Knowledge Management Senior Assistant

Sri Lanka

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners' peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world.  Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors and United Nations organisations.  With over 6,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical and management knowledge they need, where they need it.  By implementing around 1,000 projects for our partners at any given time, UNOPS makes significant contributions to results on the ground, often in the most challenging environments.

UNOPS provides infrastructure, procurement and project management services for a more sustainable world. Firmly grounded in UN values, we ensure our partners maximize the positive impact of their peace and security, humanitarian and development projects. Equality, inclusiveness, sustainability and resilience form the foundations of our work.

Project Information

The project “Support to the Development Partners (DPs) Secretariat” is jointly funded by the Government of Canada and the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office. It aims to strengthen the Development Partners coordination framework in Sri Lanka, which consists of a DP Strategic Group, a DP Forum, a Bilateral Donor Group, and eight (8) Thematic Working Groups. The DP Secretariat coordinates these groupings, thereby facilitating dialogue among bilateral and multilateral donors/missions, development partners, and entities of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). The Secretariat plays a key role in promoting donor coordination and coherence, knowledge management and information sharing, and gender equality integration, contributing to the country’s development priorities.

Under the guidance of the Project Management Support-Senior Officer (Head of DP Secretariat), the Knowledge Management Senior Assistant will be responsible for:

Knowledge management components of project implementation

• Support in developing and implementing a knowledge management framework for the DP Secretariat to include an evergreen mapping of donor initiatives organized by sector/working group.

• Compile and maintain an evergreen mapping of donor initiatives organized by sector/working group, and ensure the mapping/data is on a platform accessible to all development partners.

• Assist the organization and preparation of minutes of DP meetings (i.e. DP strategic group, DP forum, Bilateral Donor Group, and Thematic working groups) and other coordination events as needed.

• Gather, maintain and manage contact information of all stakeholders across the development partners structure (i.e. DP strategic group, DP forum, Bilateral Donor Group, and Thematic working groups).

• Build and maintain regular contact and professional working relationship with all stakeholders.

• Assist the preparation of statistical data from internal and external sources; prepare charts, tables, and reports of different and relevant topics including gender equality. Regularly update and maintain the DP database of contacts per bilateral and multilateral donor/mission, and GoSL contacts.

• Support the day-to-day programme/project implementation by following deadlines, commitments made, actions taken, and coordination of collection and submission of the required reports.

• Provide information for social media.

• Actively support the knowledge management, knowledge networking and visibility of DP Secretariat.

• Facilitate the organization of advocacy events, workshops, stakeholders’ dialogues and round-tables.

Financial management

• Support the preparation of project's financial reports.

• Process payment requests.

Administrative functions

• Draft routine correspondence and communications e.g. to convene the DP strategic group, DP forum, Bilateral Donor Group, and Thematic working groups.

• Organize and hold introductory meetings to integrate newly arrived DP staff into the DP coordination structures.

• Establish and maintain filing systems to record communications with stakeholders.

• Update data relevant to the DP coordination structures on a platform accessible to all development partners.

• Ensure flow of information and dissemination of materials with all concerned.

• Provide logistical and administrative support to missions, travel arrangements and meetings. 

Monitoring and progress controls

• Gather data under the monitoring framework and prepare draft reports on progress for review.

• Ensure all tasks are completed with quality and within the timeline agreed with the Head of the DP Secretariat.

• Secondary School (high school diploma or equivalent) with five (5) years of relevant experience is required.

• Master’s Degree or Bachelor’s degree in social science, law or business administration, public administration or relevant disciplines will be considered an asset and might reduce some of the the required years of experience.

• A minimum of 5 years of experience (or less, depending on academic credentials) at the national and/or international level in operations support or coordination roles is required. 

• Experience in preparing business correspondence and the use of Google Suite is highly desirable.

• Experience in the development sector, gender equality and gender mainstreaming is desirable.

• Experience in knowledge management and communication is preferable.

• Proficiency in English is required.

• Knowledge of Sinhala or Tamil is highly desirable.

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.

• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures,  languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 

• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.

• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process.  If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions 

• 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 ( they take around 4 hours to complete)  in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here.

• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.

• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.