Project Manager

Duty Station: Islamabad - Pakistan

Application Deadline: 26-Feb-2024

*** Qualified women and candidates from groups that are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply****

Background Information - Pakistan

UNOPS Pakistan (Project Office) is part of the South Asia Multi Country Office, based in Sri Lanka, and overseen by 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, UNOPS in Pakistan is currently implementing projects in the following thematic areas: Green and Clean energy; WASH, Rule of Law; Health Procurement; and HR services.

Background Information - Job-specific

Project Information:The Project started in September 2021 and over a period of five years it aims to improve access to clean and safe water, hygiene and sanitation and increase the resilience of targeted communities affected by the 2010 floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces in Pakistan. The project has been designed as a programme and includes three components which are integrated in a holistic, complementary and coordinated manner to maximise the project impact. The three objectives are:

• Improved quality and reach of water supply services and increased access to community and household sanitation (WASH related infrastructure)
• More effective, gender-responsive and transparent WATSAN services through enhanced capacity of government entities and communities (capacity enhancement)
• Reduced waterborne diseases and improved resilience of communities through improved community and household hygiene practices (community awareness and behavioural change)

Position Context:

• The Project Manager will ensure that the project outputs are delivered within the specified project tolerances of time, cost, quality, scope, risk and benefits. He/she is expected to meet the organization’s performance and delivery goals.
• The Project Manager will manage the Implementation Plan, using the Project Initiation Document (PID) and the Legal Agreement, and keeping in mind the terms, conditions, and respective roles and responsibilities of the partners/stakeholders, in order to ensure the project outputs are capable of meeting the business cases for both UNOPS and the partners. Success of the project and hence of the Project Manager will be based on the defined Success Criteria.
• This position will lead the project transitioning from a Senior Project Manager with a period of accompaniment.
• The Project Manager role could be based either in Islamabad, DI Khan, KP province, or Umerkot in Sindh province, with frequent visits (75% of time) to all field locations in KP and Sindh provinces.

Functional Responsibilities

Functions / Key Results Expected

• Project Delivery and Performance
• Procedures
• Monitoring and reporting
• Stakeholder engagement
• Quality assurance
• Knowledge management and innovation
• Personnel management

Project Delivery and Performance

• Develop, complete and update implementation plans.
• Implement the approved plan (including the establishment of milestones) within tolerances set by the Project Board.
• Embed sustainability dimensions including social and gender inclusion/mainstreaming, environmental and economic aspects into project life span.
• Manage the production of the required outputs, taking responsibility for overall progress and use of resources and initiating corrective action where necessary.
• Ensure that quality of work packages and deliverables complies with the quality requirements defined in the Implementation Plan.
• Liaise with any external suppliers or account managers
• Manage acceptance and delivery of work packages
• Monitor project progress ensuring that work packages are being executed properly
• Control project and work packages changes
• Accept goods, services or works delivered by suppliers.
• Lead contract management duties including supplier performance evaluation.
• Act as the Employer’s Representative within the FIDIC works contracts.
• Identify, and anticipate in a timely manner, potential risks and issues and advises mitigating measures to senior management/ Project Board so that maximum benefit to partner(s) and other stakeholders is achieved
• Identify and report to the supervisor potential business opportunities for UNOPS

Procedures

• Comply with all organizational policy and specifically the Project Management Manual
• Prepare/adapt all relevant plans for approval by the Project Board.
• Manage the reporting obligations defined in the Legal Agreement(s) and in the Implementation Plan
• Implement HSSE standards on sites & offices and ensure adherence of HSSE reporting requirements
• Draft the requirements definitions for procurement processes. Approving requisitions and requests for non-purchase order payments; Evaluating submissions received, if appointed to the evaluation team.
• Ensure maintenance of the project files and lessons learned are recorded
• Manage budgets, cash flow and obligations to ensure that deliverables are met and payments to contractors and personnel are received on time.
• Understand and manage UNOPS overheads, allocable charges, and related corporate charges as they apply to the project
• Understand the unique structures of the UN and budget appropriately for personnel
• Manage expenditures against the budget (based on accurate financial reports)
• Where the Project Manager has no delegation as a committing officer, s/he retains these responsibilities and will monitor and instruct/request others to carry out the relevant commitments and disbursements.
• For project closure purposes, provide a formal handover of the project to the closure manager
• Support project audit activities, including planning, preparation and coordination during the audits and follow up on audit observations/recommendations

Monitoring and reporting

• Prepare and issue regular project and/or financial reports in accordance with Partner and UNOPS requirements for reporting.
• Regularly review project status, evaluating performance criteria (scope, cost, schedule and quality).
• Maintain diaries and progress reports as required by the organization’s standard procedures.
• Provide routine oversight and analysis of delivery data within the dashboard system.
• Ensure all project team members track and regularly update milestones and targets for the duration of projects\ life span

Stakeholder engagement

• Develop stakeholder profiles and facilitate the formulation of stakeholder engagement strategies
• Establish solid working relationships with the Project Board (Executive, Senior Users and Senior Suppliers), client and key stakeholders
• Enable the formulation of project communications plans. Coordinate internal project communications. Monitor the effectiveness of project communications
• Coordinate stakeholder engagement and communication, ensuring effective timing and interdependency management of communications. Ensure stakeholders are aware of project activities, progress, exceptions and are in a position to accept handover outputs

Quality assurance

• Work with internal stakeholders to ensure projects comply with audit requirements
• Work with procurement/purchasing staff to ensure effective interface with suppliers\ quality systems
• Coordinate quality reviews of project documents and deliverables
• Provide quality control for management outputs (project documents, reports, etc.)

Knowledge management and innovation

• Encourage routine and effective capacity building activities are conducted in order to build the long-term and sustainable capacity of staff.
• Provide tailored and structured coaching and mentorship to the Deputy Project Manager.
• Actively interact with other Project Managers and the wider PM community to share case studies, lessons learned and best practices
• Contribute to the oversight of lessons learned procedures, ensuring that lessons learnt are shared in a timely and appropriate manner. Participate in the relevant Communities of Practice
• Identify and log the lessons learned in the project management system OneUNOPS Projects throughout the project life span.
• Provide feedback to Practice Groups on policy, supporting guidance with an aim towards continuous improvement of UNOPS policies

Personnel Management

• Select, recruit and train the project team, taking into account gender parity and diversity objectives.
• Lead and motivate the project team.
• Ensure that behavioural expectations of team members are established.
• Ensure that performance reviews are conducted fairly, accurately and timely.
• Mentor, coach and enhance the capacity of the direct managed staff.
• Monitor safety and security for all project personnel and comply with UNDSS standards
• Create, foster and role model a culture of respect and zero tolerance for discrimination, abuse of authority, harrasement, sexual harrasement and sexual exploitation and abuse. Ensure accountability for actions and perform duties in accordance with protection mechanisms and action plans, as expected by UNOPS policies, standards and commitments.

Impact of Results

The Project Manager directly impacts on the achievement of the project results by adhering to project management methods and strategies, reducing risks, cutting costs and improving success rates. This consequently reinforces the visibility and image of UNOPS as an effective service provider in project services and management and strengthens its competitive position as a partner of choice in sustainable development and project services.

Competencies

Strategic Perspective: Develops and implements sustainable business strategies, thinks long term and externally in order to positively shape the organization. Anticipates and perceives the impact and implications of future decisions and activities on other parts of the organization.(for levels IICA-2, IICA-3, LICA Specialist- 10, LICA Specialist-11, NOC, NOD, P3, P4 and above)

Integrity & Inclusion: Treats all individuals with respect; responds sensitively to differences and encourages others to do the same. Upholds organizational and ethical norms. Maintains high standards of trustworthiness. Role model for diversity and inclusion.

Leading Self & Others: Acts as a positive role model contributing to the team spirit. Collaborates and supports the development of others. For people managers only: Acts as positive leadership role model, motivates, directs and inspires others to succeed, utilizing appropriate leadership styles.

Partnering: Demonstrates understanding of the impact of own role on all partners and always puts the end beneficiary first. Builds and maintains strong external relationships and is a competent partner for others (if relevant to the role).

Result Orientation: Efficiently establishes an appropriate course of action for self and/or others to accomplish a goal. Actions lead to total task accomplishment through concern for quality in all areas. Sees opportunities and takes the initiative to act on them. Understands that responsible use of resources maximizes our impact on our beneficiaries.

Agility: Open to change and flexible in a fast paced environment. Effectively adapts own approach to suit changing circumstances or requirements. Reflects on experiences and modifies own behavior. Performance is consistent, even under pressure. Always pursues continuous improvements.

Solution Focused: Evaluates data and courses of action to reach logical, pragmatic decisions. Takes an unbiased, rational approach with calculated risks. Applies innovation and creativity to problem-solving.

Effective Communication: Expresses ideas or facts in a clear, concise and open manner. Communication indicates a consideration for the feelings and needs of others. Actively listens and proactively shares knowledge. Handles conflict effectively, by overcoming differences of opinion and finding common ground.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education:

• A Master’s degree or advanced degree in an Engineering field (Water & Sanitation, Civil, Electrical etc.) or Development Studies or other relevant field is required.
• Bachelor degree in an Engineering field (Water & Sanitation, Civil, Electrical, etc.) or Development Studies or other relevant field with additional 5 years relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the Master’s degre

Certification:

• Project Management (eg Prince2 or PMI, etc) is desirable.

Experience:

• 5 years of engineering (water and sanitation preferable) related project management in developing countries is required. This must include community engagement and capacity building experience from the holistic perspective.
• Prior Experience with UNOPS managing similar projects is preferred.
• Experience in managing multi-year programmes is preferred
• Experience in mentoring and capacity building of staff is essential.
• Experience with Government, UN agencies, and NGOs is an asset.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English essential

Contract type, level and duration

• Contract type: Individual Contract Agreement- ICA
• Contract level: Local ICA Specialist, L-ICA 10
• 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. 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.