Purpose and Scope of Assignment
Under the overall supervision of the Project Manager, the Deputy Project Manager will be required to perform the following duties and responsibilities:
The Deputy Project Manager is responsible for supporting the Project Manager to oversee the performance of all project activities. S/he will, as required and requested, assist the Project Manager with planning the project and in obtaining commitments to complete the project within the established schedule and budget constraints. The Deputy Project Manager will also, as directed, liaise and coordinate with the donor, clients and other stakeholders to ensure that communications are properly distributed, understood and effectively implemented.
The Deputy Project Manager will be the lead individual in managing project administration and maintaining timely and accurate records of all financial, contractual and personnel related matters. S/he will be responsible for these functions, on behalf of the Project Manager, with support from other project personnel.
The duties and responsibilities of the Deputy Project Manager shall include, but are not limited to:
General Functions
- Provide support to the project team in ensuring the compliance with the project’s provisions and aspects of the other/residual agreements with UNOPS;
- Draft, edit and manage the compilation and submission of periodic project progress reports to donors in a timely manner;
- Serve as the focal point for liaison and coordination with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Embassy of Japan (EoJ) regarding project matters;
- Manage the public relations aspects of the project, e.g., project start-up and closure ceremonies;
- Assure the project’s compliance with the terms of agreement, e.g., compliance with co-branding & marketing strategies, compliance with project plans on environmental mitigation and other cross-cutting issues;
- Coordinate with the AFOC Programme Management Office (PMO) to formulate project monitoring and evaluation frameworks and data gathering;
- Draft official correspondence to JICA and/or EoJ on project matters;
- Keep abreast of developments with Donor priorities and assistance in country;
- Support the Director’s office, and the Business Development Unit as required;
- Collect/update information related to other Government of Japan or JICA funded opportunities and analyse the possibilities to develop projects in Afghanistan;
- Determine the proposal concept by identifying and clarifying opportunities and needs, attending all required meetings;
- Contribute to the development of proposals and budget, in response to donor requirements;
- Provide regular update on the Business Acquisition status to the AFOC Partnership Development Office and support the development of and maintaining and strengthening of the key strategic partnerships with potential donors and clients, especially focusing on Japan;
- Assist with the completion of the project within the budgeted cost, schedule and quality requirements;
- Support project planning, monitor and evaluate project engineering design and construction activities;
- Participate in identifying, mitigating, and monitoring project risks.
- Assist with AFOC’s ongoing management of Asian donor partnerships.
In supporting the Project Manager, the Deputy Project Manager will assist with all aspects of the project life cycle. S/he must be able to apply, with some degree of autonomy, the below duties and responsibilities of the project success criteria:
Stakeholder Management:
- Establish solid working relationship with the project board (Executive, Senior Users and Senior Suppliers), client and key stakeholders;
- Manage communications and ensure stakeholders are aware of project activities, progress, exceptions and are in a position to accept handover products;
- Advise the client on issues that may impact the achievement of their outcomes (including issues of sustainability and post project requirements such as maintenance);
- Manage the information flows between the Project Board/OC Director and the project;
Delivery and Performance:
- Assist with the production of budget estimates for project deliverables;
- Analyse requirements for clarity, completeness and consistency;
- Support the development of coherent work plans and budgets for all activities in the project;
- Upon commencement of project implementation, assists in the management of finance, human and information resources to maintain a good project management system;
- Assist with the preparation of Terms of Reference for project staff, manage staff recruitment and performance reviews;
- Where required, prepare technical specifications, bidding documents; manage tendering process, tender evaluation and contractor selection.
- Assist with and participate in internal and external reviews;
- Provide quality assurance support;
- Support the maintenance of all works efforts, to ensure they are delivered on time, to cost and quality standards;
- Seek to identify any project obstacles, barriers or any unanticipated risk events;
- Assist the Project Manager to plan, monitor and evaluate project procurement and contracting processes;
- Ensure the integrity of financial and administrative operations in the project area by oversight of financial and budgetary aspects of the project, in consultation with the Project Manager, Head of Programme and the PMO staff;
- Ensure strict and consistent application of UNOPS rules and regulations and ensure the implementation of clear accountability mechanisms throughout the project portfolio;
- Ensure that the human resources needed for project implementation are identified, recruited and managed in accordance with the project staffing requirements and UNOPS Rules and Regulations;
- Ensure the highest possible quality of delivery and devise strategies for increased program delivery and quality programming.
- Manage the public relations aspects of the programme, e.g., project start-up and closure ceremonies.
Project Control
- Track project execution by ensuring timely and adequate reporting, for the project manager, against plans including providing timely and articulate progress reports;
- Monitor all project activities in relation to the respective project work plans and take corrective action, when necessary, to ensure the timely and cost-effective delivery of project outputs;
- Assist the project manager with the maintenance and dissemination of the project’s communication management plan, to facilitate the dissemination of information and reports to all key stakeholders;
- Monitor project progress, identify improvement opportunities, assist with the revision of work plans and advice the project manager of possible adjustments to meet the project objectives;
- Monitor contract obligations, develop management systems and accountabilities to ensure all contract obligations are tracked and met, including UNOPS, contractor and client/donor contract obligations.
Project Close-out
- Participate in lessons learned sessions;
- Identify ways to improve project processes or products;
- Handover all project documentation to the Project Manager for archiving.
Other
- Assist with the management of personnel allocation;
- Where authorized, seek to promote business development and stakeholder relationships;
- Undertake occasional mission travel in and outside the country when required;
- Prepare comprehensive technical reports and project proposal documentation, to support technical presentations and briefings to donors and other stakeholders as required;
- Where directed, represent UNOPS at Inter-Agency forums, donor meetings, community groups and meetings.
The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.
Knowledge Management:
- Participate in the relevant UNOPS Communities of Practice (COP);
- Actively interact with other PMTs and the PMT community to share case studies, lessons learned and best practice on the Knowledge System;
- Provide feedback to Practice Leads on policy, supporting guidance with an aim towards continuous improvement of UNOPS policies;
- Complete lessons learned as per reporting format;
- Incorporate lessons learned from others as per planning format;
Personnel Management:
Under the overall supervision and guidance from the Project Manager, assist with the following:
- Lead and motivate the project management team;
- Ensure that behavioural expectations of team members are established;
- Ensure that performance reviews are conducted;
- Identify outstanding staff and bring them to the attention of the OC Director;
- Have a thorough understanding of UNOPS personnel contract modalities (including ICA and Staff);
- Select, recruit and train team as required by project plans;
- Perform the Team Manager role, unless appointed to another person(s);
- Perform Project Support role, unless appointed to another person or corporate/programme function;
- Ensure safety and security for all personnel and comply with UNDSS standards;
Core Values and Principles:
- Understand and respect UNOPS sustainability principles
I. Look for ways to embed UNOPS sustainability principles in day to day project management;
II. Seek opportunities to champion gender equality at work place;
III. Champion and communicate project’s sustainability aspects with key stakeholders;
- Understand and Respect National ownership and capacity
i. Understand the principles of the Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness and mainstream them into the project plans;
ii. Seek opportunities to recruit qualified local staff;
iii. Look for ways to build capacity of local counterparts;
- Partnerships and Coordination Understand the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and UNOPS, the project’s place in the UN system
i. Strive to build strong partnerships and effective coordination among relevant project actors (e.g. United Nations, governments, and non-governmental organizations or other relevant partners);
- Accountability for results and the use of resources
i. The project management processes are designed to deliver maximum accountability, transparency and results. If a project or processes is not in line with this, it is the responsibility of the PM to raise the issue with a supervisor;
i. Contribute to innovation and the adaptation of best practice standards of sustainability and quality;
3. Monitoring and Progress Controls
General:
Under the overall supervision and guidance from the Project Manager, assist with the following:
- Ensure that the project(s) produce(s) the required products within the specified tolerance of time, cost, quality, scope, risk and benefits.
- Assist the Project Manager to ensure that the project produces a result capable of achieving the benefits defined in the Business Case.
- Contribute to the overall business targets and needs.