Coordination/ Programme Management - Senior Officer

Peace and Security Cluster

Recent assessments indicate widespread explosive ordnance contamination in Northern Ethiopia, especially in areas that have seen intense fighting. While the full extent and impact of the contamination is yet to be established, the fighting is believed to have contaminated vast swathes of land with explosive remnants of war (ERW). Moreover, explosive remnants of war (ERW) continue affecting the life of civilians, including several children, in recent months. ERW is spread across residential areas and internally displaced persons sites, in communal locations and amongst rubble, posing an immediate risk to life, the delivery of humanitarian aid, inhibiting safe movement, and preventing access to basic services.

The project aims to reduce the immediate and long-term impact of explosive ordnance on civilians and humanitarian operations in northern Ethiopia through coordination and explosive ordnance risk education. As lead of the mine action area of responsibility, ensuring MA contributes to improving the safety of at-risk communities by establishing a humanitarian mine action sector, capable of effectively delivering on the objectives of the Humanitarian Response Plan. The Mine Action Response Programme defines and implements specific activities in accordance with emerging humanitarian needs and through needs-based prioritization, involving an analysis of the explosive ordnance threat, IDPs movement, survey data, and the wider humanitarian response.

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Officer and overall supervision of Portfolio Manager, the incumbent will perform the following duties:

Programme Management:

• Establish working relationships with project stakeholders such as Government officials including national mine action authority, donors, international organizations and project implementers;

• Contribute to ongoing development of appropriate project information and reporting templates to ensure the consistency and effectiveness of Programme Management Unit (PMU) reporting framework;

• Advise implementers on best practice methods for benefits management, including rigorous identification of project benefits and appropriate mechanisms for their measurement;

• Collate and rationalize project risks and issues and identify bottlenecks for project implementation;

• Attend local and regional sector-specific coordination bodies and provide reports on their discussions;

• Promote the importance of gender mainstreaming in project implementation and provide advice and reporting on relevant gender-related indicators;

• Prepare detailed documentation on project plans for individual projects and regular progress updates;

• Seek to continually improve monitoring and evaluation processes including, in collaboration with local stakeholders

• Draft scheduled and ad-hoc reports as per donor agreements, actively support data collection and ensure adherence to donor requirements;

• Monitor project implementation against deliverables in donor agreements, if tolerances are exceeded, immediately flag to management;

• Monitor compliance to requirements in donor agreements;

• Prepare draft budgets and project proposals for new projects and extensions of ongoing projects;

• Support organizational capacity building program, monitoring governance/institutional, technical & financial capacities of partners to improve efficient performance and sustain project purposes..

• Support the development and implementation of trainings on contract management, monitoring and
  evaluation concepts and practices

Communications/Knowledge Management/Coordination

• Maintain documentation of decisions and actions taken on programme issues and keep electronic filing up to date;

• Seek opportunities for visibility and communication initiatives and ensure that activities are appropriately branded with UNMAS or donor branding;

• Prepare talking points, briefing notes, ad-hoc donor briefs, summary notes and minutes;

• Assist the UNMAS Ethiopia management team with logistical and substantive support during donor visits, visits to embassies, presentations, workshops, and visits to/by Mine Action stakeholders both in-country and internationally, when required;

• Attend coordination meetings and assist on any programme input; support the Mine Action Sub-Cluster Coordinator as needed;

• Provide programme information to partner agencies, non-governmental organizations and contractors and UN agencies;

• Support the process of concept notes development, proposal submission, grant contract negotiation and award processes, reporting & closure. 

• Support the development of country strategy, business continuity planning and other work plans.

• Coordinate the project’s technical assistance and liaison with key line ministries.

Education:

• Advanced University Degree (Master Degree or equivalent) with a minimum of 2 years of relevant experience; OR;
• First level University degree (Bachelor Degree or equivalent) with a minimum of 4 years of relevant experience

• Applicants must have a legal entitlement to work in Ethiopia
• 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
• 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.