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.

The 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 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 a 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 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 Project Manager will be based on the defined Success Criteria. 

Project Information:

Poor access to electricity is recognised as a binding constraint to long-term economic growth in Sierra Leone. The country is currently experiencing a net deficit of power and is in desperate need of new power sources. The Ministry of Energy has developed an Energy Sector Roadmap and action plan with initiatives to increase energy access through technical and non-technical interventions. Part of the roadmap strategy is to incorporate Sierra Leone’s great Renewable Energy resources to provide security of supply to rural communities and to boost the economy.

To help address the energy infrastructure needs, UNOPS on behalf of the Ministry of Energy, is implementing activities to increase electricity accessibility to public services and enhance economic growth in underserved rural communities. 

The project aims to expand energy access to remote villages, leading to improved development outcomes in health, education and economic development to beneficiary communities. This will enable reliable, clean and affordable electricity and in turn improve social, economic and health benefits to rural communities. Providing electricity access to isolated communities will result in improved economic benefits, reducing the relative cost of energy access by eliminating the expense of alternative sources, such as batteries and kerosine, and will reduce or eliminate the cost of diesel generators for energy reliant businesses. The project is in support of the Ministry’s objective of increasing access to electricity in rural communities, exploring a variety of alternative sources of renewable energy. It is envisioned that the project will contribute to the Government’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) addressing multiple development initiatives. 

Furthermore, the project will enhance partnerships between public, private and social sector stakeholders to address poverty reduction, and encourage the participation of the private sector in the provision of commercially viable energy services in rural communities.

Local Context: 

UNOPS has been active in Sierra Leone since 2000 and has delivered a variety of infrastructure projects nationwide, particularly in the fields of Renewable Energy, Health and Security Infrastructure, and has implemented and procured a variety of vehicles, non-medical health related items, medical equipment, and Solar Photovoltaic systems.

Summary of functions:

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's Degree in Project Management, Law, Business Administration, International Relations, Political/Security/Development Studies, Engineering, Energy Management or other relevant discipline.

• Bachelor’s Degree / First Level Degree in Project Management, Law, Business Administration, International Relations, Political/Security/Development Studies, Engineering, Energy Management or other relevant discipline with a combination of additional two (2) years of relevant professional experience can be considered in lieu of a Master’s Degree.

• A Professional Diploma in relevant discipline in combination of four (4) additional years of experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively relevant experience in Project Management is required;  

• Previous experience in renewable energy is desirable;

• Previous experience in the development sector is desirable;

• Demonstrated experience managing multidisciplinary teams is an advantage;

• Past experience in delivering technical assistance and/or institutional capacity building is an asset;

• Knowledge of the UN system and familiarity with UNOPS procedures is an advantage

• Full working knowledge of English language is required.
• Fluency in one or more additional official UNOPS languages is an advantage.

• Contract type: International Individual Contract Agreement (I-ICA)
• Contract level: I- ICA 3/ ICS 11
• Contract duration: Ongoing ICA – ‘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.
• 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
• Freetown is a family duty station
• 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.

Africa Region

AFR helps ensure that projects are executed to the highest standards, providing a shared knowledge base and ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are disseminated between projects across the entire region.