Project Management Advisor

Peace and Security Centre

The UNOPS Peace and Security Centre (PSC) is a principal service provider in the field of mine action with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), UNDP, UNICEF, Governments of mine-affected countries and other mine action partners. The Centre is responsible to administer, provide support and oversight of the day-to-day management of the Project Field offices, both according to the client requirements and in line with UNOPS rules and regulations.
It is headed by the Centre Director who has the overall authority and accountability for the performance of the Peace and Security Centre on behalf of its clients.

One of the main objectives of the Peace and Security Centre is to rapidly deploy project personnel to the field. To accomplish this, it has established a Pool of Experts, from which it deploys and re-deploys personnel in order to fulfil personnel vacancies.  A Pool of Experts is a roster of specialists whose technical knowledge and personal suitability has been evaluated and approved in advance, allowing them to be deployed on short notice and in short order.   Pool members can be deployed on any of UNOPS contract modalities: FTA, TA, or I-ICA (International Individual Contractor Agreement). 

UNOPS strategic focus places increased emphasis on national capacity development and sustainable approaches to project management, procurement and infrastructure services.  A key objective is to be recognized as an organization that delivers world-class infrastructure and project management, which is both economically and socially sustainable, even in the most challenging environments.

Within UNOPS, the Infrastructure and Project Management Group’s objectives are to serve the organization’s personnel and partners by broadening their infrastructure and project management capabilities, while disseminating best-practices in both of these areas. Through this work, the group helps facilitate the successful delivery of programmes and projects around the world. This role will play a critical role working within the Peace and Security Cluster (PSC) while working closely with the Infrastructure and Project Management Group (IPMG) to serve the needs of the Cluster in a Project Management Advisor position.

Working with both PSC and IPMG, the successful incumbent can be expected to be responsible for providing project/programme/portfolio management advisory services for various portfolios, programmes and projects in PSC, a thematically-based Cluster with a centralized hub in New York and operations in eighteen countries and territories worldwide.

The Project Management Advisor will be responsible for:

• Advocating to senior management in field office programmes on the positive outcomes from the application of best practices of project and programme management;
• Providing project and programme management advisory services in business development and project and programme design to the Cluster, Programme Managers, Deputy Programme Managers and Heads of Programmes;
• Ensuring project and programme management best practices are consistently embedded across field programme offices, supporting these in their own contextualized maturity improvement projects;
• Providing support in quality assurance, implementation of project and programme management best practices and guidance;
• Developing and articulating relevant policies and processes; enabling operationalization and managerial oversight through appropriate systems and reports; providing corporate advice and guidance; strengthening the knowledge, skills and career development of the project and programme management practitioners;
• Providing feedback to inform and update Cluster-level SOPs, standards and other techincal documents based on evidence from the field and actual programme and project requirements; providing support to field office programmes in elaborating field office programme-level SOPs and advising them on how to embed them in their management approach;
• Contributing to knowledge sharing, strategy development and operational advice within the practice, working with a productive and collaborative approach, with colleagues at all levels and across all offices of the organization.

The Project Management Advisor will be a critical link between PSC and its operations in the field and IPMG.  This position will report to PSC’s  Project Management and Legal Advisor with a secondary reporting line to IPMG. The successful incumbent will be required to work in a collaborative manner, with colleagues at all levels across the organization.

The Project Management Advisor will play an integral role in Capacity Building, Training and Knowledge Management. The successful incumbent will advise project staff on the application, interpretation and adoption of corporate policy, guidance and best practices and provide expertise and support in implementation of PRINCE2® and UNOPS PM Methodology.  This role will also be involved in the support of training and internal consulting in portfolio, programme and project management.  This role is aimed at providing a surge capacity for special initiatives and requests from the Cluster assigned. Key to this role, the successful candidate will also contribute to the community of practice, make recommendations on policy and tools to the Practice Leads; and provide necessary advice and support during the “formulation phase” of new initiatives with focus on quality assurance and quality control of project documents and progress reports.

The Project Management Advisor will be responsible for representing all aspects of the practice within the Cluster.  Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

1.       Implementation Support

• The incumbent will provide advice and support to the PSC Director and his/her senior management team, New York-based portfolio management teams, and field-based Programme Managers/Project Managers/Project Staff in the planning and implementation of projects and programmes throughout their whole life cycle within the Cluster he/she is assigned.
• S/he will be responsible for providing advice to projects and programmes that may need support in an effort to be brought back to stability.
• Advise programme and project management practitioners on the application, interpretation and adoption of corporate policies, guidance and best practices
• Undertake missions to field programme offices and project sites to advise on project management capacity, quality and progress related issues, and highlight operational and compliance challenges and potential risks to the field office programme, within and beyond the Cluster.
• S/he will drive and support world-class performance, organizational excellence and continuous improvement.
• Participate in the review of proposals for project management in the Cluster, via the corporate Engagement system and provide advice to the relevant authority, escalating all complex cases to the Director, PSC and IPMG.

2.       Technical Advice and Quality Assurance

• Provide support and advice to Programme Managers, Head of Programmes (where applicable), Project Managers and Heads of PMOs (where applicable) on how to embed best practices of project and programme governance, risk management, project and programme management in the New York office and field programme offices.
• Provide expertise/support in the implementation of UNOPS Portfolio, Programme and Project Management methodologies, which are based on best practices as recommended by PMI and PRINCE2®.
• UNOPS is fully committed to the Paris Agenda on national capacity building; the Project Management Advisor will play a crucial role in advising UNOPS Programme and Project Managers on measures to strengthen national capacity building with regards to project and programme management best practices, as well as other cross-cutting issues, and support a stronger focus on benefit management of projects.
• Assist with the development of work plans and provide tangible support in helping both the Cluster and field programme offices, where relevant, achieve P3M3® levels 3 or 4.

3.       Business Development

• Support the business development agenda in the Cluster through his/her expertise, contacts and ability to demonstrate a depth of experience in the project management field;
• Provide strategic advice and support to leads of high value and/or risk to the Cluster and/or field programme offices, supporting Engagement Authorities in strengthening project governance engagement structures and processes to enable the achievement of high standards and consistent UNOPS defined project success criteria;
• Represent the Cluster or field office programmes in any programme and project management related forum, being able to positively influence others on the benefits of best practices of project and programme management, as required;
• Provide initial baseline advice and support on new engagements as requested, with focus on quality assurance and quality control of project documents, costing and cost implications, implementation plans, milestones and performance and result indicators;
• Advise and assist with technical input to Financial Agreements and proposals, including project planning, governance, and approach considerations, as requested;

4.       Training and Development

• Develop and deliver project and programme management training to the Cluster, field office programmes and their partners, and liaise with other relevant industry leaders and UN agencies in training and project management initiatives;
• Providing capacity development within the Cluster for PM Standards, processes and tools.

5.       Support the Infrastructure and Project Management Group (IPMG)

• In coordination with IPMG, the incumbent will deliver portfolio/programme/project maturity model assessments and follow-up missions, and provide specialist support and advice to field staff on UNOPS best practices, engagement risks, management models, and use of PM tools and systems;
• S/he will support field programme offices in the establishment of PMOs;
• Support training and internal consulting in project and programme management and provide project and programme development advice and assistance to field staff in support of IPMG initiatives and roll-outs.

6.       Knowledge Sharing

• Dissemination of training for corporate guidance and instructions that impact programme and project management practitioners, as required;
• Ensure best practice guidance is disseminated and communicated throughout the Cluster and field office programmes;
• Contribute to the development of IPMG knowledge management system by capturing case studies and best practice examples throughout UNOPS, making recommendations on policy and tools, as well as contributing to the development of guidance material and tools.

7.       General Support

• S/he will advise the New York and field programme offices’ personnel, programme and project management practitioners on the application, interpretation and adoption of corporate policies, guidance, tools and best practices.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

• Setting standard, personal and development objectives in Performance Evaluation Review
• Completion of satisfactory 3 months probationary period, based on completion of tasks
• Ongoing assessment of task completion, which meets quality expectations
• Successfully meeting deadlines based on workplan
• Completing progress reports as required
• Attending the UNOPS Project Management Foundation Course
• Completion of MSP Foundation and P3O Foundation within 6 months of onboarding.
• Completion of Occupational Health and Safety Certification within first year of onboarding.

Education:

• Master’s degree  in International Relations, Business Administration, Project Management, Development Studies, Engineering and other related fields is required;
• A Bachelor’s Degree with two additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree (total 9 years of experience);
• Certification in PRINCE2® Practitioner is required
• Certification in MSP®, P3O® Practitioner and PMP is highly desired

Work Experience:

• Minimum 7 years working in Project Management and Operations is required, when combined with a Master’s Degree.
• Minimum of 3 years managing projects in the international development context
• Experience in a consultancy role is an asset
• Proven technical leadership and expertise in project and programme management
• Experience in conflict and/or post-conflict project management is highly desired
• Experience in the UN is highly desired

• Fluency in English is required
• Fluency in French is desired

• 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.
• 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.

UNOPS supports the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to serve people in need by expanding the ability of the United Nations, governments and other partners to manage projects, infrastructure and procurement in a sustainable and efficient manner.

Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, our vision is to advance sustainable implementation practices, always satisfying or surpassing our partners’ expectations.

With over 7,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical and management knowledge they need, wherever they need it.

A flexible structure and global reach means that we can quickly respond to our partners' needs, while offering the benefits of economies of scale.