Senior Programme Manager

The UNOPS office in Cameroon opened in December 2019, and has several active projects, whose nature varies from construction, technical studies in different sectors, WASH activities, human resources management for other entities, and procurement including in the medical field (COVID-19).

The office is constantly working to expand its activities in order to support its partners in the implementation of their development programs and projects.

The Senior Programme Manager oversees the programme/project portfolio of the country of Cameroon and is expected to manage one or more highly complex or risky multidisciplinary project(s) delivering against an aggressive timeline.  Project(s) of this caliber are highly strategic and visible for UNOPS. The Senior Programme Manager is responsible for all aspects of the project life cycle which he/she manages. 

Qualified female are encouraged to apply.

Yaounde is a family duty station.

Based in Kinshasa, DRC, the UNOPS Multi country Office (CDMCO) in Central Africa covers eleven countries including DRC, RC, CAR, Angola, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, Burundi, and Madagascar. The office has developed strong working relations with the international partners, UN agencies including UN Missions and Governments across Central Africa over the years. It provides technical support and capacity building in strategic development areas including infrastructure construction and rehabilitation and development across health, education, public works, governance/public administration sectors; procurement, project management, amongst others.

UNOPS in the Cameroon provides services from its main office in Yaoundé (and presently mainly from the Hub office in Kinshasa) and will be opening offices located in several regions of the country. The organization responds to the needs of the Cameroon Government through funding from bilateral donors such as JICA and KOICA, international financial institutions such as the World Bank and African Development Bank and United Nations agencies such as UNESCO, FIDA, and UNDP. UNOPS in Cameroon provides a wide range of procurement, contract management and human resources services and aims to expand into project management, basic service provisions and other related services, specifically in economic and social infrastructure (construction and rehabilitation) and financial management in sectors such as WASH, Agriculture, Health, Environment & Climate Change Mitigation.

Under the direct supervision of the CDOH Director, seconded by the Head of Programme, the Senior Programme Manager is responsible to read all project initiation documents (PID), Legal and Financial Agreements and have a thorough understanding of the terms, conditions, and the respective roles and responsibilities of the partners/stakeholders to ensure the projects products are capable of meeting the business cases for both UNOPS and the client. Success of the project(s) and hence of the Senior Programme Manager will be based on the Success Criteria of UNOPS engagements which are linked to the below responsibilities.

The Senior Programme Manager oversees the programme/project portfolio of the country of Cameroon and is expected to manage one or more highly complex or risky multidisciplinary project(s) delivering against an aggressive timeline.  Project(s) of this caliber are highly strategic and visible for UNOPS. The Senior Programme manager is responsible for all aspects of the project life cycle which he/she manages.

S/he must be able to perform the below duties and responsibilities :

1. Stakeholder Management : 

•  Represent UNOPS on Project Boards

• Establish solid working relationship with the project board (Executive, Senior Users and Senior Suppliers), client and key stakeholders (Government, Donors/Funders, national beneficiaries);

• Manage communications and ensure stakeholders are aware of project activities, progress, exceptions and are in a position to accept handover products;

• Advise the client on issues that may impact the achievement of their outcomes (including issues of sustainability and post project requirements such as maintenance);

• Providing advice and guidance on specific and general project management issues and where appropriate rule of law and police related project support;

• Manage the information flows between the Project Board and the project(s).

2. Delivery and Performance :

• Provide senior-level strategic advice for empowering leadership by the UNOPS Cameroon Office and continued enhancements of the vision and strategies pursued for Cameroon by the UNOPS CDOH Hub Office;

• Oversee the country office programme’s projects effectively;

• Oversees  project plans;

• Advise the Project Board and supervisor of any deviations from the plan(s);

• Identify and manage risks so that maximum benefit to client and stakeholders is achieved;

• Manage and review product quality and ensure products are accepted;

• Monitor and evaluate performance of service providers;

• Identify, develop, and report potential business opportunities for UNOPS to supervisor;

• Identify and report threats to UNOPS internal business case to supervisor.

• Manage budgets efficiently;

3. Procedures :

• Ensures all UNOPS rules and regulations are adhered to

4. Knowledge Management :

• Actively interact with other PMs and the PM 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;

• Complete lessons learned as per reporting format;

• Incorporate lessons learned from others as per planning format.

5. Personnel Management :

• Lead and motivate the programme and project management team

• Ensure that behavioural expectations of team members are established

• Ensure that performance reviews are conducted

• Identify outstanding staff and bring them to the attention of the supervisor;

• Have a thorough understanding of UNOPS personnel contract modalities (including ICA and Staff)

• Select, recruit and train team as required by project plans;

• Perform the Programme Leader role and that of Team Manager role, unless appointed to another person(s);

• Perform Project Support role, unless appointed to another person or corporate/programme function;

• Ensure safety and security for all personnel and comply with UNDSS standards.

• Align with gender parity goals;

6. Monitoring and Progress Controls :

Ensure that the project produces the required products/services within the specified tolerance of time, cost, quality, scope, risk and benefits. The Programme Manager is also responsible for the project(s) producing a result capable of achieving the benefits defined in the Project Document(s). Contribute to the overall project(s) targets and needs.

Qualifications and Experience : 

a. Education 

• Master's Degree in Project Management, International Business Administration, Civil Engineering and/or Architecture, International Development Practice or other relevant discipline is required.

• Bachelor's Degree in Project Management,  International Business Administration, International Development Practice, Civil Engineering and/or Architecture or other relevant discipline with a combination of two (2) additional years of relevant professional experience in may be accepted in lieu of the Master's Degree.

b. Work Experience 

• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressive experience in programme/project management and or combination of both in either public or private sector organizations is required.

• At least two (2) experiences in public infrastructure development (construction, rehabilitation) especially in the Water and Sanitation (WASH) & Environmental sectors to include waste management experience is required.

• At least three (3) years Team Leader/ Management experience/skills is required.

• Experience in programme and/or project development with a focus on training, and coordination in either public or private sector organizations is an advantage.

• Previous experience in the implementation of complex sector-wide programme will be highly distinct.

• Previous experience with UNOPS or a UN Agency is an advantage.

• Experience/knowledge of web-based applications and Google Suite products, especially google forms, sheets, docs and slides is an asset.

c. Language requirement

• Fluent in French is required

• Fluent in English is required

Contract type: International Individual Contract Agreement (IICA)

• 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.
• UNOPS embraces diversity and it is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, or disability.
  
• 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.  
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.
• 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.