UNOPS strategic focus places increased emphasis on national capacity development and sustainable approaches to project management, procurement and infrastructure services. A key objective is to be recognized as an organization that delivers world-class infrastructure and project management, which is both economically and socially sustainable, even in the most challenging environments. To achieve this goal, UNOPS has established the Infrastructure and Project Management Group (IPMG).
Within UNOPS, it is IPMG’s objective to serve the organization’s personnel and partners by broadening their infrastructure and project management capabilities, while disseminating best practices in both of these areas. Through this work, the group helps facilitate the successful delivery of programs and projects around the world.
To achieve its objectives, IPMG has established three interrelated and interdependent technical streams, namely, Strategic Initiatives, Standards, and Engagement Assurance, that are supported by the Portfolio Support team. IPMG is managed overall by the Director of IPMG.
The Portfolio Support (PS) team aims to (a) support aspects of the organizational readiness of UNOPS, and (b) manage IPMG operations.
Organizational Readiness
Organizational readiness is focused primarily on UNOPS mandate in infrastructure, project management and procurement. It aims to cover the ad-hoc resource needs of the Regional Portfolios to implement the corporate strategy and address the needs of donors.
The PS team supports the UNOPS global portfolio by supplementing their existing resources on demand. This support includes administering the Corporate retainer pool and developing/co-managing other agreements and partnerships.
Support for IPMG operations
PS provides timely support to IPMG on operational aspects and takes a coordination function in the areas of human resources (HR), general administration, communication, finance and procurement by working in close relationship with other Headquarter (HQ) units, notably the Shared Services Center (SSC). PS also manages the Project of the Year Award (POTYA).
Background Information – Job Specific
Under the overall management of the Portfolio Support Manager and direct supervision of the Communications Senior Officer, the PS Intern will have a primary focus on supporting communication activities in addition to providing overall support to the services provided by the PS team. S/he will also promote a client-oriented approach to deliver high-quality support services.
The successful candidate will be responsible for supporting a variety of tasks and work packages as a part of her/his internship period. We are seeking qualified applicants who have strong communication skills and capacity in desktop publishing software and website management. The successful candidate must be client/service-oriented as well as structured, organized and detail-oriented. In addition, the incumbent is expected to demonstrate willingness and ability to learn all online tools managed by IPMG, provide guidance and assistance as required to IPMG personnel and overall continually improve required technical skills under the guidance of the Communications Senior Officer. The incumbent’s support will be focused on, but not limited to, communication activities.
One flagship project to be delivered under this internship is the Project of the Year Award (POTYA). It is an exciting corporate award that celebrates project management excellence and projects that have great impact on beneficiaries. During the award process, the PS team collaborates often with the country offices and field project teams, which would provide the PS Intern with a fair insight of UNOPS activities across the world. A second important aspect for this internship involves a number of internal and external publications to be released this year that are critical to UNOPS organizational success. The incumbent is expected to support tasks including graphic design, proofreading and layout of publications. As a Google-based organization, there is an opportunity to further develop and refine how publications are shared online. Depending on the successful candidate’s interests, s/he may be exposed to other support services (beyond communications) as wished.
At the end of this internship, the successful candidate will have gained:
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Exposure to UNOPS project management, infrastructure and procurement corporate standards and activities;
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Exposure to the Support Services area, which is a core function within UNOPS (ultimately leading to Head of Support Services career path);
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Specific experience in communications at the corporate level, another core function within UNOPS (ultimately leading to Communication Advisor career path);
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Exposure to an international work environment;
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Exposure to headquarters.
The internship is expected to start in June 2023 for a duration of 6 months.