Project Manager

With funding support from the Government of Norway, UNOPS in Serbia implements the “Norwegian Support to the Western Balkans Development - Norway for You” Project. This action aims to contribute to a more balanced socio-economic development in Serbia by increasing employment opportunities, in particular for vulnerable and marginalised groups, supporting social cohesion and improvement of local infrastructure. The Project also contributes to the strengthening of the information security of the Government of Serbia, and capacitating national health systems to address COVID-19 pandemic. The Government of Norway has allocated funding for the implementation of the Project in Serbia during 37 months starting as of August 2018.

There are six results that the Project will achieve:

• Result 1: Improved Access to Employment

• Result 2: Enhanced Social Inclusion

• Result 3: Improved Living Conditions and Local Infrastructure

• Result 4: Information Security of the Government of Serbia Strengthened

• Result 5: Process of EU Integration of the Republic of Serbia Supported

• Result 6: Capacitating National Health Systems to Address COVID-19 Pandemic

All Project activities will be undertaken in partnership with the Government of Serbia, in cooperation with the national and local institutions, with the aim of allowing them to respect the legal requirements and, where relevant, EU accession criteria. This will ensure national ownership and help develop national capacities.

In addition, UNOPS implements “Support of the Kingdom of Norway to the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia Project” that is designed to contribute to the fulfilment of requirements in the process of Serbian accession to the European Union, in particular those related to Chapters 23 and 24, through successful prevention and fight against crime. The Project has entered the final implementation phase in which it should complete ongoing renovation of detention centres and deliver activities related to enhancement of capacities of the  Serbian Europol National Unit.

• 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, 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 stakeholders
• Manage acceptance and delivery of work packages
• Monitor project progress ensuring that work packages are being executed properly
• Control project and work packages changes
• 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 and other stakeholders is achieved
• Identify and report to the supervisor potential business opportunities for UNOPS

• 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
• 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

• 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

• Develop stakeholder profiles and facilitate the formulation of stakeholder engagement strategies
• Establish solid working relationships with the Project Board, 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

• Work with internal stakeholders to ensure projects comply with audit requirements
• Coordinate quality reviews of project documents and deliverables
• Provide quality control for management outputs (project documents, reports, etc.)

• Encourage routine and effective capacity building activities are conducted in order to build the long-term and sustainable capacity of staff.
• 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
• Research and logging of lessons learned throughout the project life span.
• Provide feedback to Practice Groups on policy, supporting guidance with an aim towards continuous improvement of UNOPS policies

• Lead and motivate the project management team
• Ensure that behavioural expectations of team members are established 
• Ensure that performance reviews are conducted fairly, accurately and timely
• Select, recruit and train team as required and take into account gender parity and diversity objectives.
• Ensure 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.

Certifications

• Certification in Project Management ( PRINCE2, PMI, etc.) will be an asset.

This is a local position, it is therefore open to nationals of the Republic of Serbia and to individuals who have a valid residence/work permit.

Contract type: Ongoing ICA
Contract level: Local ICA 9
Contract duration: Open-ended subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and/or to 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

• 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 (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.  

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.

UNOPS has been active in Serbia since 2000, and the operations of UNOPS Serbia Project Office (RSPO) have since 2017 expanded to North Macedonia and Montenegro.

UNOPS has been a reliable partner primarily of the Government of Serbia, and later of the Governments of North Macedonia and Montenegro, in providing support for demanding socio-economic reforms and facilitating accession to the European Union.

Currently, the RSPO is implementing 11 projects focussed on sustainable socio-economic development, social cohesion, creating environment for employability, business and infrastructure growth, increased security, improved education, enhanced social inclusion either via enabling durable housing solutions or providing access to health, education and jobs for the most vulnerable population. All projects have good governance and gender equality as transversal themes. UNOPS projects are contextualised within the broader Sustainable Development Goals framework and objectives.