Senior Project Manager

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners' peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world.  Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors and United Nations organisations.  With over 6,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical and management knowledge they need, where they need it.  By implementing around 1,000 projects for our partners at any given time, UNOPS makes significant contributions to results on the ground, often in the most challenging environments.

For more information on what UNOPS does in Mexico, please read the attached factsheet.

Project Information:

In line with the framework agreement signed with the Government of Mexico, UNOPS supports the different collaboration initiatives by the government that are aimed at the fight against corruption and transparency in public management; as well as in exercises aimed at strengthening government actions in the areas of acquisitions, infrastructure and management of high impact projects in Mexico. The work requires strategic and operational perspectives, management of resources ensuring transparency, effectiveness and efficiency that promotes the development and continuous strengthening of internal management in order to ensure high quality results, in accordance with the needs of the partner in Mexico.

The objective of the project is to support the Government of Mexico in its effort to guarantee the right to health to the largest number of inhabitants through the planning and management of the consolidated purchase of medicines (period 2021-2024), as well as assistance in the profiling of the system and model of consolidated purchase of medicines for the health sector of the Government of Mexico. This project has 2 main components:

• COMPONENT 1 (Transparent Procurement of Pharmaceuticals) - Management of multi-year consolidated purchase of medicines and medical supplies (supply of needs during the period 2022-2024) for an estimated amount of $US6 billion.

• COMPONENT 2 (Strengthening of national capacities) - Strengthening and capacity building to the consolidated purchase model of medicines for the health sector of the Government of Mexico.

The Senior Project Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the project(s) and provides services to the different donors, partners and beneficiaries. The Senior Project Manager acts on behalf of the Project Board to manage the project on an ongoing basis during the Implementation Stage. The main responsibility of the Senior Project Manager is to 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 Senior Project Manager has the authority to assign, as per the Project Plan, work packages to Team Managers and approve deliverables produced by them.

The Senior Project Manager is responsible for creating the Implementation Plan, using the Project Initiation Document (PID), Legal Agreement and having a thorough understanding of the terms, conditions, and the respective roles and responsibilities of the partners/stakeholders, to ensure the project(s) outputs are capable of meeting the business cases for both UNOPS and the partner(s). Success of the project(s) and hence of the Senior Project Manager  will be based on the defined Success Criteria. 

The Senior Project Manager is expected to meet and exceed the organization's performance and delivery goals.

The Senior Project Manager will report to the Country Director. 

1. Project Delivery and Performance
2. Procedures 
3. Monitoring and reporting
4. Stakeholder engagement
5. Quality assurance
6. Knowledge management and innovation 
7. Personnel management

• Master or equivalent advanced University Degree preferably in Procurement, supply chain, Social Sciences, Project Management, Business Administration, International Relations, Political/Security/Development Studies, Public Administration, Law, Economics or other relevant discipline;
• University Degree (bachelor’s degree / first level) with a combination of 12 years of relevant professional experience  may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

• PRINCE2 Practitioner, PRINCE2 Foundation or PMP will be considered an asset.

• Minimum 10 years (or more based on academic credentials) of progressive experience in project development and management including the management of complex projects in either public or private sector organizations; Additional years of relevant experience is a distinctive advantage

• Proven experience in managing large projects with numerous, multidisciplinary and multicultural teams.  Please complete the project portfolio form and enclose it to your application;

• Proven experience managing multiple stakeholders in complex environments, including  working with government authorities;

• Experience in senior level and leadership positions is desirable;

• Experience in the health sector in procurement and/or  logistics is a distinctive advantage.

• Fluency in Spanish and English (both written and oral) is required.

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 6,000 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.

• 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 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.