Senior Associate Civil Engineer (Structural Engineer) RETAINER

Jerusalem Office – UNOPS Project Management and Infrastructure Centre of Excellence

The ISSC (Previously called Centre of Excellence) was established in 2015 following a decision by the Executive Office in recognition of Jerusalem Office’s ability, capacities and maturity in infrastructure and project management. Its mandate is to provide infrastructure and project management services to the organization at global level, including MR and Jerusalem office. The ISSC’s strategic vision is to retain a pool of infrastructure and project management specialists as an asset for this organization and the continuous development in its mandated infrastructure service. It was decided by the Executive Director that the ISSC should be located in Jerusalem and work closely with the corporate practices.

Since 2015, the ISSC has been operating in continuous coordination with HQ and country offices to assist in achieving the desired results, so that they can further support their partners' projects around the world. It provided consulting; support services, leadership, and advocacy to support the Organization optimize quality of applications.

To perform Infrastructure support services in the field of civil engineering, the Senior Associate Civil Engineer will be responsible for the provision of civil engineering services to ISSC work streams, HQ, country offices, and project teams. The scope of these services will be defined with each request for services and may include technical Support, design development and design review.

The Senior Associate Civil Engineer will work in support of Standards and the ISSC work streams, and may also work directly on behalf of projects. He/she will be also required to travel in global support missions as directed by the Head of the ISSC.

The Senior Associate Civil Engineering shall be responsible to contribute to the proposed design solutions to meet the minimum requirements for life safety and functionality as stated in the applicable UNOPS design planning manual.

The Senior Associate Civil Engineer contributes to knowledge sharing and operational advice within the practice, working with a productive and collaborative approach, with colleagues at all levels and across the Jerusalem office and other Offices within the Organization of which the ISSC is engaged in providing support to.

Under the direct supervision of Head of the ISSC, and in full coordination with the Lead Civil Engineer, the Senior Associate  Civil Engineer shall be responsible of the below duties:

• Provide procedural support to the ISSC team in assuring the safety and quality of structural designs for buildings and other infrastructure. Applying his/her technical expertise and professional experience to evaluate whether the proposed design solution meets the specified requirements, and at minimum the requirements of UNOPS applicable design planning manual.

• Check process-wise that  the production of structural designs meet the high standards expected by UNOPS, while delivering the program within its time and budget constraints

• Preparation of comprehensive design documentation, drawings,  calculations, specifications, BoQs and other documents to meet the required quality and detailing.

• Highlight the need to seek additional information or explanation, if necessary, to understand the rationale for decisions contained in the design.

• Contribute to technical feedback, observations and advice that will lead to the improvement of the process for designs to meet the requirements.  

• Assist the ISSC team in completing the relevant design review checklist and/ or compiling the design review report including the feedback, observations and design review findings.

• Ensure that the identified design solution has met the functional statement of the applicable UNOPS design planning manual and is compliant with UNOPS policy for sustainable infrastructure.

• Check & verify that UNOPS design planning manual and any relevant national or international standards must be jointly applied and compliance with the more stringent standard is required.

• Check & verify that the design solution complies with and, in some cases, surpass national standards related to life safety.

• In the performance of his/her services, the Civil Engineer will provide independent recommendations to the relevant processess, free of conflicts of interests, and be able to maintain the integrity of the technical opinion against project pressures.

• Contribute to the dissemination and sharing of best practices and lessons learned for development planning and knowledge building.

• Maintain effective communication with ISSC team members and with the project team.

• Perform quality control, design review for different infrastructure design works including but not limited to:

1. RC building Designs.

2. Steel Structure

3. Road and highway concrete and infrastructure components.

4. Drainage concrete structures. 

5. Water tanks concrete structures.

6. Sewer underground structures.

7. Retaining walls. 

• Applying technical expertise and professional experience in support to design development and infrastructure assessment tasks and processes.

• Use computer-assisted engineering and design software as necessary to perform design review / design support tasks, such as:

  • Structural analysis and design softwares (ETABS, SAFE, PROTA, ROBOT, SAP, PROKON …) 

  • AutoCAD.

  • Civil 3D.

  • Project Scheduling software such as Primavera, MS Project or similar

  • BIM based software

• Knowledge of the following:

• Modern and complex principles and practices of civil/structural engineering.

• Methods and techniques of project scheduling.

• Principles of municipal budget preparation and control.

• Principles and practices of construction management.

• Structural design engineering and analysis.

• Civil and Structural Engineering regulations.

• Road engineering Structures including Retaining walls, manholes, culverts. 

• geotechnical engineering.

• Water and wastewater storage tanks regulations and practices. 

• Construction safety practices.

• A high school diploma is required.

• Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering or related field from an accredited university can be accepted and may reduce some years of experience. A master's degree in a relevant field may be accepted in lieu of a BA education and may substitute some years of experience.

• 7 years or less (depending on academic credentials) of relevant design/ design review  experience) is required.

• Experience in the development infrastructure sector is highly desired.

• Knowledge of sustainable and resilient approaches in civil engineering is highly desired.

• Professional knowledge of the local & international hydraulics , sanitation and water engineering Rules & Regulations is highly desired.

• Professional knowledge of the design standards required for a wide range of hydraulics engineering, sanitation and water engineering is highly desired.

• Good report writing and oral presentation skills are highly desired.

• High proficiency with computers in particular; AutoCAD, Water CAD, Civil 3D, Hydraulic simulation software's , G-suite, MS office, Internet, MS Project, and other related software related to the position's field of expertise is highly desired.

• Work Experience with an international Organization and/or UN Agencies is an asset. 

• A valid driving license is an advantage but not essential.

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required.

Contract type: Retainer - Local Individual Contractor Agreement 

Contract level: ICS 07 

** IMPORTANT INFORMATION **

• 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. 

• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience requirements outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to considering all candidates in a fair and transparent manner, and we value diverse perspectives and experiences, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals with diverse 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.