Capacity Building Specialist

Peace and Security Cluster

Background Information UNMAS

Established in 1997 by the General Assembly, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) serves as the United Nations focal point for mine action and supports its vision of “a world free of the threat of landmines and unexploded ordnance, where individuals and communities live in a safe environment conducive to development, and where mine survivors are fully integrated into their societies.”

UNMAS coordinates and collaborates with fourteen UN departments, agencies, programmes and funds to ensure an effective, proactive and coordinated response to the problems of landmines and explosive remnants of war, including cluster munitions.

UNMAS establishes, manages, and provides strategic direction to mine-action coordination centres in countries and territories as part of peacekeeping operations and humanitarian emergencies or crises. In these situations, UNMAS may plan and carry out mine-action projects, support and coordinate the work of local and international mine-action service providers, and set priorities for mine clearance, mine-risk education and all other aspects of mine action.

Project information

Despite international support around the turn of the century the Ethiopian Mine Action Authority (EMAO) has no working database of contamination, only one mine action standard aligned to IMAS, field staff with very limited experience of humanitarian mine action, no field offices, no tasking prioritization framework, little understanding of how mine action practices have evolved over the last twenty years and no mechanism through which international operators can become accredited.

The problem is further compounded by a lack of clearance operators working to international standards in northern Ethiopia. Those who are operating are not keeping records that may be audited or being subjected to any form of recognized quality assurance. As such, there is little recognizable mine action capacity in Ethiopia today.

Deployed to support the humanitarian response in Northern Ethiopia, UNMAS has established itself as a trusted partner for the humanitarian community, supporting safe delivery of aid through the provision of explosive ordnance awareness and training, as well as explosive ordnance assessment and mapping. In the absence of accredited mine action organizations and considering the limited capacity of the Ethiopia Mine Action Office (EMAO), UNMAS is uniquely positioned to support the development of the mine action sector in Ethiopia through enhancing EMAO’s quality management, accreditation and data management capability - including to collect and analyze data through an age, gender and diversity lens - as well as its operational capacity for coordinating the mine action sector. For that, UNMAS uses its expertise to advise EMAO on mine action matters, including the drafting of national mine action standards.

Purpose and scope of assignment

Reporting to the Head of the Project Unit (HPU), the Capacity Building Specialist responsible for supporting the Ethiopian Mine Action Office with regular strategic, policy and technical advice, advocacy, stakeholder coordination, and relationship building, with the overall aim of supporting the building the capacity and sustainability of the mine action sector in the country so it can operate self-sufficiently in the long term. 

More specifically, the successful incumbent will support the mine action sector in Ethiopia in identifying capacity building priorities. S/he is expected to work closely with the various colleagues within the Project Management Unit (PMU) to support the delivery of the project and maintain regular engagement with relevant stakeholders, including the Ministry of Defense, Government entities at Federal and Regional levels, the wider UN system, (inter)national NGOs and service providers involved in mine action in the country.

S/he must be able to apply, with a great degree of autonomy, the below duties and responsibilities of the project success criteria: 

1. Ensure coordination, coherence, and quality of the capacity development approach project-wide:

● Monitor the capacity of the Ethiopian Mine Action Office (EMAO) and provide guidance on a capacity development implementation plan.

● Ensure the coordination between the different units of the project and advise the Head of Project Unit on changes or deviations from plans, including through the identification and management of risks and issues, ensuring maximum benefit to clients and stakeholders.

● Advise/assist the EMAO on conducting Accreditation for Mine Action operators in Ethiopia

● Develop a reporting framework to ensure EMAO receives sufficient information from mine action organizations to enable it to track and manage activities 

● Guide and assist EMAO in the implementation of a plan to progressively and systematically develop its capacity to manage mine action, and organize review workshops and coordination meetings accordingly.

● Ensure that UNMAS Ethiopia is fully informed of the progress made on capacity development initiatives in the mine action sector in the country

● Ensure that information gathered from monitoring and evaluation is used to inform stakeholders of progress and to improve the project delivery.

● Provide advice to the UNMAS Chief Mine Action Programme (CMAP) and senior UNMAS personnel on all aspects related to humanitarian mine action in the country and any relevant policy and legislative updates ;

2. Manage institutional capacity development assistance and support for the Ethiopian authorities

● Assist the EMAO  through the drafting of ten national mine action standards in accordance with IMAS, including

1. Non-Technical Survey

2. Technical Survey

3. Battle Area Clearance 

4. Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)

5. Medical Support to Demining Operations

6. Quality Management of Mine Action Activities

7. Land Release

8. Post Clearance Documentation

9. Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE)

10. Information Management for Mine Action

11. Reporting and Investigation of demining incidents 

● Provide guidance on key sector regulatory issues including Boards of Investigation, ensuring periodic reviews of National Standards, critical non-conformities, Land Release policy, and Information Management.

Education

• Advanced university degree (master degree or equivalent) with five years of relevant experience OR

• First-level university degree (bachelor degree or equivalent) with seven years of relevant experience 

Work Experience

• Relevant experience is defined as experience in project management or project development, supporting operations in military, humanitarian, conflict, post-conflict, or development contexts with public or private sector organizations

• Mine action operations experience in a humanitarian, conflict, or development context is required

• Experience working with local actors and building the capacity of local governmental institutions is required

• Experience in working in humanitarian mine action context in Ethiopia is desired

Language Skills

• Fluency in English is required (speaking, reading, and writing)

• Fluency in Amharic is desired (speaking, reading, and writing)

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.

• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures,  languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 

• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.

• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process.  If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions 

• 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 (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. For more information on a retainer contract here.

• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.

• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

Contract type: International Individual Contractor Agreement (IICA)
Contract level: ICS-10 (P3 equivalent)
Contract duration: ‘Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.’

SUMMARY OF TOTAL REWARDS PACKAGE FOR IICA PERSONNEL

• Remuneration is an inclusive monthly fee and varies according to the contract level, the hired candidate’s background, duty station specification as well as eligible dependents (i.e. hardship and risk levels, cost of living, etc.), among other criteria.
• For retainers and contracts with a duration of less than one (1) month, the fees may be established based on an hourly or daily rate.

Benefits and Entitlements

All IICA personnel benefit from UNOPS learning opportunities as well as a variety of family-friendly, work-life and well-being provisions at the workplace. Hardship leave is provided according to duty station classification.

Other benefits and entitlements are available for contracts with a minimum duration of 3 months. These include:

Leave

• Annual leave: 10 official UN holidays per year plus 2.5 additional days of accrued leave per month.
• Paid sick leave: 2 days of certified sick leave per month up to a maximum balance of 24 days, plus 6 uncertified sick days per year; depending on tenure, fee protection for longer periods of certified sick leave.
• Paid parental leave: Up to 26 weeks for eligible parents who give birth and 16 weeks for other eligible parents.

Medical coverage

• IICA holders must pay for their own schemes, the cost for which is accounted for in their fee.

Relocation support

• Financial Mobility Support is offered to International ICA holders and their dependents when relocating to a new duty station as per eligibility.

Security

• All personnel regardless of contract modality are enrolled in the United Nations Security Management System for emergency relocation/evacuation.