PM Support Sr. Assistant (Grants Sr Assistant)

Background Information UNOPS ECR Water and Energy Cluster (WEC)

UNOPS Water and Energy Cluster (WEC) supports the design and management of multi-stakeholder initiatives by providing services in financial and grant management, procurement, human resources, and project management. The cluster has supported projects in the areas of water resource management, climate change adaptation, mitigation and transparency, energy access and distribution and environmental conservation under the Paris Agreement. The WEC has also supported operations and financial management services, in Vienna, the rest of the ECR region and beyond. The main partners include UN agencies, bilateral agreements (with the Nordics, Germany, and Italy), the Green Climate Fund and several NGOs (such as CIFF and CWF).

Background on Green Climate Fund (GCF) 

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has established a funding programme, the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme and Project Preparation Facility (RPSP/PPF), to assist developing countries in accessing funding from the GCF for their climate resilient and low emission transformation, and to enhance ownership of the countries’ envisaged low carbon trajectory. To meet this objective, the RPSP/PPF project aims to maximize the GCF’s effectiveness through empowering developing countries in the following activities.

●        Engaging across governments at various levels, and with civil society and private sector stakeholders

●        Developing strategic frameworks for engagement with the Fund

●        Support for accreditation and accreditation direct access entities

●        Formulation of national adaptation plans and/or other adaptation planning processes

Due to capacity constraints, GCF has selected UNOPS to provide grants management support on their behalf, to Delivery Partners globally that wish to obtain support from the RPSP/PPF programme. The Grant Management Services that UNOPS will be providing is captured in the Project Agreement, signed by GCF and UNOPS have signed on 28 February 2018.

The Project Agreement outlines a clear division of responsibilities between the GCF and UNOPS concerning the management of Grant Management Services for the RPSP/PPF projects. GCF defines and approves the scope of each grant including the budget, assesses the Delivery Partners’ substantive and financial management capacity. UNOPS issues the grant agreement, sets up the monitoring plan against agreed deliverables and effects payments.

As of November 2019, UNOPS is providing Grant Management Services to approximately 50 Readiness and PPF projects globally. It is anticipated that the number of projects will double before the completion of the project in January 2023.

As a separate work stream, UNOPS is also providing) advisory services for Financial Management Capacity Assessments (FMCA) of grant recipients to the GCF. These services will be provided through a separate UNOPS Team.

To provide the Grant Management Services, UNOPS has established a dedicated project team (GCF Project Team) within WEC and based in Copenhagen A Project Manager and a Project Management Associate has been recruited to manage the strategic and day-to-day work of the GCF Project Team, working independently to ensure that the project with GCF is implemented within the agreed scope, timelines and budget, and in line with the UNOPS mandate, mission and vision. Considering the expected increase in a number of projects that the GCF Project Team will be managing in 2020 onwards, additional capacity in the form of a new Project Management Support Senior Assistant is required.

• Collect all documents relevant to the award of grants, including pre-selection letter of Delivery Partners from GCF approved project proposals, budget, etc. Review and verify the accuracy and completeness of documents with the support from the supervisor.
• Assist supervisors in preparing and seeking approval by the appropriate UNOPS DOA holder of Request for Awards for new projects submitted by GCF.
• Coordinate with the supervisors and relevant stakeholders in drafting Grant Support Agreements/Project Cooperation Agreements and ensure full compliance with UNOPS’ Grant Management Rules and Regulations and Project Management Manual.
• Support in negotiations with the Delivery Partner on the Grant Support Agreements/Project Cooperation Agreements including ensuring support from relevant UNOPS Units, e.g. IPAS Finance/Legal as and when required.
• Set up supplier profiles for Delivery Partners in collaboration with the Shared Services Center.
• Share counter-signed Grant Support Agreements/Project Cooperation Agreements with Delivery Partners and inform them about key dates for the project.

• Work with the supervisors in monitoring implementation of grants by tracking timely start, progress, and completion of all activities and proactively highlighting for discussion and action the activities that are at risk of being delayed.
• Assist in monitoring performance of Delivery Partners, including the establishment of projects in the Performance Assessment Tool.
• Create and review oneUNOPS Purchase Orders and Request for Payments to facilitate Grant Payment Process.
• Help to collate information of individual grant performance into quarterly portfolio reports for the substantive and financial performance of the grant portfolio.
• Update on a continuous basis the UNOPS Internal Tracking Database for GCF Projects and GCF’s FLUXX Database.
• Support the monitoring of cash flows, including the GCF Financial Buffer, to ensure liquidity in accordance with the progress of work, and draft cash replenishment requests as required.
• In cooperation with the UNOPS Finance Team, support the preparation of quarterly financial reports and the annual financial report as per the donor agreement.
• Assist in preparation of Quarterly Progress Reports for GCF and UNOPS Project Board.
• Support in reviewing audit reports and help take corrective action subject to Project Managers approval.
• Notify Delivery Partners on upcoming reporting requirements (Interim Progress Report and Completion Reports and financial reporting) as per directives from the supervisors.

• Support verification that all obligations with regards to the grant are fulfilled by the Delivery Partner.
• Assist in the review of the final financial report submitted by the grantee.
• Provide support to initiate the grant closure process.
• Work with the UNOPS Finance Team to ensure that financial statements are prepared and shared with the funding source as required.
• Draft grant closure notification for the Project Manager’s approval

• Provide support to Project Manager, ensuring that relevant project support functions requiring programme and operational support are provided in a professional and timely manner.
• Contribute to identifying Risk, lessons learned and Issues and enter relevant information in oneUNOPSproject following Project Manager Approval.
• Assist the Project Manager in preparation of all relevant products as per the Project Management Manual including stakeholder mapping and Standard Operating Procedures.
• Support the Project Manager in terms of knowledge management in the areas of portfolio and grants management from both a substantive and financial perspective
• Support development and upkeep of records, logs, reports and other documents, as required by the GCF.
• Facilitate and ensure provision of administrative, travel, procurement, HR and logistics support required for the project, with inputs from other WEC units, as relevant.
• Help ensure that all relevant project documents and administrative files are maintained as per corporate requirements.
• Support the Project Manager in the organization and management of periodic Project Board Meetings, including preparing presentations, sharing of documents and minute taking.
• Attend the biweekly coordination meetings with GCF and draft minutes for Project Manager approval.
• Assist in the active assessment of portfolio performance with a view to assure quality assurance, support the quarterly quality assurance process.
• Support the Project Manager in communication with internal and external stakeholders.
• Perform any other tasks as assigned by the supervisor.

V.  Knowledge management and innovation

• Support the compilation of lessons learned as per defined reporting format.
• Providing sound contributions so that Local capacities are built at every level and opportunity for Project Management Support.
• Contribute to the dissemination and sharing of best practices and lessons learned for planning and knowledge building.
• Contributes feedback, ideas, and internal knowledge about processes and best practices and utilize productively.

Contract type: Local ICA

• 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
• 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.