Operations Senior Manager (Explosive Hazard Management Team Lead)

Peace and Security Cluster

Established in 1997, UNMAS leads, coordinates and implements mine action under United Nations legislative mandates of both the General Assembly and the Security Council. UNMAS supports the UN's vision of "a world free from the threat of mines,

explosive remnants of war (ERW) including cluster munitions, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), where individuals and communities live in a safe environment conducive to sustainable peace and development where no one is left behind, where the human rights and the needs of victims are met and where they are fully integrated as equal members of their societies."

UNMAS is a unit within the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI) within the Department of Peace Operations (DPO). UNMAS operates under UN legislative mandates of both the General Assembly and the Security Council, or at the request of the UN Secretary-General or his designated official. When instructed by the Security Council or called upon by Member States, UNMAS deploys under humanitarian, peace and security mandates. UNMAS main headquarters is in the UN Secretariat, New York with a sub-office in Geneva. UNMAS provides direct support and assistance in the areas of explosive ordnance threat mitigation to 18 countries/territories/missions, has a standby rapid response capacity and global technical advisors in the field of Improvised Explosive Devices and Weapons and Ammunition Management. As an office within DPO, UNMAS supports peacekeeping and special political missions in accordance with Security Council mandates.

The UNMAS Iraq programme was formally established in June 2015, at the request of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Iraq, to lead the UN efforts to mitigate explosive threats in the country, as well as to support the enhancement of national and regional mine action capacities. UNMAS supports the Government of Iraq to protect civilians from the threat of explosive ordnance and enables humanitarian, stabilization and reconstruction, and socio-economic efforts. under the UNMAS Iraq Programme Strategy focusing on three main components: 1. Capacity Enhancement; 2. Risk Education, and 3. Explosive Hazard Management.  UNMAS Iraq has offices in both Baghdad and Erbil.

Candidate with Non-UN experience are encouraged to apply!
Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply!

The Operations Senior Manager (Explosives Hazard Management Team Lead) will report to the Head of Projects and will be responsible for the following assigned duties:

Coordination

• Liaise with relevant partners and stakeholders including national and regional mine action authorities, NGO’s, commercial contractors, the mine action sub-cluster, local authorities on the level of Governorate and municipality, UN agencies and ISF/PMF/FedPol;
• Oversee and coordinate survey and clearance operations with stakeholders and implementers of reconstruction, return and recovery projects;
• Oversee and coordinate the risk education activities with Risk Education Team Lead;
• Coordinate all EHM activities as appropriate with the Information Management and Capacity Enhancement Team Leads respectively;
• Participate in relevant coordination meetings with mine action authorities, operators, donors, coalition and other mine action sector stakeholders;
• Support UN agencies during field missions as required. For UN assessments and field visits to heavily explosive hazard contaminated areas, UNMAS participation is mandatory;

Planning and Tasking

• Develop plans for UNMAS Iraq overall EHM activities in liberated areas of Iraq;
• Ensure preparation of weekly and monthly operational plans in cooperation with UNMAS Iraq Ops/QA officers;
• Oversee and ensure UNMAS Iraq EHM activities are sequenced in line with agreed priorities and coordinate these with relevant authorities, UN agencies and contractors;
• Ensure tasking of UNMAS Iraq contractors for survey and clearance tasks in accordance with priority lists;
• Review and advise on contractor implementation plans and monitor operations continuously as they progress;
• Coordinate operator’s community liaison capacities;
• Assess existing operational capacities and provide the Head of Projects (HoP) with regular updates in terms of relevance, geographical focus and need for increase or decrease of mentioned capacities;
• Regularly provide HoP with advice with regards to the strategic direction of operational implementation, Quality Management and Information Management;
• Produce daily operational reports for internal UNMAS/UNOPS use;
• Provide UNMAS Iraq management and programme officers with updated operational information as required;
• Lead, task and follow up all UNMAS Iraq Operations/Quality Assurance (Ops/QA) officers;
• Review performance of all UNMAS Iraq Ops/QA officers.

Quality Management

• Ensure UNMAS Iraq contractors are appropriately accredited with national mine action authorities for each individual operational activity undertaken;
• Ensure Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) of all UNMAS Iraq contractor’s community liaison, survey and clearance operations are conducted continuously;
• Conduct review of operator training including plans, curriculum, conduct, testing and competence, and approve successfully certified and competent staff as appropriate;
• Produce and maintain weekly/monthly QM plans;
• Develop and approve UNMAS Iraq operator’s SOPs as appropriate. Ensure SOPs are compliant with IMAS and relevant national standards;
• Review and approve as appropriate any proposed changes to, or revisions of UNMAS Iraq operator’s SOPs;
• Produce and maintain non-conformity overview, agreed corrective and preventive actions and the subsequent effectiveness of actions taken;
• When required, participate in Board of Inquiry for accidents, incidents and critical non-conformities;
• Maintain an archive for all relevant QM documentation, records and reports.

Information Management

• Ensure the UNMAS Iraq internal information management system is maintained and up to date in accordance with the progress of CL, survey and clearance operations;
• Ensure all UNMAS Iraq operational task reports are submitted to DMA, and when relevant, IKMAA, for reconciliation with national IMSMA database;
• Ensure all QM reports are registered within UNMAS Iraq internal information management system;
• Coordinate all information management activities with UNMAS Iraq IM contractor;
• Manage the IM Team within the Ops section;
• Assess and ensure the UNMAS Iraq information management system is fit for purpose and implement adjustments as appropriate;
• Utilize the UNMAS Iraq internal information management system for tracking operational performance, progress and quality of operations.

Education and Relevant Years of Experience:    

• Advanced University Degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) with a minimum of 7 years of relevant experience; or
• First level University degree (Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent) with a minimum of 9 years of relevant experience; or
• Military Experience (or relevant Police Experience) at the Senior NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) or Officer level or equivalent with 13 years of relevant experience 

• Relevant experience is defined as experience in Project Management or Operations management, or related fields.
• IMAS level 3+ (IEDD Advanced) is required
• Experience working with International Mine Action Standard is required
• One year of experience with Humanitarian Mine Action sector is required

Language:

• Fluency in English (reading, writing, speaking) is required

Contract type:  Individual Contractor Agreement (ICA - International)
Contract level: IICA 3
Contract duration: Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.

• Candidate with Non-UN experience are encouraged to apply.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• 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.
• 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.