The South East Asia and Pacific Multi Country Office (SEAMCO) supports, develops and oversees the UNOPS portfolio of projects in South East Asia and the Pacific. SEAMCO was established in January 2023 following the merger of the Thailand Multi-Country Office, which covered 20 countries across  North East Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific, and the Cambodia Multi-Country Office, which covered 4 countries South East Asia - 3 countries in the Mekong Sub-region (Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam) and the Philippines.  SEAMCO currently covers 24 countries across North East Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific. With its head office in Bangkok, the Multi-Country Office comprises nine business units: SEMCO Thailand, SEAMCO Indonesia,  SEAMCO Pacific Operations Cluster, SEAMCO Papua New Guinea, SEAMCO China, SEAMCO Vietnam, SEAMCO Lao PDR, SEAMCO Philippines and SEAMCO Cambodia.

In 2022, the UNOPS SEAMCO implemented projects worth more than USD 95.7 million, in the areas of Energy Transition, Digital Transformations, Sustainable Environmental Management, Climate Change, Waste Management, Rule of Law and Access to Justice, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Post Conflict Reintegration, Emergency Relief, Post COVID19 Economic Transformations, and Health, through HR, procurement, construction, contract management, fund and program management services.  

The Multi Country Office head office in Bangkok provides strategic direction, operational support, delivery oversight and assurance of the excellence of business processes and quality standards across all of the entire Multi Country Office locations. It is also responsible for developing, delivering and managing the portfolio of engagements in the country of the MCO location itself. 

UNOPS in Vietnam: 

UNOPS is currently implementing two major programs in Vietnam, one in the area of health through its Asia Regional Health Cluster in collaboration with the Global Fund and a second one in the area of energy through the Energy Transition Partnership. 

UNOPS, through the Asia Regional Health Cluster (ARHC) is selected as the Principal Recipient for RAI3E Global Fund grant (2021-2023). Under this grant UNOPS will be implementing nearly USD230 million for malaria elimination activities in the Greater Mekong Sub region, covering five Mekong countries most affected by artemisinin resistance: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. The Vietnam component  is nearly 31M USD. Under this program, in Vietnam, UNOPS is responsible for Liaising and supporting the SRs in Vietnam under RAI3E grant. At present, UNOPS is overseeing programme planning and monitoring and evaluation, quality assurance and strategic technical support to the National Malaria Control Programme (National Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology) in Vietnam. This includes disbursements of grants, procurement, M&E, and capacity building to the Ministry of Health.

UNOPS is supporting the Government of Vietnam through the Energy Transition Partnership (ETP). ETP brings together governments and philanthropies to work with partner countries in the region. ETP supports the transition towards modern energy systems that can simultaneously ensure economic growth, energy security, and environmental sustainability. To contribute to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement objectives, ETP works in Southeast Asia, with a focus on three priority countries, namely Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. ETP’s strategy is built around four inter-related pillars of strategic engagement that are squarely aligned to address the barriers to energy transition. These are (i) policy alignment with climate commitments, (ii) de-risking energy efficiency and renewable energy investments, (iii) extending smart grinds, and (iv) expanding knowledge and awareness building. ,Building on these 2 broad sets of programs, UNOPS is exploring possibilities to extend its operational services to support Vietnam in its development aspirations. To this end, the present consultancy will lay the foundations to better position UNOPS in responding to the Government of Vietnam and Development Partners in the areas of health, energy, environment, waste management, WASH, infrastructure development, advisory services in infrastructure, procurement and program management, fund management. 

Building on these achievements, UNOPS Vietnam is looking for an experienced partnerships specialist to strengthen its assistance to the Government of Vietnam. 

The Partnerships and Outreach Unit at  UNOPS SEAMCO:

The Partnerships and Outreach Unit of the South East Asia and Pacific MCO, is established to support the external relations of the MCO, including fundraising, stakeholder management, donor and client liaising, business document preparation, funding acquisition, public relations and outreach functions of SEAMCO. The unit supports the Director of the MCO and Country Managers in formulating and implementing business development and communications strategies promoting UNOPS services to key external parties across 24 countries in SouthEast Asia, North East Asia and the Pacific.

Stakeholder Management, Liaising, and Communications:

This function focuses on supporting and facilitating the identification of donor and client needs and positioning UNOPS as a partner of choice in project implementation practices. Activities include establishing contacts with potential clients and partners and organizing high-level meetings and negotiations; close interaction with country office staff to share information and knowledge, and to provide proactive support and follow-up in building and maintaining effective client relations; identification of requirements and development and distribution of marketing materials, as well as any reports and publications required for existing and potential clients, donors and partners; review and comment on progress reports prepared by projects, and provision of advice as needed to improve content and quality; active marketing and promotion of UNOPS services by building a network of key business partners and clients, keeping abreast of market, social, economic, security and political trends across South East Asia and the Pacific; preparation of reports, briefs, concept notes, presentations, and similar support materials; development of UNOPS capacity statements for the various services provided by UNOPS; and close coordination with UNOPS HQ and the Asia Regional Office to tackle business case troubleshooting, and obtain approvals and clearances.

Project Development and Fundraising:

This function focuses on project design and production of project-related documents. Activities include scanning and assessment of business development opportunities; prioritization of business cases; business development planning; active participation in the identification, design, formulation and negotiation of new projects; drafting concept notes and project briefs and project initiation documents, with support from project and/or technical staff, for further discussion with clients and donors; preparation of business and project proposals for tenders or at donor’s requests; preparation of Expression of Interest letters for potential business when considered consistent with UNOPS’ mandate; drafting agreements and/or contractual documents for the implementation of new projects.

Best Practice:

This function focuses on application of UNOPS’ standards in project design, utilization of PRINCE2 approach, encouraging consistent working practices, and ensuring appropriate application of standards and templates. 

Position Summary

Reporting to the Partnerships Development Senior Managerof SEAMCO based in Jakarta, and with a secondary reporting line to the Country Manager, the incumbent supports the identification, negotiation, and formulation of new development programmes for Cambodia Government, and provides advice in the management and direction of strategic approaches when engaging senior Government counterparts. The Specialist also assists in the coordination of business development activities with UNOPS, Government stakeholders and project development consultants and recommends strategies for programme design and development. The Partnerships Development Specialist will also be an integral interface between UNOPS and the Government of Vietnam, on a wide range of initiatives in the areas of ICT development, infrastructure, environmental management, health and other key priorities in line with the Governments’ mid term development plan and long term plans. In addition, the incumbent will support UNOPS in its Partnerships Development Activities across the wider MCO where his/her expertise may be required.

 Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education: 

• Minimum advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) preferably in International Relations, Public Relations, Public Policy, Political Sciences, Business Studies, Development Studies, Economics, Program Management, Law or related field
• A first university degree (Bachelor’s or equivalent) preferably in above-mentioned fields with two (2) additional years of relevant experience may be considered in lieu of an advanced degree or higher degrees.

Experience: 

• Minimum of five (5) years of relevant work experience in  business development, external relations, project or program management and program development, or related field in the development cooperation sector in combination with an advanced university degree or higher degrees is required 
• Ability to engage with other UN agencies, funding partners, Government and development stakeholder and forge productive working relationships is required
• Experience coordinating activities between different sectors and stakeholders, including Governments, International Financial Institutions, UN and other development partners is a strong asset
• Ability to establish and maintain strong working relations with senior officials in line ministries is desirable
• Ability to multitask under tight work deadlines is required

Language Requirements:

• Full working knowledge of English is required. 
• Fluency in Vietnamese is required

Source: https://jobs.unops.org/Pages/ViewVacancy/VADetails.aspx?id=25010#3