Health, Safety, Social and Environmental (HSSE) Associate

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 organisations. 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.

Local Context: With presence and experience in Ukraine since 2016, UNOPS has provided, on behalf of the Government and people of Ukraine, project management and procurement services to support the national reform and sustainable development agenda, environment and climate action, strengthening the rule of law, improving energy and healthcare solutions, as well as resolving economic and governance institutional weaknesses.

On 24 February 2022, the military of the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine, with strikes across the territory of Ukraine. Since then, Russia’s invasion imposes a severe humanitarian and socio-economic toll, global energy and food crisis, large-scale destruction of the country's infrastructure, and disruptions in the provision of critical services and degradation of social fabrics and communities’ ties, triggering one of the world’s most significant forced displacements. 

Severe attacks on energy and critical infrastructure facilities leave millions of people without electricity, water or heating supply, struggling to access water, food, health services, materials to repair homes, among others. The continued attacks cause substantial damage to the country’s economy and agricultural production, and also affect the poorest countries worldwide.

UNOPS support to partners spans the humanitarian-development nexus from emergency response to building back better, across the housing, health, education, transport, energy and mine action sectors, through infrastructure, procurement and technical assistance / project management interventions, with the ultimate aim of supporting the country on its EU accession and in its achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Background Information - Job-specific 

The UNOPS Ukraine Office implements projects on behalf of UN agencies and bilateral donors and in close coordination with the Government and national authorities. With an established presence across the region, the office runs operations including large-scale procurement, project development and technical management, and provides financial, human resources and infrastructure-related services. 

The functional objective of UNOPS Ukraine Office is to deliver its projects in an efficient and effective manner and in line with the principles, rules and regulations of UNOPS, to achieve the outcomes sought by the clients. 

The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS. 

UNOPS is committed to achieving a fully diverse workforce.

The Health Safety, Social and Environmental (HSSE) Associate will report directly to the HSSE Specialist and will verify and monitor that Project/Site HSSE plans and procedures are properly implemented throughout the projects’ life cycle. The incumbent needs to liaise continuously with the Project Manager/ Deputy Project Manager and the Project Team, and to provide supervision on HSSE issues during the absence of the HSSE Specialist.

Key responsibilities:

1. Technical Support Services

2. Office Administration

3. Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing

• Support the Project Team on various health and safety and environmental related matters in the ongoing projects.

• Assist the HSSE Specialist and Lead Engineers in developing the HS plan.

• Assist in monitoring and reporting on site-specific ESMPs for activities conducted by the UNOPS field Offices.

• Support field level review of health, safety, social and environmental management plans on a regular basis and ensure these are up to date at all times.

• Assist in coordination of the implementation, monitoring and reporting of Environmental and Social Management Tools including Labor Management Procedures (LMP), Gender Based Violence Action Plan, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Prevention Action Plan and Child Protection Action Plan.

• With the guidance of the HSSE Specialist, perform field inspections and monitoring visits to the project’s sites to highlight possible areas/issues of non-conformity (e.g. unsafe work at heights and in excavations), draft project’s health and safety related reports on occurrences, and provide statistical information.

• Ensure that relevant safety risk assessments are complied and support the enforcement of preventative measures on HSSE for all project activities.

• Support in the development and review of HSSE guidelines and operating procedures.

• Carry out a series of spot checks to ensure mitigation measures are properly implemented in line with the guideline.

• Provides general administrative services for the work area, managing the information flow, following up on the timeliness of responses for initiatives, correspondence, and queries, with internal and external stakeholders.

• Advise on administrative measures and actions required for ensuring the compliance with HSSE requirements.

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

• Record relevant project HSSE reports in line with UNOPS policies and procedures.

• Liaise with the Project Team to ensure their respective contractors meet their statutory obligations in all areas pertaining to health, safety and welfare at work, including statutory training, reporting, permit to work system, equipment utilized on site etc.

• In coordination with the HSSE Specialist, implement existing procedures for reporting all health and safety and environmental incidents.

• Carry out training and capacity building on HSSE and learning initiatives for UNOPS personnel, contractors and partners.

• High School Diploma is required;
• A Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in Health and Safety Management, Environmental Management, Civil Engineering, Natural Resource Management or any other relevant discipline will be considered as an asset and may substitute some of the required years of experience.

• With high school diploma, a minimum of 6 years of work experience in Occupational Health and Safety; 
• Experience in H&S risk assessments OR on site inspections OR permit to work system OR incident investigation OR H&S reporting; 
• High proficiency with computers, and other software/ platforms related to the position's field of expertise. 

• Fluency in Ukrainian is required
• Intermediate level in English is required.

Contract type: ICA
Contract level: Local ICA Support
Contract duration: Ongoing ICA – ‘Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance


For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:
https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx 

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.

• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures,  languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 

• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.

• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process.  If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions 

• 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 (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. For more information on a retainer contract here.

• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and 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 personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.