Lead Construction Management Engineer

The Angolans who fulfill the requirements stated in this job advert are strongly encouraged to apply.

Located in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo the UNOPS Multi-Country office covers eleven countries: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Rwanda, and has an active portfolio of over $300 million, with many infrastructure projects. The office has developed strong working relations with 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 rehabilitation and development across health, education, public works, governance/public administration sectors; procurement, project management and sectoral advisory services; peace and security, environmental preservation and protection among others.

The Lead Construction Management Engineer is part of the UNOPS project team leading the supervision of the engineering team across the infrastructure portfolio. She/he is required to manage and coordinate the day to day activities of contractors and report directly to the Senior Project Manager. The Lead Construction Management Engineer will be expected to demonstrate the best practice techniques of key technical trades to the engineering and trades teams. The Lead Construction Management Engineer will therefore have extensive practical experience performing practical construction activities and supervising works to ensure UNOPS Quality Assurance requirements are being met, and that the Contractor carries out the Quality Control functions effectively. The Lead Construction Management Engineer should also have extensive skills in the management of Occupational Health & Safety as well as Environmental Management Standards on site. 

The Lead Construction Management Engineer will be based full time on site and is expected to travel across all project sites as required throughout the role, with regular reporting to the Senior Project Manager. 

The Lead Construction Management Engineer, specific duties and responsibilities ensuring their effectiveness, transparency and integrity are as follows:

General Construction Management :

• Assist the Senior Project Manager to monitor UNOPS Quality, Health & Safety and Environmental Management Systems; 

• Where required assist the Contractor to manage, plan and coordinate monthly, weekly and daily construction activities including monitoring site safety and construction quality; 

• Participate in construction approval and inspection activities, liaising closely with engineering and cultural heritage staff, ensuring engineering and accuracy of conservation actions within construction activities. 

• Identify and solve construction and conservation issues in a timely fashion, keeping project manager, cultural heritage adviser and engineering staff informed. 

• Manage and monitor, in close consultation with the Senior Project Manager, the project activities including project implementation plans, work schedules, budgets, facility requirements, and staffing schedules; 

• Supervise and plan for conservation requirements and detailing in close consultation with Senior Project Manager and Cultural Heritage Adviser 

• Provide technical leadership, oversight, advice and guidance on all infrastructure work packages and work undertaken to communicate to stakeholders and other engineering project personnel; 

• Assist the Senior Project Manager with developing comprehensive project work plans clearly defining roles and responsibilities, inputs required, objectives, expected outputs, including milestone achievements and detailed work plans; 

• Review surveys, field investigations, design submittals, drawings and specifications, recommending required changes needed to provide any more cost effective solutions; 

• Ensure strict and consistent application of UNOPS rules and regulations and ensure the implementation of clear accountability mechanisms throughout the project portfolio; 

• Monitor all project activities in relation to the respective project work plans and take corrective action, when necessary, to ensure the timely and cost-effective delivery of project outputs; 

• Monitor contract obligations, develop management systems and accountabilities to ensure all contract obligations are tracked and met; Including UNOPS, contractors and clients/donor contract obligations; 

• Make recommendations on applications for extensions of time, claims for additional payment and other contractual disputes between UNOPS and the contractors; 

• Ensure the highest possible quality of delivery and devise strategies for increased project delivery and quality programming; 

• Participating in business development and stakeholder relationship building, promoting a collaborative, client focused, quality and results-oriented approach in the Project Team. 

• Participate in regular site meetings to report on relevant Health & Safety matters and to provide necessary advice. 

Reporting:

• Ensure accurate and timely reporting of progress and conditions on site through daily site records prepared and submitted by the engineering team. 

• Prepare and submit to the Country Manager a monthly (or as requested) report within 5 days of month end, summarizing progress of contractor activities, quality control issues, health & safety issues, environmental issues, resourcing and scheduling issues, and any other relevant pertinent facts as required. 

• Produce any appropriate documentation identified by the Country Manager in a professional and accurate manner 

• Support in HSSE reporting and investigations follow- up with project teams to prepare reports on incidents (including near misses) and provide information for monthly HSSE reporting to the country coordinator and Country Manager. 

Knowledge sharing:

• Contribute to the project evaluation process; highlight challenges associated with the project and feedback into a continuous improvement cycle. 

• Provide training and knowledge transfer to national/contractor personnel including advice on good construction and engineering practices, environmental management practices, and appropriate health and safety standards during construction. 

• Contribute to the dissemination and sharing of best practices and lessons learned for development planning and knowledge building. 

• Participate in the relevant Communities of Practice, actively interact with other Senior 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

Monitoring and Progress Controls: 

• The effective and successful achievement of results by the Lead Construction Management Engineer directly impacts the successful delivery of the project on time, budget and quality above the expectations of all stakeholders. This consequently reinforces the visibility and image of UNOPS as an effective service provider in project services and management and strengthens its competitive position as a partner of choice in sustainable development and project services. 

Education:

- Advanced University degree (Master's Degree) or PhD in Building Construction, Architectural Conservation, Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering or related discipline /field is required. 

- First level university degree (Bachelor's degree) with two (2) years additional experience in Building Construction, Architectural Conservation, Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering or relevant discipline /field can be considered in lieu of the master's degree or PhD.   

Experience

- Minimum 5 years experience in construction management or similar, managing or supervising construction activities related to the project requirements on a range of large and diverse construction projects in a developed commercial/developing environment, requiring the coordination of multiple contractors and multiple trades simultaneously is required

- Ability to deliver projects on time, within budget in a demanding cultural context with transitional government partners under challenging physical conditions and poor national infrastructure is desirable. 

- Extensive experience implementing works under complex quality and safety plans is an asset.

- Some experience in the UN system organizations and/or a developing country is desirable.

Contract type: Individual Contractor Agreement

• 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.