Partnerships Senior Officer

General Background UNOPS 

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 in our areas of expertise: infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources. Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, UNOPS vision is to always satisfy partners with management services that meet world-class standards of quality, speed and cost effectiveness. 

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. 

 Background Information - Job-specific 

UNOPS Partnerships and Liaison Group (PLG) has the mandate to support: (1) the development and expansion of new and existing partnerships, in collaboration with UNOPS headquarters groups, regions and countries; and (2) the strengthening of UNOPS positioning across the United Nations System, Member States, intergovernmental, and inter-agency bodies as required. The Group creates and maintains strategies, policies, standards, tools and templates and facilitates training related to partnerships. PLG supports the Director, Regional Portfolios to operationalize approved partnerships strategies across UNOPS regions and countries. 

PLG consists of a network of liaison offices spread globally; as well as a central team based in UNOPS Headquarters in Copenhagen. Liaison offices manage relationships with UNOPS key global partners and provide support to offices managing relations with these partners throughout the project cycle. The Washington Liaison Office (WLO) represents UNOPS in Washington, D.C. The office's mission is to strengthen the partnership with the World Bank Group, the US Government (the State Department, USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation), the International Development Finance Corporation, other DC-based institutions, and the Government of Canada.

Functional Responsibilities 

Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Head of Office and, in close collaboration with the WLO team and the Partnerships Group, the Partnerships and Communication Officer will be supporting:  

● Outreach and Communication: 

● Partnership Development and Analysis 

● Office Management Support 

Outreach and Communication: 

● Support the preparation and implementation of a local communication and partnership strategy for Washington-based partners, which aligns with UNOPS global communications and partnership themes; 

● Act as the focal point for local office communication vis a vis UNOPS headquarters;

● Prepare and coordinate high-level visits and other activities to support the strategic positioning of UNOPS with the Liaison office partner base; 

● Organise and/or coordinate events in Washington (or elsewhere) for Washington based partners; 

● Update and expand the WLO library of communications and partnerships materials (e.g. factsheets, brochures, presentations about UNOPS and liaison office’s partner base) for communications, briefings, meetings, trainings and other events; 

● Lead the preparation and update of partnerships content for the office (e.g newsletter, guidance, lessons learned, best practices) to be published in UNOPS internal platforms;

● Support refresh and delivery of WLO social media strategy, in alignment with UNOPS global social media policy and strategy;

● Guide and advise country offices on visibility and communications strategy (related to partner’s requirements) when requested. 

Partnership Development and Analysis: 

● Monitor partner development trends for Washington partners, and support the Head of Office in the identification of areas of collaboration which intersect with UNOPS mandate and capacity;

●Conduct analysis on the WLO portfolio, developing charts and graphs for internal and external use with accompanying insights;

● Advise colleagues during formulation, contracting and negotiations of projects for Washington based partners. Review reports upon request; 

● Develop guidance on partner engagement and contractualisation and disseminate in country offices; 

● Maintain institutional databases and information systems such as directories of key contacts, projects portfolio and proposals pipeline; provide data to HQ as requested; 

● Conduct field missions or support the preparation of field visits upon request. 

Office management support: 

● The incumbent will be requested to lead administrative tasks including minor procurement, office-related payments, travel support and liaising with HQ on administration duties.