Senior Associate Civil Engineer (INTERNAL VACANCY)

Pristina Project Office

UNOPS’ Pristina Office reports to the UNOPS Multi Country Office in Vienna, as part of the UNOPS Europe & Central Asia Region (ECR). UNOPS presence in Pristina was established in 1999 to help the Kosovo Government and other partners achieve their development, peace and security goals and aims to enable the achievement of UN-SDG Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement through projects and tailored interventions by providing a broad spectrum of sustainable project management, procurement and HR Services to development partners in the following areas:

• Governance and Rule of Law;

• Provision of Health Sector Strengthening in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic;

• Infrastructure - Design development and Construction Project/Contract Management;

• Technical Assistance;

• Partner Personnel HR Management;

• Project Management (full service, back on track)

UNOPS (Pristina Project Centre) has a portfolio of projects that include infrastructure, procurement projects, project management support to partners and HR management of partner personnel projects with UN agencies in the region.

The infrastructure component relates to ongoing health response projects to the COVID19 Pandemic, with infrastructure activities at different stages of the project cycle, as well as planned health infrastructure upgrade, there is also a procurement component related to strengthening the health systems for COVID19 response in Kosovo that procurement of medical equipment require associated renovations of the physical infrastructure of hospitals and other health facilities.

UNOPS Pistina Office is engaged in health projects supporting the Government of Kosovo to successfully fight COVID-19 Pandemic from 2020 and continues to be engaged in 2021 in similar projects. The interest of the donor community in Kosovo is increased towards UNOPS engaging in implementation of similar projects. The Government of Kosovo agreed with the World Bank Group and the Council of Europe Development Bank for loan allocations in response to the COVID 19 pandemic.  The Government of Kosovo, respectively the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health approached UNOPS to implement these projects.

These engagements, among others consists of renovation of the part of Regional Hospitals in Kosovo respectively Installation of the internal distribution network for medical gas (oxygen) in the General Hospitals - Gjilan, Ferizaj, Gjakova, Peja, Mitrovica and Vushtrri, Expansion of capacities of the Morgue in Pristina and  supporting the COVID-19 Vaccination process in Kosovo through construction of a new national vaccine building  at the site of the University Clinical Center of Kosovo based in Pristina.

Under the overall supervision of the Project Manager the Senior Associate Civil Engineer is expected to support the implementation of the project activities through the provision of technical expertise and the application of best practices in the project implementation.

The Senior Associate Civil Engineer, who is expected to be working in the Project with frequent visits to the site, She/he will assist the Project Manager to oversee implementation of contracted works in conforming to the technical specifications of UNOPS. Any situation that may require decision making which will involve changes in the designs and plans will be brought to the notice of the Project Manager with details of issues encountered at site and appropriate recommendations.Specifically, the Senior Associate Civil Engineer will be responsible for supervision of contractors and other tasks on several construction sites and shall perform the following duties and responsibilities:

• Take timely action to prevent potential delays and/or cost overruns that can be avoided.

• Report and recommend remedial actions regarding potential delays and/or cost overruns to the Project Manager (Infrastructure).

• Provide supervision of the construction works and administer works execution as per the contractual provisions and the design specifications

• Monitor, measure and report on the works progress through the agreed Bill of Quantities (BoQ) as per the contract.

• Coordinate and review the work of the Design Consultant in design development and documentation as well as  the associated Design Review process and certification.

• Provide data and information about implementation work (Infrastructure) to the Project Manager for reporting purposes.

• Provide weekly and monthly reports to the Project Manager detailing all project matters including quality, health and safety, environmental and financial, as well as any issues relating to possible delays, cost overruns, variations and any other matter.

• Prepare project/contracts related documentation such as periodic progress reports, site monitoring reports, stakeholder meeting minutes, engineer’s instructions and variation orders, contractor’s bills review reports, certifications, client hand-over documents and contracts close-out reports.

• Prepare solicitation documents for tendering, technical areas that related to design services as well as construction works. 

• Maintain project documentation, including Payment registers, variation registers, site safety inspection registers, site diaries, instructions to contractor registers, drawing registers, visitor registers, sample approval registers, concrete test registers, progress photos, etc.

• Responsible for registering and managing issues, risks and lessons learned, etc. using oneUNOPS Project tool.

• Help oversee technical aspects of the project, contracts, and provide guidance to contractors, where required.

• Prepare meeting agendas, minutes, etc., as required, in English and Albanian, and provide translations, as required.

Knowledge Management

• Contribute to the project evaluation process; highlight challenges associated with the project and feedback into a continuous improvement cycle.

• Provide training and knowledge transfer to national/contractor personnel including advice on good construction and engineering practices, environmental management practices, and appropriate health and safety standards during construction.

• Contribute to the dissemination and sharing of best practices and lessons learned for development planning and knowledge building.

• Participate in the relevant Communities of Practice,  actively interact with other Engineers and the Engineering community to share case studies, lessons learned and best practice on the Knowledge System

• Provide feedback to Practice Leads on policy, supporting guidance with an aim towards continuous improvement of UNOPS policies.

Reporting

• Ensure accurate and timely reporting of progress and conditions on site through daily site records prepared and submitted by the engineering team.

• Prepare and submit to the Project Manager (Infrastructure) as a minimum monthly(or as requested) report within 5 days of month-end, summarizing progress of contractor activities, quality control issues, health & safety issues, environmental issues, resourcing and scheduling issues, and any other as relevant pertinent facts as required.

• Produce any appropriate documentation identified by the Project Manager in a professional and accurate manner.

a. Academic qualifications 

• A secondary diploma in Civil Engineering, Architecture, Construction Management, or another relevant technical discipline is required.

• A relevant university degree/advanced degree, either master’s level or above/bachelor’s degree / first level in Civil Engineering, Architecture, Construction Management or another relevant technical discipline is highly desirable.

b. Work Experience 

• In the case of a secondary diploma, a minimum of 7 years (3 years of relevant work experience with a university degree and 1 year of relevant work experience with the advanced degree) of progressive experience in infrastructure management (a combination of design management, procurement, site management, inspections, supervision, and monitoring) is required. Preferably, this should include rehabilitation/reconstruction of public buildings, facilities.

• Experience in working with local governments and Ministries is an asset.

• Familiarity with EU and other International Organizations funded projects (and their management and reporting requirements) is highly desirable.

• Past work experience with the UN/UNOPS and/or similar international/multicultural organization will be considered an asset.

c. Language Skills

• Excellent (written and oral) English and Albanian language skills are required, knowledge of Serbian language is desired.

• Projects IN Controlled Environments 2 (PRINCE2) Foundation and (PRINCE2) Practitioner Certification will be considered as an asset.

• Valid driver's license 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.
• 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.  
• Please note that this is an Internal Vacancy Announcement.

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.