Project Management Senior Support Officer

Background - UNOPS WEC 

The Water, Environment and Climate (WEC) portfolio, based in Vienna and with offices based globally, is part of the UNOPS Global Portfolios Office. WEC has built strong partnerships and is effectively managing a portfolio of over 500 million USD over the last 15 years to support key initiatives with fund management, project implementation and administrative support. 

WEC effectively operationalizes partners' agendas with global approaches, as well as regional and country specific activities focused on climate action, protection and conservation of the environment. Partners profit from WEC’s ability to operationalize and/or scale up their important substantive agendas, including in support of key multilateral environmental and climate agreements,  such as the Paris Agreement, the Cartagena Convention as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. 

WEC portfolio also provides support to IATI. 

Background - IATI 

The International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) is a voluntary, multi-stakeholder network and community initiative that includes donors, partner countries and civil society organisations (CSOs). IATI’s vision and mission is to ensure availability, transparency, and accessibility of quality data on development aid. 

IATI maintains an open data standard that aims to make information about qualitative and quantitative development and humanitarian activities easier to access, use, share and understand. The availability and use of data through IATI strengthens the effectiveness of aid to address poverty and crises, and supports more informed decision-making to enable course corrections and the coordination necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Agenda by 2030.

Role of the Project Management Support Officer (PMSO), IATI

Reporting directly to the IATI Project Manager, the Project Management Support Officer (PMSO) will be instrumental in driving efficient and effective project financial management, including:

• Developing and executing robust project financial plans and reports, and 

• Ensuring the seamless execution of project activities, 

The PMSO will be a member of a lean and dynamic UNOPS IATI project team, headed by the Project Manager and supported by a Project Assistant, and will play a key role in strengthening UNOPS project capacity in delivering fit-for-purpose services to the IATI and its growing membership base. 

Summary of key functions of the Project Management Support Officer:

1. Project financial management support and reporting

2. Project management support 

1. Project financial management support and reporting

• Proactively supports project financial planning, preparation and revision of project budget based on the IATI strategic priorities and periodic workplans

• Reflects any needed adjustments to the work plans  to optimize project activities or address evolving needs from IATI members to ensure optimal cash flow and resource allocation

• Tracks incoming and outgoing cash to ensure sufficient funds are available to meet financial obligations, analyzes project expenses to identify areas where spending needs to be controlled or adjusted, and monitors overall financial activity to identify any anomalies or potential issues

• Reviews financial data with the IATI Policy & Technology Host’s focal point for Finance, in coordination and with UNOPS finance team, identifies any bottlenecks and proposes corrective actions to the Project Manager

• Supports the preparation and updates of project expenditure forecasts

• Produces project quarterly expenditure report and analyzes them for any anomalies to be resolved and/or escalated 

• Drives the development process of the IATI's customized Annual Financial Report presented at the IATI Annual Members’ Assembly Meeting, including collecting and processing relevant financial data, ensuring internal data quality and fit-for-purpose nature of the reporting templates 

• Prepares and follows up on engagement amendments in OneUNOPS

• Drafts legal agreements incl. Grant Support Agreements, UN to UN Agreements and IATI Contribution Agreements, as well as amendments to these legal instruments, and drives the internal reviews and clearances 

• Works with the UNOPS finance team to coordinate audits, reviews of reviews of grant financial reports, quarterly accrual reports, annual financial reports as per project schedules and any other finance reports as per evolving project needs

• Prepares and supports project finance closure activities, such as finalizing accounts, reconciling project budget and expenditures, and preparing final financial reporting

2. Project management support 

• Supports oversight and analysis of project key performance indicators and needed follow up actions 

• Supports the development and implementation of procedures and work flows to improve quality and effectiveness of project delivery

• Supports the drive for consistency and standardized and harmonized practices in the project management and delivery 

• Supports preparation of Project Board/Members’ Assembly/Community Exchange meetings’, including development of reports, presentations and other documentation

• Liaises with relevant internal UNOPS stakeholders to enhance and/or validate project reports before sharing with donors and partners

• Substantially contributes to building and managing the client relationship,  including internal and external communication of the IATI initiative as per the guidance of the Project Manager

• Supports effective and responsive liaison with IATI partners ensuring efficient, client-oriented and effective service delivery

• Empowers effective knowledge sharing based on identified development needs

• Supports the Project Manager in the identification and management of emerging issues and risks

• Substantially contributes to the overall project compliance with UNOPS rules and regulations

• Provides general administrative support to implement the project activities during high-peak periods including acting as a back-up resource for logistical support for missions, events and travel, including organization of tickets, hotel bookings, transfers, visa facilitation, DSA payments, etc.

 Impact of Results
The effective and successful achievement of results by the Project Management Support Officer directly affects the overall efficiency of the IATI and its Secretariat. Timely and accountable delivery of services ensures donor and partner satisfaction and promotes the image and credibility of UNOPS and the project team as an effective service provider in project services and management.  

• Advanced University Degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Project Management, Finance, Economics, Business Administration, Law, International Relations, Social Sciences and/or any other relevant field of study  in combination with an additional two (2) years' relevant experience is required;

           OR

• First-level University degree (Bachelor’s degree or equivalent) combined with two additional years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the Master’s degree.

1. Contract type: ICA
2. Contract level: ICS 9/IICA 1
3. Contract duration: Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance