Project Management Specialist [Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism

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.

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.

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.

UNOPS is an implementing partner of United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism for the International Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter-Terrorism (BI Hub).

The ‘International Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism’ has been established as a UNOCT Programme Office in Doha, the State of Qatar, through an Agreement signed between UNOCT and the State of Qatar on 15 December 2019, as well as a contribution agreement signed on 8 December 2020,  to perform three core functions: (conduct and advance research in behavioural sciences to better understand the drivers and factors contributing to radicalization leading to violent extremism and terrorism; provide capacity-building assistance to Member States, regional organizations and civil society partners to develop and implement programmes, projects and initiatives that integrate behavioural insights to counter terrorism; and promote communication, outreach and partnerships to share knowledge, expertise, experiences and lessons learned on behaviourally informed counter-terrorism interventions.

Behavioural insights, through a combination of diverse disciplines such as psychology, behavioural economics, cognitive science and social science, examines how people think, behave and make decisions. This approach focuses on understanding what actually influences the decisions and behaviours of people, rather than relying on assumptions of how they should act based on traditional models. In doing so, it ensures policies and programmes reflect actual needs and motivators for greater impact and effectiveness. 

Insights from behavioural science help us gain a better understanding of the threat of terrorism and violent extremism, which require evidence-based research and analysis of individual, social, contextual and structural factors impacting upon human motivations, actions, interactions and responses. There is no single set of drivers that push or pull an individual into violent extremist action. Research shows the presence of certain recurrent drivers, which either in isolation or in combination with other factors, lead to radicalization and violent extremism conducive to terrorism. Many of these drivers have behavioural roots and require behavioural tools delivered through mechanisms such as education, strategic messaging, rehabilitation, youth empowerment, employment facilitation, skills development, community engagement, gender equality, inclusion and conflict resolution. 

A behavioural insights approach enables the identification of risk and resilience factors and the development of empirically validated interventions for policymakers and practitioners to effectively prevent and counter violent extremism.

Under the overall guidance of the UNOCT Office in UN Headquarters and supervision of the Chief of the Programme Office, this position will support the implementation of its programme of activities. The incubent will contribute to research and capacity building in behavioural sciences to better understand the drivers and factors contributing to radicalization leading to violent extremism and terrorism.

The incumbent of this position will be a personnel of UNOPS under its full responsibility.

Under the supervision of the Senior Portfolio Manager, the incumbent of this post will be responsible for the following specific tasks:

• Coordinates and liaises with project/programme counterparts and other key stakeholders, including UN entities and other international and regional organizations, civil society and the private sector, when appropriate and as necessary, for the effective organization and delivery of technical assistance and capacity-building activities;
• Contributes to conceptualizing, planning, organizing and implementing technical and capacity building assistance activities aimed at strengthening the capacities of relevant counterparts to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism;
• Provides support to policy development, reviews the assessments of issues and trends, preparation of evaluations and research activities and studies;
• Provides substantive expertise in the organization of consultative meetings, conferences, workshops, seminars, and delivery of training sessions; to include proposing agenda topics, identifying participants and speakers, preparation of documents and presentations, etc.;
• Independently conducts research and analysis, and presents information gathered from diverse sources related to behavioural insights to prevent and counter terrorism;
• Reviews and analyzes a variety of data sources to uncover meaningful insights and provide recommendations to stakeholders and internal teams;
• Reviews, analyzes and interprets information gathered, identifies problems/issues and prepares conclusions;
• Prepares and contributes to various written outputs, including progress reports, background papers, analysis, sections of reports and studies, inputs to publications, practical guides and applicable tools etc., and exercises quality control over technical inputs to publications and other technical assistance tools. At least 1 knowledge product is to be produced before the end of the assignment with a topic to be agreed on during the first month of the contract.
• Supports the team of the Behavioural Insights Hub in planning and implementing initiatives using knowledge products and good practices on the application of behavioural insights in PVE/CT programming, tailored to the local context;
• Perform other duties as may be reasonably required and in line with the incumbent’s scope of services above.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

• Timely delivery of outputs as outlined in the Terms of Reference. Quality of materials produced and approval of all products/deliverables/outputs by the Senior Programme Management Officer.

*FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY"
*CANDIDATES WITH NO UNITED NATIONS OR UNOPS EXPERIENCE ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY


Education 

Language

• 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.

1. Contract type: Individual Contractor Agreement (ICA) 
2. Contract level: ICA 2
3. Contract duration: Open-ended (subject to funds availability 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.