Political Associate - Janakpur

DFID will contract UNOPS to carry out a “Project Coordination” Project in close cooperation with DFID leadership. DFID through UNOPS will work closely with the new provincial and local Government to coordinate programmes in the provinces and provide technical assistance, as appropriate.

The Political Associate will support the Team Leader in 4 activities:

• Political analysis of the provincial context
• Stakeholder engagement
• Institutional capacity assessment
• Capacity building activities

The Political Associate will be responsible for:

• Supporting the Team Leader in drafting the stakeholder matrix and stakeholder engagement strategy for the province.
• Setting up and maintaining records of stakeholder engagement (contact lists, meeting minutes etc.).
• Producing regular notes about the political situation of the province and proposing draft in-depth analysis of the most relevant topics.
• Supporting the Team Leader in the assessment of capacity of provincial and municipal governments.
• Assist in writing briefs on the necessary capacity building activities, including budgets for the activities not covered by existing DFID-funded programmes.
• Provide support in launching and monitoring capacity building activities.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

The Political Associate’s performance will be monitored through:

• The timely delivery of outputs as per the project plan (stakeholder mapping, stakeholder engagement , political analysis reports etc.).
• The UNOPS performance management system’s bi-annual reviews.

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in political science, sociology, governance, development studies, conflict resolution and peace building, management, gender studies or another relevant field is required.

Work Experience

• At least 3 years of work experience in development, governance, peace building, management, journalism or a related field is required.
• Experience working in Nepal is desirable.
• Experience of working with government officials at the local level is an asset.
• Previous experience of providing or coordinating technical assistance to Government institutions desirable.

Language

• Full professional command of Nepali is required.
• Good level of English desirable.
• Local/ethnic language skills highly desirable (Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tharu, Awadhi in particular).

• Strong networking, communication, representation and negotiation skills
• Good knowledge of computers, MS Office and cloud-based work.
• Willingness to travel to Kathmandu regularly.
• Ability to work independently and under pressure.
• Collaborative approach to working in a multi ethnic team

• This post is open to Nepal nationals only.
• 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.