Senior Project Manager - Urban Planning

Background information – Cities Alliance (CA)
Cities Alliance, which is hosted by UNOPS, is a global partnership for the promotion of cities in poverty reduction and sustainable development. Headquartered in Brussels and supported by a Secretariat, it is a unique partnership with a diverse membership including – global organisations of local authorities, national governments, international non-governmental organisations, foundations, knowledge networks and multilateral organisations – which have come together to strengthen both impacts and coherence in urban development. Cities Alliance is a global leader, with a strong track record in grant making, that supports strategic city planning, slum upgrading strategies and national policies designed to make cities more inclusive and sustainable. Members promote longer-term and integrated work programmes, while actively promoting gender equality throughout all activities.

Background information – job specific
Within the framework of the Cities Alliance Tunisia Country Programme, the Cities Alliance is now preparing a multiyear engagement in Tunisia with a focus on gender-sensitive approaches to urban planning in various Tunisian cities. The initiative will include a participatory assessment phase, the creation of public space interventions and a municipal exchange and capacity building component. Together these phases aim at increasing the economic empowerment and safety of women in the public space. The project will be implemented in strong collaboration with the participating municipalities and the local civil society. Under the supervision of the Cities Alliance’s Tunisia Country Manager and the Gender Focal Point, the Urban Specialist - Team Lead will carry out technical support and oversight, project management and monitoring, and stakeholder engagement activities to ensure that project deliverables meet the expectations and requirements. S/He will ensure that project management policies, processes and methods are followed and practiced according to the standards of Cities Alliance and UNOPS.Please note that the job offer is subject to signing of the project agreement and availability of fund

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

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

• Develop, complete and update implementation plan(s) 

• 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 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

 Education

• Advanced university degree in urban development, architecture, gender, social science or related disciplines is required.
• A combination of Bachelor’s degree in urban development, architecture, gender, social science or related
  with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced university degree
• A PRINCE2 Practitioner certificate is desirable

Experience

• A minimum of 7 years of experience in Project Management, preferably with a focus on urban planning, community engagement and/or  gender-sensitive urban development is required
• Good understanding of development issues; policies and programmes relating to urban development and their impacts on gender equality, socio-economic growth, poverty reduction or climate action is an asset;

Languages

• Fluency in Arabic and French is required.
• Knowledge of English is an asset

Contract type: Local Individual Contractor Agreement, LICA 

Contract level: LICA 11

Contract duration: open ended subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and/or to satisfactory performance

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• This is a local position. It is therefore open to Tunisia national or those with a residency permit
• 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 peace and 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 5,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,400 personnel recruited on behalf of our partners, spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced and diverse labour force — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs. We continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage the recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.

Based in Geneva, the Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECR) supports UNOPS offices throughout the region through: management, financial and programmatic oversight of global and country-specific portfolios, clusters and operations centres, including hosting services; fund and management advisory services; project implementation; procuring goods and services; and managing human resources.

ECR ensures that projects are executed to the highest standards, providing a shared knowledge base and ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are disseminated between business units and projects across the entire region.

 ECR strategy is to:

• Strengthen UNOPS role in operationalizing the Sustainable Development Goals with particular emphasis on health, environment and economic development.
• Position UNOPS in the Balkan sub-region, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
• Strengthen the implementation of ECR global and regional programmes, with revitalized partnerships in infrastructure, procurement and project management.

ECR operates global portfolios from offices in Geneva, Brussels and New York, and country-specific programmes from its operations and project centres located in Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries.