PAF Support Senior Associate (Project Management Senior Associate) - Retainer

WEC (Water & Energy Cluster) Background: 

The Water, Environment and Climate (WEC) portfolio, based in Vienna, and with offices based globally is part of the UNOPS Global Portfolio Office. The Portfolio has built strong partnerships and is effectively managing a portfolio of over 500 million USD over the last 15 years to support key initiatives with fund management, project implementation and administrative support. 

WEC effectively operationalizes partners' agendas with global approaches, as well as regional and country specific activities focused on climate action, protection and conservation of the environment. Partners profit from WEC’s ability to operationalize and/or scale up their important substantive agendas, including in support of key multilateral environmental and climate agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, the Cartagena Convention as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.

The NDC Partnership: 

The NDC Partnership is a global coalition of countries and institutions collaborating to drive transformational climate action through sustainable development. In 2015, the world endorsed the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Nations signal their commitments to the Paris Agreement through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - each country’s strategy to cut its own greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience against the negative effects of a changing climate. The Partnership advances the goals of the Paris Agreement by bringing together nearly 200 countries and institutions in new ways to accelerate NDC implementation and enhance ambition over time. The Partnership’s work through 120 partners supporting almost 80 countries produces many examples of impact, lessons learned and ideas for the future. The Partnership is governed by a Steering Committee, co-chaired by two country representatives. The Partnership’s work is facilitated by a Support Unit based at World Resources Institute in Washington DC and the UNFCCC Secretariat in Bonn, Germany. UNOPS supports the NDC Partnership and its Support Unit through the Water, Environment and Climate (WEC).

The PAF Support Senior Associate will play a flexible and integral role in supporting various aspects of the PAF process. This position will contribute to ensuring smooth coordination, effective documentation, and timely execution of tasks across different functional areas, including CFP circulation, proposal development and evaluation, grant award, monitoring and reporting, and grant closure. Given the dynamic nature of PAF’s work, the consultant will provide on-demand support where needed, adapting to evolving priorities and operational needs.  Below is a list of activities where support may be required as needed.

PAF WINDOW 1

• Regularly update the PAF Window 1 guidance note to reflect any process or requirement changes, ensuring the latest version is accessible and readily available to staff and hosts. 

• Centralize process questions, general queries and other clarification requests and provide timely responses and guidance, liaising with others in the team and relevant hosts’ personnel as needed. 

• Ensure that the PAF Window 1 Monday board is up to date, engaging the Country Engagement team when information is missing or needs to be revised / clarified. 

• Collect information on the status of each request (e.g., advertisement stage, interview stage, written test stage, etc.), identifying delays, challenges and bottlenecks when they arise. 

• Assist with the monitoring of timely submission of facilitators’ quarterly Country Engagement Update Reports.

• Support in compiling reports quarterly of progress in their submission and auditing their availability in the External SharePoint

• Provide regular, consolidated reports to the PAF Program Manager on request processing status, flagging any delays or challenges that demand action / troubleshoot.

• Support the Program Manager in presenting consolidated information for approval and decision-making on all requests.

• Secondary school (High School or equivalent) with a minimum of 7 years of relevant experience is required.
• Master's degree, preferably in international development, economics, finance, project management, procurement or a related field, with 1 year of experience is desired. 
• Bachelor's degree in related discipline in combination with an additional 3 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of a secondary school diploma.

Required

• With a high school diploma, a minimum of 7 year of relevant professional experience (or more, depending on the academic credentials) in the field of supporting project implementation and delivery activities, is required.

• Experience in project management, operations management, monitoring and reporting preferably at international organizations.

• Experience in Grant Management.

• Proficient use of Microsoft Office/Google Suite is required with an emphasis on Excel.

Assets

• Experience in international cooperation and/or project management is an advantage.

• Experience with stakeholder and partner management. 

• Experience in procurement and operations is an advantage.

• Previous experience with UNOPS or another UN agency is desired

• Proficiency in English is required.

• Knowledge of another official UN language (French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese Mandarin) is an asset.

• 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. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. 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.