Project Management Support - Associate

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.

Afghanistan

With more than 20 years of experience in the country, UNOPS Afghanistan focuses on providing maximum support to the Government and people of Afghanistan through delivery of projects and services in line with the government’s national priorities. The UNOPS Afghanistan Country Office (AFCO) serves as an organizational mechanism to deliver a range of projects for which UNOPS has been designated as the implementation agency. At present, UNOPS AFCO is implementing a number of projects in a range of sectors including infrastructure (roads, bridges, justice and security, health, and water supply) development, procurement services, HR services, capacity building, and humanitarian protection, amongst others, on behalf of the Government of Afghanistan, the international donor community, and other UN agencies.

The functional objective of UNOPS AFCO is to contribute to the achievement of the development outcomes sought by the Government of Afghanistan. The aim of UNOPS AFCO is to provide efficient and cost-effective implementation services on behalf of all our partners to support the reconstruction and development of the country. UNOPS AFCO’s mission is to exceed the expectations of all stakeholders in the delivery of AFCO’s services, at all times, in all places, in all circumstances, in order to improve significantly the lives of all Afghans in need

Under the overall guidance, direction and supervision of the Project Team Leader (TL), the Project Management Support - Associate will contribute to ensuring that the project activities are in compliance and up to date and that reporting requirements to UNOPS and stakeholders are in line with defined project objectives. The Project Management Support - Associate will be responsible to provide support for all operational aspects of the project, including but not limited to preparing initial documentations for financial transactions, preparing the reports, and covering all aspects of human resources, procurement, contracting and logistics, administration, outreach and stakeholder coordination in close consultation with the relevant colleagues.

Specific responsibilities and duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provide  support to the overall aspects of project operations related to reporting, human resources, procurement, contract management, logistics, and administration, among others

• In consultation with the Team Lead, provide support on all matters relating to the administration in compliance with established policies, procedures, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and the UNOPS Financial Regulations and Rules (FRR)

• Provide effective support to the TL on all issues relating to project operations and implementation

• Ensure accuracy, consistency, filing and record-keeping of all project documents in an efficient manner

• Provide efficient support in contract management, goods contract management and all matters relating to successful supervision and management of contracts and purchase orders.

• Liaise with UNOPS support service units for project-related administrative and operational matters such as requisitions, payments, contract management, recruitment of personnel, procurement of goods and services and assets management.

• Basic transactional  support to the PM in work plan development, update, and monitoring

• Monitor all critical project financial indicators and alert TL in case of deviations

• Provide input for the narrative progress reports and other reporting/outreach products as requested by the TL 

• Ensure smooth operational closure of the project, settlement of any pending contractual and financial commitments, full receipt of donor/client contributions, assets disposition, personnel separation, among others 

• Coordinate process of the preparation of the project due reports, in line with the setup deadlines and ensure quality and timely submission of the report. 

• Facilitate execution of any and all project issues as may be required for efficient implementation 

Education

• High School Diploma, with 6 years of progressively responsible experience in providing administrative and project operational support in the areas of financial management, human resources, procurement, logistics, contract management, assets management, and administration, or Bachelor’s Degree in Public or Business Administration, Commerce, Finance, Management, Economics, Law, Accounting with two (2) years of progressively relevant working experience.

• 6 years of relevant work experience in the field of project management with focus on monitoring, recording, reporting, and coordination.

• Experience and demonstrated knowledge of UN rules and procedures in Project Management, Procurement, Finance, HR Management and administrative rules and regulations will be an advantage.

• Knowledge of G Suit Package and handling of web-based management systems is an asset. 

• Knowledge of UNOPS/UN rules and regulations preferred

• Excellent knowledge of both written and oral English is required

• 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.