Security and Justice (S&J) Officer, Multiple positions

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 organizations.  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.

UNOPS Nepal Context:

Since 2015, UNOPS has engaged closely with the Government of Nepal and several development partners in development efforts of the Government of Nepal including the modernization of the Nepal Police and the post-earthquake assessment of damaged buildings and enrollment of beneficiaries into housing grant schemes. UNOPS has helped to improve policing services. It has supported homeowners engaged in the reconstruction process, retrofitting damaged houses, and reconstruction of disability-friendly schools. It has also delivered essential equipment to support COVID-19 response efforts.

The functional objective of UNOPS Nepal is to deliver its projects efficiently and effectively in alignment with government priorities following UNOPS rules and regulations. This is to drive forward the outcomes sought by the clients and funding partners and contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while ensuring gender, diversity, and inclusion are mainstreamed in all its work for the people of Nepal.

Project Information:

FCDO’s Security and Justice Programme (SJP) is a five-year programme (2023-27) with an anticipated budget of up to GBP 35 million. The programme will continue the now-completed Integrated Programme for Strengthening Security and Justice (IPSSJ)’s dual focus on tackling criminal violence, in particular gender-based violence (GBV), and supporting respective Government entities, including Nepal Police, to strengthen their services.

Building on the ongoing Launch of the  SJP (Inception Phase), the larger SJP will support more representative, accountable, and responsive policing and also help tackle gender-based violence in Nepal. The programme will contribute to the following result areas:

1.     Security and justice providers have improved their capacity to serve the public and managing relationships with communities, leading to increased public safety with increased trust from people in the state. 

2.     Security and justice institutions at the Provincial and Palika levels have effective, accountable, inclusive, and sustainable systems in line with the federal constitutional mandates to improve their skills and better manage their resources to meet people’s security and justice needs. 

3.     Decreased prevalence of GBV led by increased access to services for those who seek them.

The 2015 constitution of Nepal, envisages the devolution of policing in Nepal into 7 provincial Police Services and a Federal Police Organization (Nepal Police) in the federal sphere. How they combine to provide policing services in Nepal remains a work in progress. It will be highly complex in terms of changes in legislation, policy, administration, and organizational culture, even while standards of coordination and delivery must be maintained across the whole country. The changes will require new ways of working under SJP and create new needs to which UNOPS will seek maximum impact in its project period in at least three target provinces.

In relation to this, UNOPS, as a potential implementing partner for the FCDO, is planning to recruit Security and Justice Officers for the policing component of the SJP programme. 

Reporting directly to the Community Policing Partnership(CPP) and Gender Based Violence (GBV) Specialist (Workstream 3) the S&J officer will support the CPP and GBV prevention activities, including the mobilization of the Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment (SARA) approach and revive, build, and deepen a network of key stakeholders in order to facilitate the progress of project activities and results.

Functional Responsibilities:

• Support the Community Policing Partnership and GBV workstream in conducting and updating stakeholder mapping to ensure continuous strategic engagement with relevant stakeholders, such as provincial government officials and those deputed to them, Police personnel in key positions (including Women and Children Service Centres), and civil society organizations. 

• Engage with the stakeholders at provincial and local levels as per the stakeholder's management plan developed in coordination with the CPP and GBV Expert. 

• Provide an analysis of how context dynamics in the province inter-relate with security and justice actors, issues, and priorities, which will be reported directly to the Community Policing Partnership and GBV Expert and the Senior Project Manager as necessary. 

• Track and assess the experience and work of relevant S & J related interventions initiated by different authorities or development partners, including any obstacles encountered and lessons learned.

• Respond to FCDO interest and questions on incidents involving S&J agencies, including follow-ups to any clarifications or questions.

• Support Community Policing Partnership and GBV Expert on making evidence-based decisions for the interventions for this project, elaborated on the basis of good contextual analysis and insights from ‘target’ communities. 

• Support Community Policing Partnership and GBV Expert in making informed decisions on the implementation of project initiatives in light of the provincial and relevant local contexts and any changes in their dynamics, proposing adaptations as needed. 

• Support programmatic implementation to Community Policing Partnership and GBV Expert on:

  • Community Police Partnership (CPP) interventions, including the Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment (SARA) approach  

  • GBV interventions in the respective priority provinces

• Support other SJP partners in making informed decisions on a possible new effort to transform social norms and attitudes in a set of ‘target’ areas.

• Prepare a brief monthly and detailed quarterly report on contextual analysis and programmatic support for CPP, GBV interventions, and social norm change. 

• Support Community Policing Partnership and GBV Expert on conducting programme monitoring missions and reports. 

• Assume the role of project representative in the provinces and represent UNOPS in UN coordination as well as provide necessary support for the implementation of project activities in the provinces. 

The Security and Justice officers directly impact the achievement of Community Policing Partnership and GBV workstream results by supporting the Community Policing Partnership and GBV Expert through contextual analysis and programmatic support required for making informed decision-making on the technical needs of the targeted interventions and project management methods and strategies, reducing risks, cutting costs, and improving success rates. 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 equivalent), preferably in Law, Human Rights, or Gender Studies.

• A Bachelor’s degree in combination with an additional two (2) years of relevant professional experience in Law, Human Rights, Gender Studies, Peace and Development Studies, Political Science, Sociology/Anthropology, Business Administration, Public Administration, and or related discipline is required.

Experience: 

• A minimum of two (2) years of relevant professional experience in the security and justice sector is required.

• Experience working on community-police partnerships, community engagement, GBV prevention, stakeholder management, and coordination is highly desirable.

• Proficiency in Google Suite applications is desirable.

• Experience in auditing or compliance is desirable.

• Knowledge of quality assurance methodologies in security sector service delivery would be an added advantage.

• A strong understanding of risk management, notably safeguarding, and experience of multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams must be demonstrated.

• Previous experience working with UNOPS or in FCDO-funded projects in implementing similar projects is an asset.

Contract type: Local Individual Contractor Agreement Specialist
Contract level: LICA Specialist - 8
Contract duration: Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance

• 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 Competency Based Interviews.

• 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.