Background on Thailand Multi Country Office (THMCO)
The Thailand Multi Country Office (THMCO) is a UNOPS business unit under the UNOPS Asia Regional Office. The Hub was established to better support, develop and oversee the UNOPS portfolio of projects in South East Asia and the Pacific.
The Thailand Multi Country Office (THMCO), established in 2017, supports, develops and oversees the UNOPS portfolio of projects in South East Asia and Pacific. With its head office in Bangkok, the Hub comprises three main offices: THOH Thailand, THOH Indonesia and the THOH Pacific Cluster and and provides a wide range of services including Project Management, Transactional HR, Financial, and Procurement to clients that include other UN entities, INGOs and governments/government agencies donors.
Background on THMCO Pacific Cluster
The THMCO Pacific Cluster, established in early 2018, was formed to support the implementation of infrastructure design, procurement, construction of infrastructure, training, programme management, and facilitate access to funding sources across 12 Pacific Small Islands Developing States (PSIDS), including: Palau; Federated States of Micronesia; Marshall Islands; Nauru; Kiribati; Papua New Guinea; Solomon Islands; Tuvalu; Vanuatu; Fiji; Tonga; Western Samoa.
Background on the THMCO Pacific Cluster Project
The PNG WASH Project is a EU funded initiative to be jointly implemented by UNICEF, Water PNG and UNOPS. The project budget for the UNOPS and UNICEF work is USD 12 M.
In line with the Papua New Guinea National Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Policy (WaSH) 2015 - 2030, the proposed Action aims to contribute towards improving the quality of life of Papua New Guineans through increased access to and utilization of safe, adequate and sustainable water supply, sanitation and improved hygiene practices in locations with high population concentrations (hospitals, schools, and major market places). The Action aims for: increased equitable access to safe, convenient and sustainable water supply and sanitation and improved hygiene practices; as well as long-term hygiene behavior change at the personal, household, community and institutional levels particular to urban areas that are currently under-served, in line with the national WaSH policy.
The overall objective of the proposed 5-year Action (60 months) is to increase access to clean water through safe and sustainable water supply, improve sanitation, and promote good hygiene practices, which are essential for survival and development of children and women. It will do so by primarily targeting urban locations with higher population densities, with a focus on schools, health centres/hospitals and markets, which are more prone to the spread of water-borne diseases. Ultimately, the Action aims to support decreasing the occurrence and spread of diarrhea, reduce child stunting, improve livelihoods, improve income-earning opportunities, reduce gender-based violence, strengthen COVID-19 response efforts, and support progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
The project expects to achieve the following results/outcomes:
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Result 1 - Outcome 1: Improved equitable access to safe and sustainable drinking water and sanitation services in community facilities, targeting urban schools, health centres and marketplaces;
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Result 2 - Outcome 2: Sustained use of safe water and sanitation services and adoption of improved hygiene practices among people living in targeted urban towns at personal, household, community and institutional levels, including people affected by humanitarian situations (i.e. COVID-19);
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Result 3 - Outcome 3: Improved WaSH sector governance and enabling environment for quality service delivery in targeted urban towns.
The project has a lifespan of 5 years and is split into two phases; inception and implementation. The inception phase is due to commence in March 2021 and is expected to last six months. The intention is to commence the 54 months implementation phase towards the end of 2021. The primary component of the inception phase is the feasibility study. The objective of the feasibility study is to work with Water PNG on the identification of the target district town(s) within which the WASH services will be delivered. Following the feasibility study there will be a three month period during which the concept design of the water supply and sanitation services will be carried out and planning for the implementation phase finalised.
UNOPS, as the project technical implementing partner, will be responsible, during the inception phase, for the following activities:
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Support the technical elements of the feasibility study;
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Support Water PNG in the review of their earlier preliminary technical designs and cost estimates for the four towns being considered;
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Support to the project team on the analysis and identification of infrastructure solutions including design, construction, compliance, asset management and O&M requirements;
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Working with UNICEF and in consultation with Water PNG, the District Development Authorities and national government departments assess, evaluate and select the town(s) to be included in this project based on a set of objective and transparent criteria, including the factors originally used by Water PNG;
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Support the preparation of the concept design and cost estimates for the WASH services during the inception phase;
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Support the preparation of the feasibility study report that will inform the project inception phase report.
Background on the Position description
The UNOPS country project team comprises the Country Manager based in Port Moresby, the Project Manager based in Bangkok and the Programme Manager based in Bangkok. To support the planning and implementation of the above project responsibilities UNOPS is hiring a Project Manager for the country office to manage the project during the inception and implementation phases. The Project Manager will become a member of the country project team and provide technical support in their field of infrastructure Project Management.
Under the direct supervision of the Country Manager/ Programme Management Advisor based in the country office, the Project Manager will be responsible for carrying out the activities listed under the functional areas, during the inception and implementation phases.
The Project Manager will be expected to liaise with all country and regional office personnel. The overall purpose of the role is to support the technical team, in particular the Country Manager and Regional Project Manager, by performing a range of activities to ensure the completion of the project’s work packages and deliverables.
The Project Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the project and provides services to the different donors, partners and beneficiaries. The Project Manager acts on behalf of the Project Board to manage the project on an ongoing basis during the Implementation Stage. The main responsibility of a Project Manager is to ensure that the project outputs are delivered within the specified project tolerances of time, cost, quality, scope, risk and benefits. He/she is expected to meet the organization’s performance and delivery goals.
The Project Manager has the authority to assign, as per the Project Plan, work packages to Team Managers and approve deliverables produced by them.
The Project Manager is responsible for creating the Implementation Plan, using the Project Initiation Document (PID), Legal Agreement and having a thorough understanding of the terms, conditions, and the respective roles and responsibilities of the partners/stakeholders, to ensure the project outputs are capable of meeting the business cases for both UNOPS and the partner. Success of the project and hence of the Project Manager will be based on the defined Success Criteria.