Senior Programme Manager

Dual reporting lines: the incumbent of this position will report to UNMAS Chief of Programme Planning and Management Section, and ultimately to UNMAS Director on designing and implementing field programmes in accordance with UNMAS mandate and strategy, and will report to Director, PSC on operational management, efficient/effective use of resources and compliance against the UN and UNOPS rules and regulations.

The incumbent of this position will be entrusted with the following duties: 

Stakeholder Coordination and Relationship Building

• Liaise, negotiate and coordinate with national authorities with respect to capacity-development programme/projects;

• Participates in international, regional or national meetings and provides programmatic/substantive expertise on an issue, or hold programmatic/substantive and organizational discussions with representatives of other institutions;

• Identify and build relationships with national institutions, respective governmental authorities, donors, and international partners, including UN agencies, engaged in addressing the issue of mine action and its impact on local communities.  The PM will also advocate and provide advice to relevant stakeholders on all mine action issues, and do so in accordance with recognized international standards, and in acknowledgement of the relevant international treaties;

Expected result: All stakeholders are regularly informed of the status of the programme in the respective country on a timely basis.

Strategic Policy, Advice, and Advocacy

• Provide policy guidance to the Chief of Programme Planning and Management Section on conceptual strategy development and management of the implementation of overall strategies and mandates;

• Provide substantive input in the preparation of position papers and reports for presentation to intergovernmental bodies such as the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budget Questions, Committee for Programme Coordination, the General Assembly, the Security Council and other policy-making organs, as appropriate;

• Identify broad UNMAS strategies required for the development and implementation of the mission’s work programme;

• Develop and maintain a mine action concept of operations and a mine action plan under the guidance of the Director of UNMAS and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) or the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG) and in cooperation with peacekeeping and political missions, UN agencies, local authorities and other relevant partners;

• Provide technical advice and guidance to other UN agencies and partners when requested.

Expected result: The strategic activities of the local government and international stakeholders are in accordance with UN objectives and, aligned, where applicable, to the relevant international mine action treaties, and achievement of obligations made under these treaties. 

Project Management, Delivery, Administration and Performance of UNMAS funded activities

• Coordinate and ensure the necessary strategic and  managerial, support required for the fulfilment of the UNMAS mandate are carried out in a responsible and timely fashion and are in line with UN quality standards and institutional values. This support includes areas such as planning, budgeting, project and financial reporting, recruitment and human resources management, logistics, communications, staff training, and monitoring and evaluation and programmatic and substantive reviews.

• Provide programmatic and substantive reviews of drafts prepared by others;

• Responsible for establishing and maintaining a database of landmine and ERW-related information, and a master map of mine-affected areas. Actively seeks the information necessary to update and refine this database. He/she will act as the point of contact for, UN agencies, nongovernmental organizations and other organizations seeking information on the mine/ERW situation;

• Capacity Development: actively empower and support key local stakeholders to develop and implement a plan for transition, in order to transfer mine action responsibilities to national authorities;

• Approve draft Statements of Work (SOW) for inclusion in Requests for Proposals (RFP) issued by UNOPS for proposed mine action and ERW activities in the projects target country;

• Promote and support compliance with technical, safety and quality international standards and guidelines;

• This position may also entail safety and security responsibilities within the geographical area of responsibilities of operation to include the protection of all personnel, assets, property and information belonging to UNMAS/UNOPS established offices and programmes;

• Depending on the role this position will be assigned to within the project administration setup in a specific country/programme (i.e. office structure, DOAs, ATLAS functions, segregation of duties, etc.), the incumbent will have responsibilities determined by UNOPS rules and regulations embodied in its regulatory framework - Organizational Directives, Administrative Instructions and other documents as periodically issued and updated by UNOPS. Reporting lines with regards to compliance with UNOPS rules and regulations are ultimately to UNOPS Director PSC through Portfolio Manager. In addition, division of responsibilities when it comes to administrative processes in support of the programme objectives will be as determined for each country office and confirmed in writing by UNOPS Director PSC.

Expected result: UNMAS budget(s) are delivered within spending deadlines and in accordance with UN/UNOPS Rules and Regulations.

Resource Mobilization and Management

• Contributes to the reporting to donors and intergovernmental bodies on budget/programme performance or on programmatic/ substantive issues, as appropriate;

• Actively participate in the development and implementation of a resource mobilization strategy targeting in-country funding opportunities: a strategy that includes timely and appropriate acknowledgement at both national and international levels of current and past donors contributions and their impact;

• Provide input to the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) and the annual Portfolio of Mine Action Projects;

Expected result: Timely and accurate financial reporting. Funding opportunities within the programme country are optimized through an active strategy to pursue opportunities, supported by a timely recognition of current and past donor contributions.