Background Information - Job-specific

The UNOPS Hub in Amman implements projects in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen, in partnership with bilateral donors, national governments, and other UN agencies. With an established presence across the region, the office runs operations including large-scale procurement, project development, and technical management, and provides financial, human resources, and infrastructure-related services. The functional objective of UNOPS Hub in Amman is to deliver its projects in an efficient and effective manner and in line with the principles, rules and regulations of UNOPS, in order to support the response to the current needs and national priorities in the region.

UNOPS is providing human resources (HR), personnel management, and operational support services to a number of UN agencies including UNHCR, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, UNRWA and WHO across the Amman Hub.

The Project Manager will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the HR Transactional project(s) and will provide HR related services to the partners and beneficiaries. S/he is expected to meet and exceed the organization performance and delivery goals.

The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.

UNOPS is committed to achieving a fully diverse workforce.

Functional Responsibilities

Summary of functions:

• Project Delivery and Performance
• Procedures
• Monitoring and reporting
• Stakeholder engagement
• Quality assurance
• Knowledge management and innovation
• Personnel management

Under the overall guidance of the Director Amman Operational Hub, under the direct supervision of the Head of Programme, and in close coordination with the HR Unit, the Project Manager (PM) will be responsible for all aspects of the project life-cycle in accordance with the legal agreement between UNOPS and the partner, and in compliance with the Project Management Manual (PMM), as well as the Organizational Directives and Administrative Instructions on Project Management.

The PM must be able to undertake independently, the following tasks:

• Project Delivery and Performance
• Develop, complete and update implementation plan(s) for HR/ transactional project(s), and review/ update those on a monthly/ quarterly basis, as applicable, and advise the Head of Programme of any deviations from the plan;
• Implement the approved plan (including the establishment of milestones) within the project’s tolerances.
• Embed sustainability dimensions including social and gender inclusion, environmental and economic aspects into project life span.
• Ensure Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) measures are implemented within the project, and as per the country PSEA action plan;
• Manage and oversee the delivery of all HR project-related deliverables and services, taking responsibility for overall progress and use of resources and initiating corrective action where necessary.
• Ensure that quality of the provided HR/ transactional services and deliverables complies with the quality requirements defined in the Implementation Plan.
• Liaise with any external partners, as well as with all internal units of UNOPS Amman Hub for timely planning and execution of project activities;
• Manage acceptance and delivery of work packages
• Monitor project progress ensuring that work packages are being executed properly
• Control project and work packages changes
• Identify, and anticipate in a timely manner, potential risks and issues and advises mitigating measures to senior management so that maximum benefit to partner(s) and other stakeholders is achieved
• Identify and report to the supervisor potential business opportunities for UNOPS
• Liaise project(s) amendments/extensions with the Partnerships, and follow up with partners in a timely manner.

Procedures

• Comply with all organizational policy and specifically the Project Management Manual and ensuring full adherence with relevant Organizational Directives and Administrative Instructions
• Prepare/adapt all relevant plans for approval by the Project Board.
• Manage the reporting obligations defined in the Legal Agreement(s) and in the Implementation Plan
• Ensure maintenance of the project files and lessons learned are recorded
• Manage budgets, cash flow and obligations to ensure that deliverables are met and payments to contractors and personnel are received on time.
• Understand and manage UNOPS overheads, allocable charges, and related corporate charges as they apply to the project
• Understand the unique structures of the UN and budget appropriately for personnel
• Manage expenditures against the budget (based on accurate financial reports)
• Where the Project Manager has no delegation as a committing officer, s/he retains these responsibilities and will monitor and instruct/request others to carry out the relevant commitments and disbursements.
• For project closure purposes, provide a formal handover of the project to the closure manager
• Support project audit activities, including planning, preparation and coordination during the audits and follow up on audit observations/recommendations

Monitoring and reporting

• Prepare and issue regular project and/or financial reports in accordance with Partner and UNOPS requirements for reporting.
• Regularly review project status, evaluating performance criteria (scope, cost, schedule and quality).
• Maintain diaries and progress reports as required by the organization’s standard procedures.
• Provide routine oversight and analysis of delivery data within the dashboard system.
• Ensure all project team members track and regularly update milestones and targets for the duration of projects' life span

Stakeholder engagement

• Develop stakeholder profiles and facilitate the formulation of stakeholder engagement strategies
• Establish solid working relationships with the t project(s) partners and key stakeholders
• Enable the formulation of project communications plans. Coordinate internal project communications. Monitor the effectiveness of project communications
• Coordinate stakeholder engagement and communication, ensuring effective timing and interdependency management of communications. Ensure stakeholders are aware of project activities, progress, exceptions and are in a position to accept handover services
• Ensure partner visibility as stipulated in the approved legal agreement.

Quality assurance

• Work with internal stakeholders to ensure projects comply with audit requirements
• Work with procurement/purchasing staff to ensure effective interface with suppliers' quality systems
• Coordinate quality reviews of project documents and deliverables
• Provide quality control for management outputs and services (project documents, reports, etc.)
• Knowledge management and innovation
• Encourage routine and effective capacity building activities are conducted in order to build the long-term and sustainable capacity of staff.
• Actively interact with other Project Managers and the wider PM community to share case studies, lessons learned and best practices
• Contribute to the oversight of lessons learned procedures, ensuring that lessons learnt are shared in a timely and appropriate manner. Participate in the relevant Communities of Practice
• Research and logging of lessons learned throughout the project life span.
• Participate in the relevant UNOPS Currents;
• Provide feedback to Practice Groups on policy, supporting guidance with an aim towards continuous improvement of UNOPS policies

Personnel Management

• Lead and motivate the project management team
• Ensure that behavioural expectations of team members are established
• Ensure that performance reviews are conducted fairly, accurately and timely
• Select, recruit and train team as required and take into account gender parity and diversity objectives.
• Ensure safety and security for all project personnel and comply with UNDSS standards
• Create, foster and role model a culture of respect and zero tolerance for discrimination, abuse of authority, harrasement, sexual harrasement and sexual exploitation and abuse. Ensure accountability for actions and perform duties in accordance with protection mechanisms and action plans, as expected by UNOPS policies, standards and commitments.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education:

• A Master´s Degree is required. Preferably in Business Administration, Human Resources, Project Management, or Social Science or related.
• A Bachelor's Degree in combination with 2 additional years of relevant experience will be accepted in lieu of the Master´s Degree.

Certification:

• Certified Senior Project Manager - International Project Manager Association (IPMA Level B) or Project Management Professional (PMP - PMI) or PRINCE2 foundation is an asset.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years (or more depending on academic credentials) of experience in Programme/ Project Management, with at least 3-4 years of experience as a Project Manager of HR services/ transactional related projects is required;
• Demonstrated competence in all aspects of project planning and management, including application of all aspects of results-based management/project cycle management is required;
• Experience with an international organization and/or UN agencies is desired.
• High proficiency with computers, and other software/ platforms related to the positions field of expertise. Good experience in working with the G-Suite platform including, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Sheets, Docs, and Slides is desired.

Language Requirements:

• Full proficiency in English is required while Arabic is an asset.

Source:https://jobs.unops.org/Pages/ViewVacancy/VADetails.aspx?id=20182#2