Management Services Senior Advisor

UNOPS 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.

Within these three core areas of expertise, UNOPS provides its partners with advisory, implementation and transactional services, with projects ranging from building schools and hospitals, to procuring goods and services and training local personnel. UNOPS works closely with governments and communities to ensure increased economic, social and environmental sustainability for the projects we support, with a focus on developing national capacity.

Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, our vision is to advance sustainable implementation practices in development, humanitarian and peacebuilding contexts, always satisfying or surpassing partner expectations.

We employ more than 6,000 personnel and on behalf of our partners create thousands more work opportunities in local communities. Through our headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark and a network of offices, we oversee activities in more than 80 countries.

The Management Support Centre (MSC) has been established in response to the key priority area of management solutions, embedded in the UNOPS Strategic Plan 2018-2022. Management support is one of the three corporate priorities to position UNOPS as a valuable resource to its current and future partners.

The Role

Under the supervision of the Director MSC, the Management Services Senior Advisor will assist the Director MSC in the strategic leadership of the unit, by providing advisory services, development and oversight of the MSC offering, with the goal of positioning UNOPS as the global partner in the provision of Management Services and Hosting to partners. This will entail working in close partnership with the regions and/or partners on operationalizing best practices, towards global and other tailored agreements around management services.

The Management Services Senior Advisor will work with the Director, MSC to ensure effective achievement of results that contribute to the visibility and image of the UNOPS brand. This is a senior advisory and operational role, requiring strong experience in at least one of the management service lines of procurement, human resources, funds management, or programme management.

• MSC Services
• Support to MSC Operations Management
• Management Services Partnerships Development
• Team Management

MSC Services

• Aid the Director, MSC in shaping the vision and strategic direction of the MSC’s offering, consistent with evolving business needs and best practice.
• Ensure that strategies and priorities for the MSC services are clearly defined and articulated, resources are efficiently allocated, and further developed and optimized.
• Ensure close collaboration with relevant internal stakeholders (e.g. Groups, IPAS, Regions).
• Work directly with potential global partners on tailoring Management Service solutions, according to their needs, packaging these engagements before handing over to the regions for implementation.
• Guide and shape the development and implementation of management support systems, processes, and tools, geared towards UNOPS’ own and that of partners’ needs.
• Develop and ensure the global alignment of corporate standards in management support services across the organization, including templates, operational standards with partners, etc.
• Contribute to the development of costing and pricing models for the MSC offerings.
• Identify risks and ensure quality assurance across all the management support services.
• Monitor processes and functional-level performance against key performance indicators.
• Contribute to gathering of business intelligence/data, and support the efforts in marketing of Management Services.

Support to MSC Operations Management

• Support the Director, MSC in driving change, to achieve the identified vision and objectives.
• Provide support to the Director, MSC in the day to day operational management of the unit.
• Provide support to the Director, MSC in the process of conducting workforce planning, implementation and monitoring/reporting of the overall work plan for the Management Support Centre, in accordance with UNOPS corporate planning and reporting cycle.
• Assist the Director MSC in the process of overseeing and housing the hosting strategy and frameworks, developing hosting framework to manage business and risks, and ensuring new potential hosted entity engagements are reviewed as per corporate standards.
• Act as a key Knowledge Management resource within the organization with respect to Management Services offerings.

Management Services Partnerships Development

• Contribute to positioning UNOPS as the global partner in the provision of Management Services to partners.
• In collaboration with Partnerships & Liaison Group, take a lead role in establishing methods for building and maintaining strategic partnerships to support the achievement of the organization’s management services objectives and enhance the reputation of UNOPS across all management support areas.
• Assist the Director MSC in developing, managing and coordinating the management services agreements with global partners.
• Maintain a steady line of communication with the partners on service performance.
• Assist the Director MSC position UNOPS as a leader in UN management support solutions, actively partnering with the United Nations Common System with particular attention to building long-term partnerships.
• Develop new partnerships and support the regions to contribute to their agenda in developing partnerships with key stakeholders.
• Build effective client partnerships and joint accountability for process outcomes.
• Establish networks to stay abreast of best practices and explore new ideas to optimize Management Support Services.

Team Management

• Provide line management and mentoring for appropriate personnel within the MSC, to promote the professional growth, motivation and satisfaction of personnel while ensuring appropriate personal development and succession planning.
• Inspire the team, cultivate engagement and ensure alignment across the management service lines of business.

Education:

• An advanced university degree, in Procurement, Business Administration, HR, International Relations, Social Sciences, or a related area is required.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of experience in extensive senior level roles and proven track record in the field of operations management and service provision.
• Proven experience providing senior advisory services in at least one of the following: procurement, human resources, funds management, or programme management.
• Proven ability to manage, supervise and lead a team in a large international and/or corporate organization. Experience in the UN system organizations and/or a developing country is desirable.

Language Requirements:

• Full working knowledge of English.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.

• 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
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• 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.

• Contract type: staff
• Contract level: P5
• Contract duration: One year initially, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability

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.