Programme Management Office Senior Officer (Grants and Contracts), Multiple positions

The Humanitarian Development Peace Nexus Response Mechanism (Nexus Mechanism) programme is established to allow innovative, tailor-made, flexible, rights-based activities along the humanitarian-development spectrum in Myanmar States and Regions in protracted crisis and/or conflict-affected.   

The overall objective of this European Union funded programme is to contribute to lasting peace and national reconciliation, security, stability and sustainable development in Myanmar by reducing vulnerabilities and building the resilience of communities affected by conflict or natural disasters. It specifically aims at providing support to conflict-affected populations, displaced populations, host communities, and returnees by strengthening the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, linking relief with rehabilitation and socio-economic recovery in conflict-affected areas and protracted situations of displacement and inter-communal violence.

UNOPS will act as the Secretariat of the Nexus Mechanism and manage the programme. The programme commenced in January 2020 and is expected to continue operations until December 2023.

Purpose and Scope of Assignment

The Grants and Contracts team, as part of the larger Programme Management Office (PMO), is in charge of managing the grants and contracts with implementing partners and suppliers.

The position will be located within the UNOPS Myanmar Programme Management Office directly supporting the Nexus Mechanism Secretariat office (UNOPS). S/he will work under the day-to-day operational and technical supervision of the Programme Management Office Senior Officer (International) in the PMO. The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS. He/She will collaborate closely and engage actively with the Programme Unit of the Nexus Mechanism. 

Under the overall supervision of the Senior Programme Manager, Nexus Response Mechanism and direct supervision of the Programme Management Office Senior Officer (International), the Programme Management Office Senior Officer (Grants and Contracts) will work to support the delivery of the Humanitarian-development-peace Nexus Mechanism programme and will be responsible for:

Grants management 

• Prepare grant awards requests, draft grant agreements and subsequent amendments, using the approved templates ensuring that all agreements and amendments are constructed and issued in line with UNOPS legal and financial rules and regulations;

• Review grant budgets, and financial reports against approved budgets, to provide critical feedback to the implementing partners, programme unit, and supervisor;

• Monitor budgets in grant proposals and verify their consistency with prevailing market rate; assist in discussion/negotiation of costs/fees as required;

• Verify reporting requirements are adhered to and liaise closely with the Programme and M&E teams and the supervisor on any delays or other difficulties;

• Review payment requests and ensure payments are processed based upon the grant agreement, agreed payment schedules, and fund availability;

• Support the Finance Officer in budgeting and forecasting of grant related expenditures; ensure variances are communicated at an early stage;

• Communicate with and provide guidance/advice to implementing partners on grant-related and financial matters, in collaboration with the Nexus Mechanism Programme unit and the PMO Finance team

• Resolve operational and process issues related to grant management, and refer complex issues to the supervisor with recommendations for courses of action;

• Coordinate the process of operational and financial closure of grants and projects;

• Contributing to the coordination and follow up on the audits of Implementing Partners;

• Highlight risks and delays to the supervisor and team as appropriate

Capacity assessment and Capacity building

• Contribute to the review and update of the financial and operational capacity assessment approach of the Nexus Mechanism Programme, incorporating best practices and assessment tools of the public sector.

• Conduct financial and operational capacity assessments of the IPs, and manage follow-up actions identified in the assessment reports.

• Organize and support IP capacity development and training in financial and organisational management.

• Provide day-to-day help and guidance to the IPs and coordinate with Programme Unit to ensure IP understanding of, and compliance with Nexus Mechanism operational guidelines, terms and conditions of the grant agreement, and UNOPS requirements.

• Actively liaising with other MMOC grants teams to align to the extent possible IP capacity development efforts as well as streamlining and harmonizing of practices and tools within UNOPS MMOC.

• Actively compiling lessons learned and best practices, and sharing knowledge and best practices within the Programme and with IPs, on financial and organizational management.

• Provide guidance to and share knowledge with the other members of the Grants and Contracts team to improve the overall team’s coherence and competency

• Act as a deputy in the absence of the Programme Management Office Senior Officer (International)

• Contribute to the implementation and success of the PMO Center for Fund Management

Documentation:

• Monitor information related to contractual arrangements – on audits, inventories, utilization and all such elements in the contracts and grants

• Ensure that all records are collected and maintained, both hard copies and electronic copies for easy reference and retrieval

• Maintain a database/archive of all grant related information and documentation of all the implementing partners of the Nexus Mechanism Programme.

• Keep the supervisor updated on progress and issues, and prepare timely briefing materials and reports as requested.

• Other duties as may be assigned by the supervisor

Deliverables

• Deliverables will be agreed with the supervisor, based on the annual work plan and the TOR.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

• The Programme Management Office Senior Officer (Grants and Contracts) will report to the Programme Management Office Senior Officer (International), who will monitor his/her performance as per these ToR. Monitoring will look in particular at the following:

• Efficient, timely execution and follow-up of tasks as per the scope of responsibilities detailed above;

• Proactive and professional interaction with colleagues at UNOPS to exchange information and feedback on requests in an effective and efficient manner;

• Demonstration of UNOPS competencies and behaviours at the expected level when interacting with IPs, stakeholders, and colleagues from the PMO, Fund, and MMOC.

Education

• Advanced University degree – (Master’s degree or equivalent) in administration, development studies, economics, project management, finance or an equivalent degree in related fields is required.

• Bachelor degree in related discipline in combination with additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

• Completion of Prince 2 Foundation certificate is an advantage.

Work Experience

• Minimum of 2 years of experience in contracts/grant management and/or project administration is required.

• Previous experience with, and a good knowledge of the development and humanitarian sector/working with UN, Donors, NGOs is an advantage.

• Additional experience of project support functions (finance, human resources, procurement & logistics) is an advantage.

• Good knowledge of contractual and accounting principles and modalities is highly desirable.

• Thorough knowledge of UN rules and procedures in budget or grant management and contracting is highly desirable.

• Demonstrated ability to conduct financial and budget analysis is strongly desirable.

• Prior experience with UNOPS is an advantage.

• Experience with G Suite is an asset.

Language Requirement

• Fluency in both English and Myanmar/Burmese languages is required.

Contract type: Local Individual Contractor Agreement 
Contract level: LICA9/ICS9
Contract duration:  Open ended (subject to organizational requirements, avaliability of funds, and satisfactory performance)

For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:
https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx 

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• 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
• 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 (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.