Project Manager

Organisational Context
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.


Multi-Country Office Context:
The UNOPS Ghana Multi Country Office (GHMCO), located in Accra, Ghana is responsible for projects in Anglophone West Africa, covering Ghana, Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. GHMCO is responsible for managing strategic and operational risks engagements portfolio, developing and delivering cost effective services contributing to partners’ sustainable results and achievement of UNOPS management results.

Project Information:
The National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) is a body under the Department  of Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), Nigeria. It is vested with the responsibility of formulating and facilitating National malaria policy and guidelines, coordinating the activities of partners and stakeholders on malaria elimination activities, providing technical support to States’ malaria programmes, Local Government Areas (LGAs) and other stakeholders in the private sector; mobilising resources, monitoring and evaluating progress and outcomes in malaria elimination efforts across Nigeria. The Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) has received funding to implement a 5 year project pertaining to elimination of Malaria in Nigeria and specific to Four (4) States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory; namely Bayelsa, Edo, Enugu, Kogi and the Federal Capital Territory. The objective is to improve the delivery and uptake of malaria prevention and treatment activities in Eligible States to achieve at least 80% universal coverage of vector control, Seasonal Malaria Chemoprophylaxis (SMC) both at household or population levels and case management in the public sector of the Eligible States. It is anticipated that during the period of the Project implementation, the overall burden of malaria in the country will reduce from current figures of 27% to ≤ 15%. 

The project scope includes (i) acquisition and distribution of Antimalarial commodities (LLINs, RDTs and Antimalarial Drugs) (ii) Capacity building and social mobilisation, (iii) Malaria case management (iv) Monitoring and evaluation and (v) Support to project implementation.  On Account of the Agreement between Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) and the Financier, the FRN has engaged UNOPS to support the implementation of component 1 (i.e. the acquisition of Long-Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLINs), Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) and Anti-Malarial Drugs) on behalf of the NMEP. Under the procurement agreement between UNOPS and FRN, UNOPS will procure and deliver the goods using its procurement rules and procedures. The project will be implemented over a 24-month duration. 

Position Information:
The Project Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the project 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 the 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 organisation’s performance and delivery goals.

The Project Manager is responsible for creating the Implementation Plan, use the Project Initiation Documents (PID), Legal Agreement and have a thorough understanding of the terms, conditions, and the respective roles and responsibilities of the partners/stakeholders to ensure the project outputs are capable of meeting the business cases for both UNOPS and the partner(s). The Success of the project(s), hence the success of Project Manager will be based on the defined Success Criteria.

She/He will be managing the project whose ultimate goal is to provide implementation services that contribute to the achievement of partners’ goals. Project Management role in UNOPS is quite diverse and can range from development of strategies to delivery of training or providing technical assistance. While the complexity of those projects may vary, maintaining high standards in terms of quality, efficiency and sustainability is always expected.

Summary of functions:

She/He will be responsible for the following 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

• A Master's Degree (Advanced University Degree or Higher) in Project Management, Business Administration, International Development, Public Health, Pharmacy, Regulatory Affairs, or other relevant disciplines in the sciences is required.

• A Bachelor’s Degree (First Level University Degree) in Project Management, Business Administration, International Development, Public Health, Pharmacy, Regulatory Affairs, or other relevant disciplines in the sciences with a combination of additional two (2) years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of a Master's Degree. 

• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant work experience in implementing and delivering projects/programmes for International/Corporate organisations is required. 

• Previous experience in pharmaceutical supply management and/or procurement and distribution of medical equipment and medical devices is an asset.

• Previous experience in team management is an asset.

• Relevant experience in project planning and scheduling, stakeholder management and budget management is an advantage.

• Hands-on experience in supporting malaria control and/or other public health interventions in sub-Saharan Africa will be an added advantage.

• Procurement experience with exposure to public procurement processes and experience in assessing critical linkages between procurement and business functions is an added advantage.

• Demonstrated experience working with Government on donor-funded projects is an asset.

• Demonstrated experience working with multidisciplinary and multicultural teams is an asset.

• Experience in the use of google software packages (Google Doc, Sheets and Slides) and experience in handling web-based management systems is an added advantage.

• Fluency in written, reading and spoken English Language is required.

• Contract type: International Individual Contract Agreement (I-ICA)
• Contract level: I- ICA 2/ ICS 10
• 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
• Abuja 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.