Community Mobilization Senior Officer

UNOPS Ethiopia Multi-Country Office (ETMCO) exciting career opportunity

UNOPS-ETMCO is recruiting for this position: Community Mobilization Senior Officer based in Mekelle, Ethiopia.


Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. 


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 organizations.  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.

Established in 2009, UNOPS Ethiopia Office has been providing services to various partners, including the government of Ethiopia, UN agencies such as WHO, UNHCR and WFP, and other international organizations. Since 2014, the UNOPS Ethiopia multi-country office manages and coordinates the UNOPS activities in Ethiopia, as well as Sudan and Djibouti. The UNOPS Ethiopia multi-country office team is composed of approximately 100 national and international women and men, and offers a broad range of services such as infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial and human resources management. 

Under the overall supervision of the Senior Portfolio Manager, the Community Mobilization Senior Officer will contribute to the interventions of Community-based rapid response and recovery activities to meet the basic needs of selected communities and recovery of local infrastructure and services of the damaged facilities in Tigray that resulted from the recent conflict. The facilities concern mainly the sectors of health, education and wash such as schools, health centers and water supply facilities. The incumbent will bring UNOPS expertise within the United Nations Regional Team and identify actual priorities concerning the renovation based on the discussions with the communities and the relevant stakeholders.

• Participates in development partners' discussions on the Tigray Region Recovery and promote solutions that can be provided by UNOPS:

• Participates in the Regional Team meetings, in relevant cluster/ technical meetings to identify priorities/ trends;

• Contributes to substantive discussions on early recovery;

• Presents UNOPS services/mandate to the relevant stakeholders and the local authorities and facilitate the endorsement of the programme;

• Facilitates discussions and meetings within the concerned communities in order to identify the priorities in terms of intervention;

• Supports with the implementation and the integration of the community-based renovation programme in multi-year to the satisfaction of all the partners;

• Support in the hiring process of junior engineers and interns at the ‘Kebelle” levels in order to constitute the intervention team;

• Leads  a regional team of junior engineers and interns in order to assess the damaged facilities and in order to keep the communities and the authorities about the progress of the implementation;

• Supports the systematic application of participatory, community, rights based, and gender responsive approaches throughout the phases of the design and the operations related to the rehabilitation; 

• Contributes to the appropriate adaptations of programmes as a result of the analysis of feedback received from persons of concern, as well as other political, social, economic and cultural developments that impact the rehabilitation programme;

• Supports the establishment and management of a feedback and response system and participate in the analysis of feedback gathered through formal and informal feedback and response systems;

• Supports capacity development through training and coaching of junior engineers and interns;

• Provides technical guidance and support to ensure data relevant to assess and monitor progress on the implementation of the programme; 

• Provides the design team with the required information such as the site conditions, the availability of construction materials, the estimated unit costs, and any relevant information to the design;

• Liaises with the programme partners and the different stakeholders to ensure the programme results are achieved in a timely manner and resources are properly managed;

• Establishes systems for project planning, implementation, and monitoring, in collaboration with programme partners;

• Coordinates relationships with country level and regional partners to support the implementation of the rehabilitation works; 

• Identifies potential problems/risks and provide solutions and risk mitigation strategies for the effective programme implementation in line with programme documents;

• Records and maintain documents on relevant programme activities, issues, and risks;

• Gathers and compile all information necessary for monitoring and reporting on programme from the planning to the evaluation stage;

• Coordinates systematic monitoring of activities and the expenditure of funds at all levels and take corrective actions where required.

• A Masters Degree in Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering , Mechanical Engineering, Business Administration, Economics, Management, Political/Security/Development Studies or other relevant field is required.
• A Bachelors Degree in combination of two additional years of experience may be accepted in lieu of the Masters Degree requirement.

• At least two (2)  years of relevant experience in project coordination, business development, stakeholders management and communication is required for Masters degree holders. OR (four) 4  years relevant experience in project coordination, business development, stakeholders management and communication is required for Bachelor degree holders. 

• Fluency in written, spoken and reading English is required.
• Knowledge of another UN Official language is an asset.

1. Contract type: Local Individual Contract Agreement (LICA)
2. Contract level: LICA-9 (ICS9)
3. Contract duration: Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.’

• 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.