Health, Safety, Social and Environmental Senior Assistant - Occupational Health & Safety

Sri Lanka

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 worldwide. 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 7,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical, and management expertise they need, wherever they need it. By implementing around 1,000 projects for its partners at any given time, UNOPS makes significant contributions to results on the ground, often in the most challenging environments.

UNOPS has supported Sri Lanka’s development since 1998, expanding its operations in 2005 to support the post-tsunami response and reconstruction process. Within the organization’s mandate in project management, infrastructure, and procurement, UNOPS Sri Lanka implements customized socio-economic development projects that benefit vulnerable populations and enhance national capacities. Achievements in Sri Lanka include the development of sustainable and climate-resilient infrastructure, procurement services, capacity building, and project management in the education, fisheries, roads, health, water supply systems, flood control, sanitation, and integrated solid waste management sectors. UNOPS works closely with government counterparts and communities to ensure increased ownership, sustainability, and accountability of its projects. 

UNOPS, in collaboration with the South Asia Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP), has been implementing the World Bank (WB)-funded Plastic Free Rivers & Seas for South Asia (PLEASE) Project in South Asia. Under this partnership, UNOPS has supported SACEP in executing various project components, including managing a Regional Competitive Block Grant (RBG) under Component 1 and constructing the SACEP headquarters building in Colombo under Component 3.

As the project transitions into its final stages, with most works nearing completion, UNOPS has decided to appoint a Health, Safety, Social, and Environmental (HSSE) Assistant to provide continued support for HSSE-related activities. This position will work under the supervision of the Project Engineer, who will now oversee the HSSE aspects of the project.

The HSSE Assistant will primarily be responsible for maintaining health, safety, social, and environmental standards across the project’s operational landscape. This includes ensuring compliance with UNOPS policies, local regulations, and international best practices. The role is instrumental in upholding the "Goal Zero" approach, focusing on minimizing incidents and ensuring a safe working environment.

• Support the HS Specialist in monitoring progress and implementing  work packages for the HS programme and plan including the preparation of actions to be taken on key objectives and targets from the HS plan and tracking progress against the set deadlines.

• Assist during preparation of HS reviews and inspections by organizing meetings, gathering necessary documents, maintaining review records and compiling review trails.

• Support in continuous improvement of  incident management by improving hazard identification, incident reporting/investigation, and sharing lessons learned . The support involves updating incident library databases, creating campaign materials and posters and  collaborating with relevant units to ensure quality, and preparing campaign reports.

• Contribute to corporate HS initiatives and knowledge networks by assisting with the collection  of data on trends, risks, and opportunities. Share learned lessons and best practices through collaborative analysis.

• Use electronic HS systems and tools to initiate work, share information with colleagues, and help ensure proper implementation of the HS digital system for projects and facilities. Assist country teams in using key functionalities of the HS digitized  system and maintain accurate records.

• Coordinate the development and maintenance of the internal HS training files and the external HS training program including assisting the external service provider with course additions, participant enrollment, and training record analysis.

• Assist the HS Specialist with the review and monitoring of HS performance through  tracking of HS issues through the HS digital and manual systems.

• Assist the HSSE team in collecting feedback, suggestions, and internal knowledge  on occupational health and safety protocols and best practices so that this information can be utilised to create and improve  internal guidelines for health and safety processes.

• Maintenance of systems and procedures to improve communication flow within the team to meet team demands and requirements. 

• Establish and maintain constant communication with the HSSE network and provide support with updating of the HSSE intranet and screening of in-coming communication to the HSSE mailbox.

• Support the team with the creation of progress reports, dashboards, etc.; and perform any other ad hoc tasks in support of the team activities as requested.

• Provide effective administration and support on HS projects and/or  activities, as may be required in the team.

• Take minutes during meetings and finalize overall meeting reports  with input from other team members.

• Support HSSE administration tasks including procurement exercises, supporting HSSE retainers assignments and payments, and logistics and coordination prior to HSSE events, campaigns and missions.

Education:

• Minimum secondary school diploma or high school diploma.

• A university degree in Occupational Health & Safety, Civil Engineering, Environmental Management, Social Development, Sustainability or other relevant discipline is strongly preferred and can compensate for some of the required years of experience.

Language skills:

• Fluency in English is required

• Knowledge of Sinhala /or Tamil would be considered an asset

Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in HSSE is required with a high school diploma, while a minimum of 1 year of relevant experience is required with a first-level University degree preferably in Occupational Health and Safety, Civil Engineering, Environmental Management, Social Development, Sustainability or a related field.

• Experience using Google Workspace, preferably Google sheet, Google doc, Google slides and Google drive, is required. 

• Professional experience in an international context or development is highly desirable

• 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. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. 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.