Within UNOPS, Implementation Practices and Standards (IPS) is responsible for the UNOPS delivery practices. IPS provides thought leadership, standards and oversight as support to the successful delivery of programmes and projects within UNOPS service lines (infrastructure, procurement, project management, human resources and financial management services).
IPS comprises the Infrastructure and Project Management Group and the Procurement Group which aims to reduce organizational risks, improve project performance, and promote excellence across UNOPS projects through the Standards Management Framework; and provides organisational oversight on the application of standards. These Groups also support the positioning of UNOPS in the UN system and development sector in Infrastructure, Project Management and Procurement.
IPS also includes the Portfolio support unit which aims at supporting aspects of the organisational readiness, including the management of the corporate retainer pool and other agreements or partnerships set up to supplement the UNOPS Global Portfolio existing resources. In addition, IPS hosts the Knowledge Management corporate initiative.
Background information - IPMG
UNOPS strategic focus places increased emphasis on national capacity development and sustainable approaches to project management, procurement and infrastructure services. A key objective is to be recognized as an organization that delivers world-class infrastructure and project management, which is both economically and socially sustainable, even in the most challenging environments. To achieve this goal, UNOPS has established the Infrastructure and Project Management Group (IPMG).
Within UNOPS, it is IPMG’s objective to serve the organization’s personnel and partners by broadening their infrastructure and project management capabilities, while disseminating best practices in both of these areas. Through this work, the group helps facilitate the successful delivery of programs and projects around the world.
To achieve its objectives, IPMG has established three interrelated and interdependent work streams, namely, Strategic Initiatives, Standards, and Engagement Acceptance. IPMG is managed overall by the Director of IPMG and supported by a Programme Support Unit.
The Engagement Assurance (EA) team ensures an oversight function on the application of standards, guidance and best practice throughout the project cycle. This is undertaken through Infrastructure design review, Organizational Portfolio Management Office reviews, Risk-based Performance Assessments and hosting the secretariat for the Engagement Acceptance Committee.
As per its organizational mandate, the Design Review team ensures delivery of safe and functional infrastructure designs to UNOPS partners, incorporation of minimum engineering codes and standards to protect safety and functionality. The Design Review team ensures that these fundamental internal assurance requirements are consistently applied across all infrastructure designs delivered by the UNOPS global office network.