Africa Regional Office
Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Africa Regional Office supports UNOPS country offices in the region, providing financial oversight of projects, procuring goods and services and managing human resources.
AFO helps ensure that projects are executed to the highest standards, providing a shared knowledge base and ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are disseminated between projects across the entire region.
Background Information - Job-specific
The Roving Project Manager will be home based working in a number of African countries, regularly travelling to different locations to support UNOPS projects. When the need for additional project oversight and leadership is identified, the Roving Project manager will be temporarily assigned (for no longer than two months) to specific projects, assuming to responsibilities of the Project Manager. The Roving Project Manager will provide his/her expertise in the crucial periods of a project (particularly during the start-up phase), ensuring that UNOPS project management best practices are adhered to. As part of his/her responsibilities, the Roving Project Manager will provide training, guidance, and plans to members of the relevant project management teams, allowing the project to effectively operate once he/she has moved to the next project. The Roving Project Manager is responsible for providing services to the different donors, partners, and beneficiaries. He/she is expected to meet and exceed the organization’s performance and delivery goals.
He/she formally is a member of the Africa Regional Office while for specific assignments he/she reports to the Head of Programme/Director of the Office.
Functional Responsibilities
The Roving Project Manager is responsible to produce/read the project initiation documents (PID), and have a thorough understanding of the terms, conditions, and the respective roles and responsibilities of the partners/stakeholders to ensure the project(s) products are capable of meeting the business cases for both UNOPS and the client. Success of the Project(s) and hence Roving Project Manager will be based on the Success Criteria of UNOPS engagements which are linked to the below responsibilities. The project(s) would rely on a number of external suppliers for its successful delivery and would be working with firm deadlines. The project manager is responsible for all aspects of the project life cycle. S/he must be able to apply, independently, the below duties and responsibilities of the project success criteria:
Stakeholder Management:
- Establish solid working relationship with the project board (Executive, Senior Users and Senior Suppliers), client and key stakeholders
- Manage communications and ensure stakeholders are aware of project activities, progress, exceptions, and are in a position to accept handover products
- Advise the client on issues that may impact the achievement of their outcomes (including issues of sustainability and post project requirements such as maintenance)
- Manage the information flows between the Project Board/OC Director and the project(s)
Delivery and Performance:
- Develop and maintain project plans
- Establish accurate project delivery forecasts
- Implement approved project plans (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 cycle.
- Manage the production of the required products, taking responsibility for overall progress and use of resources and initiating corrective action where necessary
- Liaise with any external suppliers or account managers
- Authorize Work Packages
- Advise the Project Board and OC Manager of any deviations from the plan
- Identify and manage risks so that maximum benefit to client and stakeholders is achieved
- Manage and review product quality and ensure products are accepted
- Monitor and evaluate performance of service providers
- Identify and report potential business opportunities for UNOPS to supervisor
- Identify and report threats to UNOPS internal business case to supervisor
- Complete and submit exception reports when projects deviate from delivery forecasts
- Report foreseeable shortfalls in project delivery to the relevant Hub director and the AFO Office of the Regional Director
- Actively mitigate foreseeable shortfalls in project delivery
Procedures:
- Follow the Project Management Cycle Instructions and ensure that all organizational policy is complied with (Organizational Directives and Administrative Instructions)
- Prepare/adapt the following plans for approval by the Project Board: I. Project Initiation Documentation; II. Stage/Exception Plans and relevant Product Descriptions
- Prepare the following reports:
-Highlight Reports
-End Stage Reports
-Operational Closure Checklist
-End Project Report
- Handover Report
- Maintain the following: i. Electronic Blue File; ii. Procurement, HR and Finance files as required by those practices as per OD12.
- Ensure that all expenditure comply with UNOPS Financial Rules and Regulations (FRR).
- 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 and remain accountable for expenditures against the budget (based on accurate financial reports)
- Where the Roving 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.
Knowledge Management:
- Participate in the relevant Communities of Practice
- Actively interact with other PMs and the PM community to share case studies, lessons learned and best practice on the Knowledge System.
- Ensure an efficient project hand-over to the succeeding Project Manager, when the Roving Project Manager moves to the next project
- Provide feedback to Practice Leads on policy, supporting guidance with an aim towards continuous improvement of UNOPS policies
- Complete lessons learned as per reporting format
- Incorporate lessons learned from others as per planning format
Personnel Management:
- Lead and motivate the project management team
- Ensure that behavioural expectations of team members are established
- Ensure that performance reviews are conducted
- Identify outstanding staff and bring them to the attention of the OC Director
- Have a thorough understanding of UNOPS personnel contract modalities (including ICA and Staff)
- Select, recruit and train team as required by project plans
- Perform the Team Manager role, unless appointed to another person(s)
- Perform Project Support role, unless appointed to another person or corporate/programme function
- Ensure safety and security for all personnel and comply with UNDSS standards
- Enable subsequent project managers, and the project management teams, to effectively operate the relevant projects in keeping with UNOPS best practices when the Roving Project Manager moves to the next project
HOW TO APPLY:
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