ICT Senior Officer

UNOPS supports partners to build a better future by providing services that increase the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of peace building, humanitarian and development projects.  Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors and United Nations organizations.

The New York Service Cluster (NYSC) supports the United Nations Secretariat, as well as other New York-based United Nations organizations, bilateral and multilateral partners in the delivery of UNOPS mandate in project management, infrastructure management, and procurement management

The Sustainable Development Cluster (SDC) supports diverse partners with their peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations. It was formed by combining the following portfolios: Grants Management Services (GMS), UN Technology Support Services (UNTSS), Development and Special Initiatives Portfolio (DSIP) It provides Services to partners' programmes that are designed, structured, and managed with a global perspective and primarily serving partners that are headquartered in New York.  The SDC has a footprint of approximately 125 countries.

The Department of Operational Support (DOS) is responsible for the delivery and maintenance of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in support of operational requirements of peacekeeping missions as well as special political missions (hereinafter “field missions”). DOS is also responsible for the delivery and maintenance of the Service for Geospatial, Information and Telecommunications Technologies (SGITT) in support of the operational requirements of Peacekeeping Missions, Special Political Missions, as well as DPO and DOS at Headquarters.

SGITT is one of the fundamental components that enable substantive work of field missions. Timely and secure communications and information exchange within and between UN Peacekeeping Missions and Headquarters is critical to meet the core strategic, operational and tactical mandate of the United Nations. It is of paramount importance that robust, fault-tolerant and scalable GITT infrastructure is in place to maintain operations in the event of natural or man-made disasters, disruption in the theatre of operation, or as Security Council mandates change.

UNOPS has signed an agreement with the United Nations Global Service center to provide a critical role as the as the resilient operational hub for the support and delivery of technology services and solutions to field operations and a broad range of Secretariat and United Nations system clients. As a unified, singular service provider, SGITT provides reliable, resilient and innovative geospatial, communications and information technology services, including centralized connectivity, hosting and monitoring support, ensuring that staff members in field missions and at Headquarters have access to critical enterprise systems.

The incumbent is expected to work on eAPP - Environmental Action Plan and Performance Solution and will be responsible for:

i.          Design, testing and delivery of new and enhanced functionalities;

ii.          Solution maintenance (bug fixing, issue resolution);

iii.         Provision of business requirements’ analysis and functional requirements;

iv.         Integration with different data sources and data providers in order to provide accurate and timely business decisions; and

v.         Automate solution delivery and solution testing, with no downtime based on DevSecOps and Agile methodology.

This is a position in UNOPS for supporting projects carried out for the United Nations Secretariat.

Under the oversight of the Chief CSDS and the general supervision of UNOPS Senior Programme Manager, or their respective delegated officers, the ICT Senior Officer will work on GIS and .NET solution development, designing and developing integrated location-based solutions for UN Peacekeeping and other UN customers.

Summary of key functions and duties:

• Requirements analysis and design
• Applications development and testing
• Maintenance and support

The main responsibilities will include but not limited to the following:

1. Requirements analysis and design

• Participate in preparing user requirements and other technical specifications;
• Undertake analysis of well-defined modules within the system, develop enhancements and new features to existing systems; may design, implement systems as needed;
• Ensure data security and integrity;.
• Assist in procurement, including conducting needs assessment and benchmarks, preparing technical specifications and evaluation criteria;
• Prepare, update and maintain system's documentation and related technical/procedural manuals;
• Assist in the set-up and monitoring of software performance measures;

2. Application development and testing

• Design, develop and test software solutions, and integrate functionalities from internal GIS end external services (ArcGIS map services, GeoCortex applications, Visual Studio (C#), .NET Web API, HTML5, JavaScript, Azure authentication, tracking, public web services, OpenSource, etc.) using Agile and DevSecOps methodology, for desktop and mobile applications;
• Undertake rigorous testing and proving of applications software;

3. Maintenance and support

• Draft training materials and conduct training sessions and demonstration of systems for users;
• Maintain assigned portions of systems, providing operational support for system's applications, analyzing and implementing systems changes/upgrades etc;
• Prepare solution presentation and demoes and coordinate with clients to improve functionalities and eliminate software bugs;
• Liaise and establish adequate communications channels with the necessary units within the UNGSC and field missions to support optimal operations for applications and services;
• Provide support and assistance in responding to requests from field missions in deploying/configuring systems so as to conform to the standards;
• Integrate UN security and OR controls into developed solutions, making them in line with security rules and recommendations and enable solution’s resilience;
• Provide support to security incident response and management activities;
• Provide support in the planning, implementing, operating and maintaining of security controls;
• Provide support to draft documentation including, technical documentation, configuration and service operation manuals, project documents, presentation, and reports;

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in electronics, technical or communication engineering, computer science, geospatial sciences or related fields.
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor's degree) in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Required:

• A minimum of two (2) years of progressively responsible professional experience with the geospatial platform, web and/or mobile development and programming language or related areas;
• A minimum of one (1) year of experience with tabular and geo-database systems, software programming languages and web technology.
• A minimum of two (2) years of experience with development of .NET applications

Desirable:

• Experience on the Geocortex platform (Workflow Design, Report design, Web and Mobile applications development);
• Excellent SharePoint configuration and development experience;
• Hands on Power BI experience is highly desirable
• Experience in developing mobile applications for Android and IOS;
• Experience in automating application testing using LeapWork;
• Experience in developing with Java, Phyton and other high level development languages;
• Experience in applying Agile and DevOps methodologies and active use of AzureDevOps platform;
• Experience in applying Business Relationship Management best practices for requirements gathering and client engagement
• Experience in applying ITIL4 methodology
• Experience in coordination of application development within a team of .NET developers as well as scrum master role;
• Excellent communication skills.

• English (write, speak, read) is required for this post. 

• Knowledge of one or more official UN languages will be considered an asset.

Contract type:       Fixed Term 
Contract level:       P2
Contract duration: One year initially, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability

• 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.

Background Information - Sustainable Development Cluster 

Based in New York, the Sustainable Development Cluster (SDC) supports diverse partners with their peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations.

The SDC’s services include grants management, development and special initiatives support, and technology support to the UN and UN agencies.

The SDC is part of the New York Service Cluster that supports the United Nations Secretariat, as well as a broadening community of other New York-based United Nations organizations, bilateral and multilateral partners in the delivery of UNOPS mandate in project management, infrastructure management, and procurement management.