Civil Engineer

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners' peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world.  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.  With over 6,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical and management knowledge they need, where they need it.  By implementing around 1,000 projects for our partners at any given time, UNOPS makes significant contributions to results on the ground, often in the most challenging environments.

UNOPS strategy for Ethiopia Multi-Country Office is aimed at providing support to the Government and people of Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti through the delivery of projects and services in line with the governments’ own priorities and also under the UN Delivery as One initiative. The UNOPS Ethiopia Multi-Country Office (ETMCO) has been established as an organizational mechanism to deliver a range of projects for which UNOPS has been appointed as the implementation agency. At present, the UNOPS ETMC office is implementing and negotiating a number of projects in a range of sectors including infrastructure development, Procurement Support to Government Ministries and other UN agencies, and  HR support to UN agencies. The functional objective of UNOPS ETMCO is to deliver projects in an efficient and effective manner, to achieve the development outcomes sought by the Government of Ethiopia and the donor community, where capacity building is always considered and encouraged. 

Project background 

This program is designed to address insecurities of vulnerable communities of Abu Kershola and Dallami localities of South Kordofan State and UWS in Darfur of Sudan, who were most severely affected by the conflicts and following mass displacement and large numbers of returnees. The program will utilize a multi-sectoral human security approach to address the most urgent humanitarian needs while paving pre-conditions for development through strengthening the access to basic services and WASH, livelihood systems, education, and protection measures, after removing landmines and ERW in and around the community. The project by UNOPS as part of a wider program consisting of six UN agencies, (UNOPS, UNMAS, IOM, FAO, WHO AND UNICEF) for providing an innovative approach of joint programming to the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS

The overall objective of the project is to restore human dignity and self-sufficiency for vulnerable populations in Dalami and Abu Kershola localities by Improving access for humanitarian response and social services to humanitarian and development actors and populations and capacity building

Position Background

As part of the UK Government's support for Sudan’s efforts to move, where possible, to longer-term and more sustainable development, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO) has supported UNOPS to implement the “Urban Water in Port Sudan” project. The project is aimed at increasing the availability and reliability of water sources in Port Sudan. The project output to date enabled access to clean drinking water for an estimated 40,000 people, in the states, and the project also supports improved water supply management in two further states.

The UW4PS project has three key components:

 Infrastructure maintenance, upgrading, and expansion to provide access to water to 40,000 people in Port Sudan.

 Capacity building of urban water authorities. Capacity building initiatives are underway in all four towns, using problem-driven analysis and project-based improvement strategies. The projects are results-focused and integrate across HR, logistics, procurement, and technical aspects. Capacity building supports institutional strengthening with limited training of individuals, the latter being focused on on-the-job training and specially developed training sessions, rather than external courses.

Institutional capacity urban water utilities in Port Sudan. This component represents knowledge management, dissemination, and upscaling initiative, to share learning and commence interactions at the Federal level to address systemic challenges facing utilities.

Under the overall guidance of the Senior Project Manager, the Civil Engineer is required to perform the following specific duties and responsibilities ensuring their effectiveness, transparency and integrity:

Coordination, Delivery, and Performance

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

• Inspects and report on contractor’s works in progress ensuring that the contractor meets UNOPS quality standards;

• Provide support and guidance to the contractor and assists in resolving site problems, as necessary;

• Responsible for supervision of technical staff and consultants assigned to the project, and the assignment and monitoring of duties during the progress of works;

• Embed sustainability dimensions including social and gender inclusion, as well as Health, Safety, Security, and Environmental (HSSE) aspects into the project during the design and construction phases;

• Ensure PSEA measures are implemented throughout the project implementation, as per the country PSEA action plan;

Governance, Monitoring and Reporting:

• Check contractors’ and suppliers set out and works, including compliance with contracts specifications and ensures that contractors and suppliers comply with their work plans to complete work with specified scope of work, time frame, and budget;

• Attend daily the project site(s) in order to monitor progress of works, identify the existing problems and provide appropriate solutions through 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;

• Assess and report on the project closing plans, archiving of cost and progress report and hand over all related reports to the Project Manager;

• Evaluate and assess works schedules and programmes, including the comparison with the schedule baselines and reports to the Project Manager accordingly;

• Check all laboratory reports, operation and maintenance manuals, and keep records and report to the Project Manager accordingly;

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

Administrative Tasks:

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

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

• Check, verify and approve the interim payments submitted by the Contractor/s and submit detailed reports to the Project Manager.

• Perform other related duties as required from Project Manager.

•  Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized University in Engineering, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, or Construction Management or related fields is required. A Master’s Degree from a recognized University in the above mentioned fields is desired.

• Two (2) years of work experience in engineering field working specifically in civil works design or supervision of engineering works or implementation of building construction projects in the region is required

• At least one year of experience working on “AutoCAD” (latest Versions – 2009 and higher) is required.

• Work Experience with an international organization and/or UN agencies is an asset.

• High proficiency with computers, and other software/ platforms related to the position's field of expertise. Good experience in working with the G-Suite platform including, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Sheets, Docs, and Slides is desired.

• Fluency in writing, reading and oral  English and  Arabic 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.  

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 : Local Individual  Contractual Agreement
2. Contract level: LICA-8
3. Contract duration : ‘Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.’