IT Business Specialist

Established in 2009, UNOPS Ethiopia Office has been providing services to various partners, including the government of Ethiopia, UN agencies such as UNECA, UNICEF, UNEP, WHO, UNHCR and WFP, 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.

This position is located in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) IT Strategic Advisory Unit (SAU), Information Technology & Umoja Support Section (ITUSS) of the Public Information and Knowledge Management Division (PIKMD).  The incumbent works under the direct supervision of the Chief of the Strategic Advisory Unit (SAU).

• Performs plan and specifications analysis to provide clear, traceable and coordinated interpretations of requirements to design and implementation
• Contribute actively in developing, documenting and executing detailed project work plans and schedule
• Assist in the evaluation and solution of potential project risks
• Provide technical guidance to development team, in accordance with pre-determined guidelines and standards, to ensure project compliance with specifications and design instructions
• Research and recommend solutions to design issues and assist in the preparation of change requests to resolve design issues
• Conduct quality control activities in accordance with quality management plan, using specified control measures and tests
• Attend project coordination and Stakeholders meetings as required
• Assist in monitoring and measurement of project progress and in project documentation as required by project methodology and process

• Participate in customer sessions to collect, analyze, validate and document business requirements, processes, business rules and workflows
• Translate business to technical know-how and visual models defining technical solution in collaboration with technical teams
• Conduct options analysis and recommend optimal solutions to address stakeholder requirements
• Recommend business solutions, including viability of usage of existing IT systems and/or infrastructure and industry IT standards/solutions relevant to business requirements
• Plan, design and execute application testing, change management and release management
• Interface between business units, technology teams and support teams and effectively coordinate communication to deliver functional requirements like GUI, screen and interface designs and enable the translation of business requirements into functional and technical specifications
• Work closely with cross-functional teams and technical staff to manage the design of documentation in support of enterprise systems projects and service delivery;

Operational functionaries

• Creates and Analyzes Business Requirements Documents (BRD) to capture the business’s functional and non-functional requirements, business rules as well as document use cases for both business and system aspects for the unit’s main projects
• Develops and document process workflows diagrams and workflow narrations
• Develops application screen mockups and screen flows; translate screen design and workflows into Wireframes and/or prototypes
• Manages the full project life cycle for assigned projects including clear definition of work scope, deliverables, schedule, resource requirements, and establishment of cost baselines
• Assists with developing project status reports to communicate project performance to senior management and project governance boards on a regular basis for all projects within the unit
• Anticipates and evaluates potential risk areas throughout the duration of the project and proposes/pursues mitigation, avoidance, and corrective action plans to management as necessary, escalates issues to Unit Head’s attention for guidance and assistance in reaching a resolution
• Assists in scheduling planning, status, design review, and issue management meetings for key unit projects
• Creates Quality Assurance plans and develops/participates in documenting test strategies, test plan and test scenarios to facilitate user acceptance testing.
• Develops and documents traceability (matrix) assurance [the link between requirements, technical design, code and system configurations]
• Supervise the daily activities of the software development team and ensure assigned activities are completed on schedule and according to the sections standards
• Coordinate with the IT Training team on delivering relevant training for new IT solutions being delivered into the organization
• Perform any other tasks as assigned by the unit head

• Advanced University degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in information technology or in field related to the post description. A first level university degree with a combination of relevant academic qualifications and experience in information and communications technology may be accepted in lieu of advanced university degree.
  
  
• PRINCE2 foundation and practitioner certification is highly desirable.
  
  
• Experience with Agile Software development methodology is an advantage.

• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience for Masters Degree and 7 years for Bachelors Degree in application design/development, project management and/or business analysis, preferably in an international environment and on cross functional projects with diverse personnel.  Proven ability to assist coordination of enterprise application deployments.
• Advance knowledge of Project Management tools and methodologies, Visual modelling and other business analysis tools, and application development life cycle. Strong understanding of Microsoft server technologies and Microsoft SharePoint. Knowledge of other IT domains such as virtualization and network infrastructure would be an asset.

Fluency in English both written and spoken is required. Knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage. 

Professionalism:

Strong theoretical background and knowledge of complex and multi-tier IT software development, business analysis and project management. Strong conceptual and analytical skills and demonstrated problem solving abilities required. Problem solving skills critical to analyze and create proper responses or provide solutions quickly to clients. Ability to engage in multiple projects and develop approaches to resolve a wide range of issues/problems.

Individual should be detail-oriented, creative, inquisitive, committed, and self-motivated and able to maintain a very high level of confidentiality regarding the projects being conducted. Negotiation and persuasion skills to engage clients and developers in building and managing optimum solutions.

Knowledge/experience of ITIL and CobiT frameworks are highly desirable; Familiarity with project management methodologies (such as Prince2) is an added advantage.

Ability to work under pressure and provide high quality deliverables in difficult situations.

Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.

Planning & Organizing: Ability to organize, plan and implement work assignments, manage competing demands and work under pressure of frequent and tight deadlines. Actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks; Shows willingness to learn new technology.

Client Orientation: Ability to identify and analyze client needs and extract, interpret and format information using technological solutions appropriate to the business needs.

Communications: Excellent communication (spoken and written) skills, including the ability to convey complex technical concepts both orally and in writing, in a clear, concise manner. Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication.

• 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
• 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 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.