably in the Anglophone region.

Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills.

Knowledge on climate change topics and UNFCCC issues

Asset:

Good knowledge of international climate policy and of national climate policy making

Strong project management skills

Capacity to work well under pressure and successfully manage multiple deadlines and competing demands

A good knowledge of the development and humanitarian sector/working with UN, Donors, NGOs

Demonstrated ability to conduct financial and budget analysis

Language

Fluency in English is required

Knowledge of Portuguese would be an asset.

Contract type: International ICA
Contract level: IICA1 / ICS 09
Contract duration: Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.
For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:
https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx

Additional Information

Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.

Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce.

Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.

We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions

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 ( they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here.

All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and 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 personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.