Project Manager at UNOPS

Office background:

With its mandate in project management, procurement and sustainable infrastructure, UNOPS began its operations in North Macedonia in 2018, with the complex development project “Nordic Support for Progress of North Macedonia” funded by the Kingdom of Norway and the Kingdom of Sweden. The office, now functioning under the UNOPS Serbia Multi-Country Office, was established in the country to provide support to the Government of North Macedonia in socio-economic development, and later enable support in other areas, as a part of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT).

Project background:
The selected Project Manager will be responsible for the day to day management of the ‘Strengthening North Macedonia’s Capacities for Infrastructure Management’ (1) Project.

The overall objective of the Project is to contribute to the efforts of the Government of North Macedonia to enhance the effects of public infrastructure investments on economic growth, job generation and quality of life. Specifically, the Project will enhance the Government’s capacity to manage large scale public infrastructure.

This will be achieved through establishment of centralised coordinated approach for management of capital public infrastructure investments, design and delivery of capacity building programmes that will enable the relevant national beneficiaries to efficiently and effectively implement the new approach.

The Project is funded by the United Kingdom, for a period of nine months. It will be implemented in close collaboration with the Government of North Macedonia, and the Deputy Prime Minister in charge for Economic Affairs, Coordination of Economic Resources and Investments, and other line ministries and national institutions involved in public infrastructure management, as well as international institutions interested in supporting infrastructure to deliver on the project results.

(1) Provisional Project Title

Functional Responsibilities

Project Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the project and provides services to the different donors, partners and beneficiaries. Project Manager acts on behalf of the Project Board to manage the project on an ongoing basis during the Implementation Stage. The main responsibility of a Project Manager is to ensure that the project outputs are delivered within the specified project tolerances of time, cost, quality, scope, risk and benefits. She/he is expected to meet the organization’s performance and delivery goals.

Project Manager has the authority to assign, as per the Project Plan, work packages to Team Managers and approve deliverables produced by them.

Project Manager is responsible for creating the Implementation Plan, using the Project Initiation Document (PID), Legal Agreement and having a thorough understanding of the terms, conditions, and the respective roles and responsibilities of the partners/stakeholders, to ensure the project outputs are capable of meeting the business cases for both UNOPS and the partner. Success of the project and hence of the Project Manager will be based on the defined Success Criteria.

Summary of functions:

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

1. Project Delivery and Performance

Develop, complete and update implementation plan(s)
Implement the approved plan (including the establishment of milestones) within tolerances set by the Project Board.
Embed sustainability dimensions including social and gender inclusion, environmental and economic aspects into project life span.
Manage the production of the required outputs, taking responsibility for overall progress and use of resources and initiating corrective action where necessary.
Ensure that quality of work packages and deliverables complies with the quality requirements defined in the Implementation Plan.
Liaise with any external suppliers or account managers
Manage acceptance and delivery of work packages
Monitor project progress ensuring that work packages are being executed properly
Control project and work packages changes
Accept goods, services or works delivered by suppliers.
Lead contract management duties including supplier performance evaluation.
Identify, and anticipate in a timely manner, potential risks and issues and advises mitigating measures to senior management/ Project Board so that maximum benefit to partner(s) and other stakeholders is achieved
Identify and report to the supervisor potential business opportunities for UNOPS

2. Procedures

Comply with all organizational policy and specifically the Project Management Manual
Prepare/adapt all relevant plans for approval by the Project Board.
Manage the reporting obligations defined in the Legal Agreement and in the Implementation Plan
Draft the requirements definitions for procurement processes. Approving requisitions and requests for non-purchase order payments; Evaluating submissions received, if appointed to the evaluation team.
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

3. 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

4. Stakeholder engagement

Develop stakeholder profiles and facilitate the formulation of stakeholder engagement strategies
Establish solid working relationships with the Project Board (Executive, Senior Users and Senior Suppliers), client 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 outputs

5. 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 (project documents, reports, etc.)

6. 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.
Provide feedback to Practice Groups on policy, supporting guidance with an aim towards continuous improvement of UNOPS policies

7. Personnel Management

Lead and motivate the project 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.

Required selection criteria:

Education

Advanced University Degree preferably in Project Management, Engineering, International Relations, Development Studies, Business Administration or other relevant discipline is required
University Degree (bachelor’s degree / first level) with a combination of 2 additional years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience

Minimum five years of experience in providing advisory services in project management is required.
Experience with projects that include capacity building of national level governments would be an asset

Language Requirements

Fluency in English and Macedonian is required
Knowledge of Albanian would be an asset

Certification

Certification in Project Management ( PRINCE2, PMI, etc.) would be considered as asset

Core Competencies

Strategic Perspective – Develops and implements sustainable business strategies, thinks long term and externally in order to positively shape the organization. Anticipates and perceives the impact and implications of future decisions and activities on other parts of the organization. (for levels IICA-2, IICA-3, LICA Specialist- 10, LICA Specialist-11, NOC, NOD, P3, P4 and above)
Integrity & Inclusion – Treats all individuals with respect; responds sensitively to differences and encourages others to do the same. Upholds organizational and ethical norms. Maintains high standards of trustworthiness. Role model for diversity and inclusion.
Leading Self and Others – Acts as a positive role model contributing to the team spirit. Collaborates and supports the development of others. For people managers only:** Acts as positive leadership role model, motivates, directs and inspires others to succeed, utilizing appropriate leadership styles.
Partnering – Demonstrates understanding of the impact of own role on all partners and always puts the end beneficiary first. Builds and maintains strong external relationships and is a competent partner for others (if relevant to the role).
Results Orientation – Efficiently establishes an appropriate course of action for self and/or others to accomplish a goal. Actions lead to total task accomplishment through concern for quality in all areas. Sees opportunities and takes the initiative to act on them. Understands that responsible use of resources maximizes our impact on our beneficiaries.
Agility – Open to change and flexible in a fast paced environment. Effectively adapts own approach to suit changing circumstances or requirements. Reflects on experiences and modifies own behaviour. Performance is consistent, even under pressure. Always pursues continuous improvements.
Solution Focused – Evaluates data and courses of action to reach logical, pragmatic decisions. Takes an unbiased, rational approach with calculated risks. Applies innovation and creativity to problem-solving.
Effective Communication – Expresses ideas or facts in a clear, concise and open manner. Communication indicates a consideration for the feelings and needs of others. Actively listens and proactively shares knowledge. Handles conflict effectively, by overcoming differences of opinion and finding common ground.

ALL CANDIDATES ARE REQUESTED TO SUBMIT A CV AND COVER LETTER ALONG WITH THEIR APPLICATION

Contract type, level and duration

This is a local position, it is therefore open to nationals of the North Macedonia and to individuals who have a valid residence/work permit.
Contract type: Ongoing ICA
Contract level: Local ICA 10
Contract duration: Open-ended subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and/or to satisfactory performance

For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:
https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx

Additional Considerations

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
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 (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
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.

For more information on UNOPS, please visit the UNOPS website at www.unops.org