Agricultural Engineer (Retainer)

UNOPS Horn of Africa Multi-Country Office is recruiting for the position of Agricultural Engineer-Retainer, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Our goal is to support countries, help people in need and enable our partners through  delivering on our mandate of infrastructure, procurement and project management in the countries in the Horn of Africa. 

UNOPS HAMCO is the owner of a number of projects which require the implementation of climate strategy adopted by UNOPS to guide its efforts in line with its strategic goals and global climate commitments for the period 2025 - 2029. 

HAMCO intends in fact to prioritize and address  partnerships that amplify the impact of climate mitigation and adaptation efforts providing tailored technical assistance that supports the successful implementation of project objectives with national and global climate priorities.  

In this framework, the agriculture sector plays a key role in the provision of climate resilient and sustainable Social and Economic Services; Environmental Management; Livelihood and for this reason HAMCO wants to make available the services of an Agriculture specialist.  

The selected candidate will work transversally with HAMCO project teams  to support and complement the programming and the implementation of the UNOPS climate guidelines and partnerships The selected candidate will report to the PM in charge. 

Management/Coordination

• Deliver the climate actions in the assigned projects in accordance with UNOPS project management policies and procedures in collaboration with the Project Manager. 

• Supervise/ address /Coordinate the implementation  of the activities agreed with the PM . 

• Ensure that assigned projects components are completed within the planned budget and timeframe, prepare necessary narrative and financial reports and assist implementing partners on the same;

• Ensure the activities comply with the Environmental and Social Standards and that these are  implemented according to the Environmental and Social Obligations set in the agreement with the Gov of Ethiopia and with the Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP) for the project, if mandatory.  

• Ensure narrative and financial reporting deadlines to the Donor

Monitoring and supervision

• Monitor and Evaluate the progress in the implementation Collect and organize data to support the implementation of the activities 

• Collect the necessary data to ensure the feeding of the Monitoring Information System and the M&E system established by UNOPS.  

Stakeholder management and collaboration

• Support the stakeholder management to address/monitor specific project’s objectives Work closely with implementing partners 

• Support the organisation/attend relevant meetings with stakeholders and write the minutes 

Specialistic inputs

• Provide technical advice and comments on agricultural/climate  interventions, including comments and reviews on the partners project plans;

• Undertake field visit to project regions, zones and woredas to monitor and evaluate projects implementation quality;

• Formulate, document and maintain quality control standards and on-going quality control objectives to maximize inputs reliability and minimize costs. 

• Create, document and implement inspection criteria and procedures.

• Maintain an active role in internal continuous improvement. 

• Support beneficiaries’s capacity building / training and all other ad hoc meetings related to quality management. 

Contract type: Local Individual Contractor Agreement (LICA) - Retainer 
Contract level: LICA/ICS -9
Contract duration: One year initially, renewable subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance

• 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.