Associate Civil Engineer - (Bridge Engineer)

UNOPS Office in Zimbabwe falls under the purview of the UNOPS KEMC (Kenya Multi-Country Office). Located in Nairobi, Kenya, the KEMC 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 Southern Africa. This includes a large portfolio of infrastructure, procurement, and project management service projects in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and several Island states.

UNOPS manages a range of infrastructure projects in Zimbabwe in different sectors including education, health, agriculture, and transport applying different implementation approaches such as labor-based and outsourced designers/contractors but always with direct supervision from UNOPS.

Following the devastation caused to life, livelihoods, and property by tropical storm Idai in March 2019, the WB has allocated up to US$ 75 million to finance a recovery project for Zimbabwe and the African Development Bank has allocated US$ 25 million. The projects address both early and mid-term recovery needs in multiple sectors (livelihoods, health, education, agriculture, transport). UNOPS manages the WB funds and has established a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) to engage multiple UN partner organizations to deliver specific components of ZIRP. UNOPS is the Implementation Agency for the AfDB project.

Purpose and Scope of Assignment

Functional Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance and direction of the Project Manager, and in close coordination with the UNOPS Engineers, Surveyor, and other personnel, the Associate Civil Engineer (Bridge Engineer) will provide his/her technical expertise to the project by contributing to ensure the Bridge is constructed in accordance with the national and international policies, guidelines and specifications. The Associate Civil Engineer (Bridge Engineer) will review the design documents, drawings, specifications, and work methodologies and will supervise the contractor’s construction activities to ensure that Project is within time, budget and to the required standard of quality as per the Project Quality Strategy and Quality Control Plan.

This list is not representative of all the duties required but indicates typical duties and responsibilities.

• Support the supervision of the Contractor’s construction activities;

• Support the project team in monitoring the performance of quality, quantity, and timeliness of construction works;

• Assist the project team in checking the quality of work done and contents of all necessary documentation;

• Responsible for day to day coordination with the contractors and suppliers according to the needs and requirements on site.

• Inspects and reports on Contractor’s works in progress ensuring that the Contractor meets the high-quality standards expected by UNOPS.

• Checks Contractor’s set out and works, including compliance with Contract Specifications, and ensures that contractors comply with their work plans to complete work within the specified time frame.

• Provides support and guidance to the contractor and assists in resolving site problems, as necessary.

• Attends daily the project site(s) in order to monitor the progress of works, checks and ensure quality assurance plans are carried out by the contractors, identifies the existing problems, and provides appropriate solutions through the application of sound engineering standards in consultation with the Project Manager.

• Responsible for preparation of progress reports on construction activities, according to the agreed timeframe of works and submission of such on a weekly basis to the Project Manager.

• Review the Contractor’s QA/QC Plan and inspection testing plan (ITP) to ensure sampling, testing, and inspection of materials are carried out regularly and works are implemented in compliance with construction drawings and technical specifications;

• Ensure the safety and health of everyone involved in the project and general public by identifying risks and threats, planning, implementing and maintaining internationally acceptable safety standards in all aspects, at all stages of the project;

• Support the assessment of work activities of contractor/s, measurements of completed work, and make recommendations to the Project Manager for progress payments to contractors.

• Responsible for the preparation and verification of a database for the available materials shipped to the project, schedules of the labor force, and monitoring of the quality of such during the progress of works.

• Assesses the work activities of contractor/s, measures completed work, and makes recommendations to designated UNOPS project managers for progress payments to contractors.

• Maintain records; compile periodic reports and any specific reports required by UNOPS standard procedures.

• Coordinates between Contractor/s and UNOPS including daily, weekly, and monthly reporting of project performance issues.

• Evaluates and assess works schedules and programmes, including the comparison with the schedule baselines, and report to the Project Manager accordingly.

• Checks all laboratory reports, and operation and maintenance manuals, and keeps records and reports to the Project Manager accordingly.

• Checks, verifies, and recommends approval of interim payments submitted by the Contractor/s and submits detailed reports to the Project manager.

• Assesses and reports on the project closing plans, archiving of cost and progress reports, and hands over all related reports to the Project Manager.

• Carries out mandatory site inspections (risk assessments, HSSE inspections etc) and supports community and site stakeholder's engagements.

• Prepare and maintain a proper record of daily progress reports. Assess and evaluate the contractor’s performance and resources;  

• Prepare the drafts for contractual correspondence, interpret the contract conditions and specifications, monitor the progress of works, prepare work plans, minutes of meetings, etc. Follow up on bidding and contracting;

• Participate in site coordination meetings with the contractor, project team, and other stakeholders as necessary.

• Assist the Project Manager in the preparation of project/contracts related documentations 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.

• Maintain good relations with all stakeholders and local authorities;

• Ensure that UNOPS internal policies and procedures are followed;

• Perform other related duties as required by the Project  Manager.

• Completion of Secondary School education is required;

• A Bachelor’s Degree in Civil & Structural Engineering from an accredited university will be an added advantage and will be accepted in lieu of the respective years of experience.

• A minimum of six  (6) years of relevant working experience in Civil & Structural Construction Projects is required;

• A minimum of two (2) years of experience in bridge construction is required;

• Experience working on construction sites in remote rural areas is desired;

• Experience supervising construction teams is an added advantage;

• Experience using Autocad is desired;

• A good team player and a positive attitude is desired.

• 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.

• This position is based in a family duty station. 
• The Associate Civil Engineer (Bridge Engineer) required will be based in the district of Chimanimani. 

1. Contract type: Local ICA Contractor Agreement
2. Contract level : Local ICA Support 6
3. Contract duration: Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.

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.