Senior Advisor-Policy and Compliance (Programme and Operations Manual Development Consultant)

UNOPS supports partners to build a better future by providing services that increase the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of peace building, humanitarian, and development projects.  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. 

New York Portfolios Office (NYPO) supports the United Nations Secretariat, as well as other New York-based United Nations organizations, bilateral and multilateral partners in the delivery of UNOPS mandate in project management, infrastructure management, and procurement management.  

The   Sustainable Development Cluster (SDC)  supports diverse partners with their peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations. It was formed by combining the following portfolios: Grants Management Services (GMS), UN Technology Support Services (TSS), Development and Special Initiatives Portfolio (DSIP) It provides Services to partners' programmes that are designed, structured, and managed with a global perspective and primarily serving partners that are headquartered in New York.  The SDC has a footprint of approximately 125 countries.

UNOPS has signed an agreement with the United Nations to operationally support the Spotlight Initiative. 

UN Spotlight Initiative

Spotlight Initiative is the UN High-Impact Initiative to end violence against women and girls and accelerate the achievements of the SDGs. Established by the UN Secretary-General, Spotlight Initiative proposed an unprecedented and innovative approach to delivering a comprehensive package of interventions to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls that places women and girls at the centre of solutions, demonstrated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) acceleration and localization, and provided a platform for operationalization of the United Nations Development System reforms. The Initiative was launched in 2017 with initial 530+ million USD seed funding from the European Union, as well as complementary contributions from Portugal and Albania.

The Initiative has proven that a comprehensive theory of change and new way of working with a range of stakeholders, including the central role of civil society, through a coordinated, whole-of-society, whole-of-government, system-wide approach, can achieve transformative results to end violence against women and girls. An independent 2021 study found that Spotlight Initiative’s holistic model reduces the prevalence of violence up to 90% more efficiently compared to uncoordinated or siloed approaches. Having demonstrated transformative impacts and acceleration across the SDGs and given its potential for further scale up, Spotlight Initiative was designated by the United Nations Secretary-General as a High-Impact Initiative during the 2023 SDG Summit–the only cross-cutting initiative. For more information on Spotlight Initiative, visit: https://mptf.undp.org/fund/sif00;  https://mptf.undp.org/fund/sit00 and https://spotlightinitiative.org/.

The first portfolio of 34 country, regional and grant-giving programmes came to an end on 31 December 2023. In 2024, Spotlight Initiative entered its new phase, establishing the Spotlight Initiative 2.0 Fund and launching a new generation of programmes under the umbrella framework of Spotlight Initiative, applying lessons learned from its first 2017-2023 phase. With the ambition to raise an additional USD 1 billion over the next 5 years, “Spotlight Initiative 2.0” builds on lessons learned from the first generation of programmes and aims to diversify its donor and partnership base.  

Spotlight Initiative 2.0 Fund is established as a multi-donor pooled funding instrument and a UN Secretary-General’s fund, anchored in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General and the UN Development Coordination Office (UNDCO), and administered by the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTFO) as the administrative agent of the Fund and the Fund Secretariat. To date, Spotlight Initiative programmes have been implemented by 11 recipient UN organizations 

Purpose and Scope of Assignment

Under the supervision of the Senior Programme Manager / Head of Management, Spotlight Initiative 2.0 Fund Secretariat, and in collaboration with the Spotlight Initiative senior management team, the consultant is expected to: 

Review of Documentation

• Conduct a comprehensive review of foundational documents, including the Spotlight Initiative 2.0 Fund Terms of Reference, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing the Fund, agency-level MoUs between the MPTFO as the Administrative Agent and the recipient UN organizations, interim guidance notes, and the Spotlight Initiative 1.0 Operations Manual, to gain institutional knowledge and understanding of the Fund’s parameters. 
• Review relevant thematic and final evaluation reports, management reviews, and institutional assessments from the 2017–2024 Spotlight Initiative period to identify lessons learned and actionable recommendations. 
• Analyse operational manuals and guidance from other UN pooled funding instruments to identify good practices and replicable features for incorporation into the Spotlight Initiative 2.0 Programme and Operations Manual (POM). 

Review of Spotlight Initiative 2.0 Programme and Operations Manual content 

• Review the outline of the Spotlight Initiative 2.0 Fund POM with the Global Team, consolidate key sections and features as needed, and propose revisions to the Manual.
• Review already developed draft of the POM, identify gaps in information covered, consistency, alignment among sections, and suggest measures of improvement for the Manual both in terms of content as well as presentation/structure/layout. 

• Introduction 
• Spotlight Initiative Model and Key Features
• Fund Governance, Administration, Management and Accountability 
• Financial Management 
• Programme Cycle
• Civil Society Engagement
• Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation
• Knowledge Management 
• Communications, Advocacy and Visibility 
• Partnerships and Resource Mobilization
• Sustainability
• Risk Management 
• Annexes

Key stakeholder consultations

• In coordination with the Global Team and based on agreed phases of POM development, conduct inclusive consultations through interviews or focus groups with key stakeholders, including: the Global Team, MPTFO, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, UN Development Coordination Office (UNDCO), focal points from recipient UN organizations, the UN System-wide Evaluation Office, the Global Civil Society Reference Group, and others. 
• Engage with MPTFO to collect detailed information on the Administrative Agent function and ensure alignment of the POM’s business processes with the MPTFO Gateway Fund Management System–an online tool for Fund management that focuses on programme development, monitoring, reporting, and evaluations, as well as fund transfers. 
• Engage with UNDCO to ensure alignment with ongoing UN Reform efforts, joint UN programming, and UN development coordination as applied in the Spotlight Initiative.
• Synthesize stakeholder insights into concrete content improvements and refinements of the POM structure and content, in consultation with the Global Team

Finalization of the POM

• Lead the quality assurance in the finalization of the POM, integrating inputs received from the Global Team and consulted stakeholders.
• Develop visual representations (with support of the SI Global Team’s communication team as needed) (e.g., flowcharts or diagrams) of 8–10 key business processes described in the POM to facilitate user navigation. Integrate these into the manual and provide as a standalone presentation (e.g., PowerPoint or similar format).
• The POM is expected to be in the realm of 60-80 pages, with concise, accurate and user-friendly structure and layout. 

Perform other duties as may be reasonably required and in line with the incumbent’s scope of services. 

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Deliverable

1. Review of the draft of the POM: Draft of the POM is reviewed and quality assured, incorporating measures of improvement both in terms of content and presentation/structure/layout. The revised version is formally presented to the Spotlight Initiative Global Team’s senior management for input and considerations.

Expected Date of Completion

1.5 months after the start of the assignment.

Percentage of lumpsum amount payable upon completion of Deliverable

40% of the total value of the contract 

Deliverable

2. Key stakeholder consultations:  Once a draft has been approved by the Senior Management Team and deemed ready for sharing with external stakeholders, consultations with key stakeholders will be conducted as per the parameters above and the agreed plan with the Spotlight Initiative Global Team. Information gathered is consolidated and synthesized. The structure and content of the POM are refined accordingly, in consultation with the Spotlight Initiative Global Team.

Expected Date of Completion

1.5 month after the completion of Deliverable 1

Percentage of lumpsum amount payable upon completion of Deliverable

N/A

Deliverable

3. Finalization of the POM: The POM is finalized in collaboration with the Spotlight Initiative Global Team and incorporates feedback from all relevant stakeholders. Visual representations (8–10) of key business processes are proposed and integrated into the POM and provided as a standalone document.

Expected Date of Completion

5 months after the start of the assignment. 

Percentage of lumpsum amount payable upon completion of Deliverable

60% of the total contract value

Monitoring and Progress Controls

The Consultant will report to the Senior Programme Manager / Head of Management, Spotlight Initiative 2.0 Fund Secretariat. The consultant will work closely with other sub-teams/colleagues in the Spotlight Initiative Global Team and the MPTFO to thoroughly integrate all aspects of the Initiative into the new Programme and Operations Manual in consultation with UN counterparts (including the Agency Focal Point group from recipient UN organizations), civil society partners (including the Global Civil Society Reference Group), and other key stakeholders, to incorporate user feedback and implementation insights.

The Consultant is expected to exercise flexibility in the consultancy assignment to accommodate dynamically changing delivery requirements, such as adapting working arrangements based on stakeholder feedback. The Consultant will work on the assignment as needed over an estimated period of up to four months to achieve all deliverables. While the position is home-based, some international travel may be required.

1. Contract type: ICA
2. Contract level:  I-ICA 4, 
3. Contract duration: 6 Months

• 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.

• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.

• 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.

• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types. 

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.