Proposal Developer – Urban Planning and Transportation related

Established in 2009, UNOPS Ethiopia Office has been providing services to various partners, including the government of Ethiopia, UN agencies and other international organizations. In 2014, the UNOPS Executive Director decided to establish the UNOPS Ethiopia Operational Hub (ETOH), which manages and coordinates the UNOPS activities in Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti.

UNOPS ETOH activities range from tailor-made administration, operations, human resources and logistics support for implementation of development and humanitarian projects; infrastructure and procurement management services; and advisory services to partners to facilitate effective procurement, supply and financial management.

Accordingly, the Proposal Developer will be responsible for assisting in the development of programmes and projects. S/he will be responsible for ensuring documents are high quality, professional in content and presentation, well-structured, and grammatically correct.

The Proposal Developer will develop, in consultation with ETOH senior management, a detailed work plan that will include undertaking the following tasks, and other relevant activities.

• Review literature relevant to the topic under development. Provide a comprehensive background about the context, program rationale and statement of the problem.
• Review of previous and ongoing similar and/or related and/or interfacing projects in order to identify gaps, areas of improvement and instill lessons learnt into the proposal. These will also provide inputs for the determination of baselines for the logical framework.
• As required, help conduct problem tree analyses and validation workshops with key partners and other relevant stakeholders.
• As required, help conduct field visits in target areas to carry out assessments relevant to existing and proposed projects and programs, and based on the relevant strategic and program key performance indicators.
• Design a packaged project solution that can address the objectives stated in the concept note that will be provided by UNOPS or call for proposals.
• Write detailed conceptual framework, innovative program model and/or known to be effective in other areas. It should provide for a distinguishable project with clear value-addition from ongoing projects and programmes in the same field, demonstrating a clear comparative advantage of the role of UNOPS.
• Clearly articulate the anticipated partners’ roles and assign tasks in accordance with the mandate area of each partner organisations (in case of joint project proposals).
• Develop a cohesive, credible and coordinated programme with clear objectives and strategies of implementation. With clear outline what has to be undertaken during implementation (if phases are recommended show clearly the connection of phases and activities).
• Develop M&E plan with clear theory of change, evaluation criteria and indicators for monitoring and evaluation of the proposed program intervention.
• Prepare the human resource needs for the implementation phase.
• Prepare the budget for the activities stated in the proposal.
• Present the initial draft proposal to the members of the team and enrich the proposal after getting feedback.
• As required, the Proposal Developer will follow guidelines, templates and formats dictated by donors.
• Work closely with the personnel assigned by the team and meet the deadline for application submission

1.       Qualifications and Experience

• MSc and above in urban planning, public policy, or other relevant fields
• A combination of a Bachelor’s degree in relevant area with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of the education requirements outlined above

Work Experience

• At least 7 years of progressive experience in either proposal writing, report writing, or graphic design services in the field of urban planning, public policy, or other relevant fields required. This should include strong programme design skills, including capacity to prepare logical, coherent, and consistent documents, including results frameworks and budgets.
• Prior demonstrated experience developing proposals for donors required.
• Background of demonstrated success in designing proposals for international donors, governments, foundations and other bilateral and multilateral development partners strongly preferred. This will need to include scoping, reviewing, analysing, and integrating existing plans, projects, and areas of expertise.
• Ability to work efficiently and effectively with project members in various locations and from multiple organizations, including remotely writing and revising proposal documents strongly preferred.
• Ability to integrate different experiences, methodologies, and approaches from a diverse range of stakeholders, organizations, and technical experts from multiple sectors strongly preferred.

Languages
Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English is required. Fluency in either Amharic, Arabic and French would be considered a serious asset.

Required Skills

Excellent writing skills
Ability to perform analysis and synthesis
Record management skills
Microsoft Office proficiency

Preferred Skills

Knowledge of Adobe Indesign or VISIO or similar software would be considered a serious asset

Professionalism: Shows solid understanding of proposal development and report writing. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work and, where applicable, human rights issues.

Planning and Organizing: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.

Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.

Commitment to Continuous Learning: Keeps abreast of new developments in own occupation/profession; actively seeks to develop oneself professionally and personally; contributes to the learning of colleagues and subordinates; shows willingness to learn from others; seeks feedback to learn and improve.

Technological Awareness: Keeps abreast of available technology; understands applicability and limitation of technology to the work of the office; actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks; shows willingness to learn new technology.

1. Contract type - International Individual Contract Agreement - Retainer base
2. Contract level - I-ICA3
3. Contract duration - Ongoing ICA – ‘Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.’
   
   

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.

• 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.
• 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
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• 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.