Quantity Surveyor- Retainer

Located in Nairobi, Kenya, the Kenya Multi Country Office manages a growing portfolio of engagements, including associated strategic and operational risks. The KEMC sub-region currently consists of an established Operation Centre in Nairobi/Kenya which manages a portfolio of engagements in multiple countries in East and South Africa. This includes transactional projects in partnership with the Nairobi based UN Agencies, UN-Habitat and UNEP, and multiple ‘operational’ projects in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and island states.

Since October 2017, the Province of Cabo Delgado, the poorest in Mozambique, has been experiencing an armed insurgency focused on State targets and civilians. Core grievances that have fuelled the conflict include regional imbalances, which have worsened the historical marginalization of the province; exclusion, particularly of the youth, from access to power, land and resources; the capture of the provincial government by elites; and the reported use of violence to secure the interests of local power brokers. 

The conflict is also said to be driven by external factors, including the illicit cross-border trade in minerals and resources, and support from foreign fighters. On the other hand, the province is the location of considerable investments in infrastructure to support extraction of petroleum, natural gas, and mining. This situation has fueled the perception that the local population is excluded from reaping the benefits of extraction industries. Such grievances, along with poverty and widespread youth unemployment, is considered one of the drivers of the conflict in Cabo Delgado. 

The crisis in Cabo Delgado rapidly escalated in 2020, leaving an estimated 1.3 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Attacks by armed groups expanded geographically and increased in intensity in 2020 significantly intensifying social risks, especially for women and girls, people with disabilities, older persons and people living with HIV/AIDS. Reports of violence against civilians, including killings, beheadings and kidnappings, increased in 2020. The number of people displaced by the crisis more than quadrupled from March (more than 110,400) to November 2020 (nearly 530,000) with children accounting for an estimated 45 percent of the displaced. According to OCHA, more than 90 percent of displaced people are staying with host communities, whose already meagre resources are being strained by the growing influxes: in Ibo District, there are now more internally displaced persons (IDPs) than host community members; in Pemba City, more than 100,000 displaced people have arrived over the past year, on top of the original population of around 224,000. Meanwhile, 10 percent of displaced people are staying in relocation sites or in temporary sites which are overcrowded and lack privacy. These sites face limited access to safe shelter, water, and sanitation.

In addition to the massive surge in forced displacement, the attacks have caused significant damage to physical infrastructure and disruption of basic services. By end-February 2020, 76 schools had been destroyed, and by end September 2020, 619 separate conflict incidents had resulted in more than 3,000 fatalities and the destruction or closure of more than one third of Cabo Delgado’s 130 health units. Civil servants have fled, and local governments are now increasingly being run by military personnel or police. There are no government services in nine districts of Cabo Delgado, as the entire local public administration in those districts has relocated to other secure districts, including Pemba Metuge. With tensions rising between IDPs and host communities, there is an urgent need to quickly alleviate the impact of insurgency on the already constrained provision of basic services, infrastructure, livelihoods and job opportunities in those communities in order to prevent new conflicts from emerging.

To address the crisis in the North, the Government has launched a comprehensive plan for the  allocation of 70,000 families fleeing the violence into 80 relocation sites distributed in several  districts of Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Nampula. This multi-sectoral plan will  cost US$305.8 million and is expected to cover short and longer-term interventions for IDPs  and host community recovery. The WB is committing a US$ 100 million grant through its Northern Crisis Response Programme (NCRP), of which US$ 80 million will be managed/implemented by UNOPS.    

The proposed Project has four components: 

Component 1 – Building social cohesion and  resilience to conflict; 

(a) the psychosocial social support and community  peace building; and 

(b) enhance State-society trust and confidence. 

Component 2 – Provision of livelihoods and economic opportunities for  IDPs and host communities; 

(a) provision of agriculture and fisheries inputs; 

(b)  cash for work programs for youth and women; 

(c) provision of kits for micro and small  business development; and 

(d) training on entrepreneurship and business management. 

Component 3 –Rehabilitation of public infrastructure and  

(a) the restoration of basic services (water,  sanitation and electricity based on solar panels), small works for agriculture production,  education and health infrastructure and 

(b) the construction or rehabilitation of school and  health infrastructure and community services and amenities in temporary and relocation  sites and host communities. 

(c) Subcomponent 3.3. Rehabilitation or construction of community infrastructure and amenities

Component 4 – Project management and oversight: 

(a)Strengthening of technical capacity of FNDS and ADIN (Reconstruction Agency for the North) and local governments for conflict management.

(b)This component will also support project  implementation, financial management, procurement, safeguards, reporting, and  monitoring and evaluation. 

The project has passed the negotiation stage, with the Bank stipulating that the Government provide a letter of commitment and intention to sign an agreement with UNOPS to onboard UNOPS as the key implementing partner for this project. Link provided here Government Commitment Letter for AF - 31 Mar 21.pdf. 

The Quantity Surveyor shall be involved in the preparation of the bill of quantities for the design project. The Quantity Surveyor shall perform the services within the established procedural framework of UNOPS and instigated and managed by the Project Manager.

Under the overall supervision of the Project Manager, the Quantity Surveyor will perform the following tasks:

• Work closely with Architects, Engineers, Draftsmen and other professionals in the Planning of projects, scheduling of tasks and developing integrated design documentation.

•Responsible for the preparation and review of the BoQs, specifications and related documents and ensuring they meet the quality standard requirements.

• Responsible for time management in preparation of BoQs and the other related documents.

• Responsible for the preparation of preliminary costs estimates for project proposals for submission to potential Clients.

• Responsible for the preparation of Engineer’s estimates and will be responsible to withhold this from contractors to avoid collusion.

• Providing advice during the post-tender and construction stage when requested by the Client.

• Carrying out site inspections and assessments as need arises and preparing subsequent reports.

• Carrying out valuations of works and preparing subsequent reports.

• Carrying out any relevant administrative and operational efforts of the project as requested by the Project Manager.

• Responsible for carrying out financial evaluations of tenders.

• Responsible for developing the unit rates systems for the project area. He/she shall maintain a register of unit rates of materials and labour for preparation of cost estimates.

• Actively engage in knowledge sharing and improving professional skills.

• Produce all information in Portuguese and English as required.

• Participate in meetings and review documents and translate between English and Portuguese as required

Bachelor's Degree in Quantity Surveying, Building Economics or other related field is required. 

• At least 4 years relevant experience in quantity surveying is required.

• Previous experiences in developing countries and knowledge in the country context related field is desired.

• Experience working in Lusophone countries is desired.

• Experience of working with UN or other Humanitarian/Development agencies (UNOPS) will be highly regarded.

• Experience working on International /local projects in conflict/disaster prone areas will be an added advantage.

• Fluency in English and Portuguese languages is required

• Contract type: Local Individual Contractor Agreement
• Contract level:ICS 9/ LICA 9
• Contract duration:'One year initially, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability

• This is a local post. As such, it is only open to Mozambican nationals or persons with valid residence permits
• This position is not based in a family duty station
  

• 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
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
• 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.