Project Support Officer

In 2010, the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force Office of the United Nations and the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, with financial support from the European Union and the Government of the Kingdom of Norway, initiated a project to assist the Central Asian countries in devising a regional plan of action to implement the four pillars of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. This initiative spanned two phases from 2010 to 2017, and culminated in a High Level Dialogue on the Implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia, held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on 13 June, 2017 chaired by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

The High Level Dialogue provided an opportunity to review progress on the implementation of the JPoA in Central Asia, take stock of the strategic counter-terrorism and prevention of violent extremism achievements and challenges faced by the region and identify priority areas for the following phases of the joint project. The meeting led to the adoption of a second Ashgabat Declaration where countries committed to enhanced regional cooperation.

Phase III will seek to assist Central Asian countries to adequately respond to emerging challenges of fighting terrorism and preventing violent extremism in the region, as well as to provide continued and coordinated UN System support to the regional countries in implementing the JPoA, within the following parameters and based on the request of the Central Asian States.

The Project Support Officer will be engaged in the overall coordination of the project “Towards a Comprehensive Implementation of United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia” and capacity development components of the projects. The incumbent of post will be responsible for the following specific tasks:

• Contribute to the planning of the projects as well as the smooth implementation of the projects by actively engaging in supporting project services including recruitment, procurement, organization of conferences, travels and financial management
• Assist in the preparation of proposals, engagement processes and agreements ensuring administrative and financial aspects are in line with corporate policies and guidelines
• Support preparation of budgets ensuring they follow corporate polices and established in the ERP with sound budgetary structures that contribute to financial monitoring and reporting
• Contribute to the preparation of monthly cash flow forecast ensuring the projections are in line with approved budgets, contractual commitments and that cost estimates are reasonable
• Support the monitoring of project expenditures against approved resources and ensure timely adjustments and corrections of over-expenditures and wrongly booked charges
• Support the development of  risk assessment and mitigation measures with input from the project team, and contribute risks management procedures are followed
• Prepare submissions for compliance, oversight and other risks mechanisms reports and data;
• Actively engage in the project monitoring and evaluation, using established performance monitoring tools, cross cutting themes(capacity building, environment, gender equality), preparing draft report on the results, and assist to develop follow up actions if applicable
• Assist in the preparation of reports and collation of information for quarterly business review processes, year-end closure and projects closure in collaboration with project managers
• Assist the project managers in the review of the status of workplans, activity plans, implementation and aggregate reports regularly prepared on activities, outputs and outcomes
• Support the procurement activities of the portfolio, from preparation of procurement plans, terms of references, bidding process, request for awards to signature of contracts and orders
• Implementation of the different steps of the procurement processes, including Pre-Purchasing: Strategy and Planning; Requirements Definition; Sourcing; Purchasing: Solicitation; Management of Submissions; Evaluation; Review and Award; Post Purchasing: Contract finalization and issuance; Logistics; and Contract Management.
• Implementation of strategic procurement for projects assigned in the Business Unit.
• Research undertaken and data provided for Business Unit’s supply market intelligence and analysis.
• Implementation of proper monitoring and control of procurement processes including organization of RFQ, ITB or RFP, receipt of quotations, bids or proposals, their evaluation, negotiation of certain conditions of contracts in full compliance with UNOPS rules and regulation.
• Participate in the preparation and review of implementation contracts providing comments on administrative, financial and audit aspects in line with corporate polices and guidelines Support in the human resources activities of the portfolio, such as preparation of terms of references, taking interviews minutes, preparation of personnel and recruitment plans;
• Support in the facilitation of information sharing and transfer of knowledge, document lessons learned and beneficiary surveys
• Maintain archive of project documentation and ensure access to institutional memory and technical information on related components of the project
• Support in drafting final report detailing outputs and impact of the projects
• Support the Project Manager and the Programme team in any other matter as required.

• Master degree or equivalent in areas related to the position. 
• A Bachelor degree with additional two years of experience may be accepted in lieu of the Master requirement.

• Minimum 2 years of professional experience in project support and reporting is essential
• Professional experience in an international organization and/or in post-conflict environments/developing countries is desirable
• Experience in proposal writing, projects monitoring and evaluation, and donor liaising is desirable. 

Certification

• Fluency in English is required.
• Fluency in local language in Turkmenistan such as Turkmen, Russian or Uzbek is an asset.    

Contract type: ICA
Contract level: IICA-1/LICA-9/ICSC-9
Contract duration: 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.
• 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
• 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.

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.

Sustainable Development Cluster (SDC)

Based in New York, the Sustainable Development Cluster (SDC) supports diverse partners with their peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations.

The SDC’s services include grants management, development and special initiatives support, and technology support to the UN and UN agencies.

The SDC is part of the New York Service Cluster that supports the United Nations Secretariat, as well as a broadening community of other New York-based United Nations organizations, bilateral and multilateral partners in the delivery of UNOPS mandate in project management, infrastructure management, and procurement management.