Consultant – Geotechnical Engineer

Result of Service He/she will provide managerial support and technical advice on the urban planning proposal at Izidora, specially related to containment of roads and slopes projects.

The consultant will work in close collaboration with the operational and technical teams of UN-Habitat offices, staff of other UN Agencies, Government officials, media, multilateral and bilateral donors and civil society.

The Consultant – Geotechnical Engineer shall be paid with a monthly allowance, upon presentation and approval by the National Officer for Brazil of monthly activities' report.

Work Location Belo Horizonte (initially, home based)

Expected duration Six (6) months upon the signature of the contract, with the possibility of renewal.

Duties and Responsibilities Background

The main mandate of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is to promote sustainable development of human settlements and policies conducive to adequate housing for all. Within this framework, UN-Habitat supports central and state governments, as well as local authorities and other partners for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, the 2030 Agenda with the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda.

UN-Habitat helps the urban poor by transforming cities into safer, more inclusive, compact, integrated, resilient and connected places with better opportunities where everyone can live with dignity. It works with organizations at every level, including all spheres of government, civil society and the private sector to help build, manage, plan and finance sustainable urban development.

The Regional Office for Latin American and the Caribbean – ROLAC – is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Agency puts emphasis in developing and managing activities in the host country. Indeed, for the past years, UN-Habitat has expanded its portfolio in Brazil by working with the three tiers of government in order to support the formulation and implementation of more effective, sustainable, participative and socially fairer urban economic, social and environmental policies.

Through a partnership with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the Municipality of Belo Horizonte, UN-Habitat is working as Implementing Agency to implement the project named “Urban Qualification in a Key Neighbourhood of Belo Horizonte”. UN-Habitat will focus on the outcome "Improved Belo Horizonte Municipal infrastructure and tools to develop effective options for social housing and urban planning in Izidora”, which aims to enable Izidora´s population to have safe and sustainable access to community infrastructure and affordable housing.

In order to properly implement this project, a Consultant – Geotechnical Engineer is required to ensure a good execution of the work programme.

Report to UN-Habitat Manager

The Consultant – Geotechnical Engineer reports to the National Officer for Brazil, who will evaluate him/her.

Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the National Officer for Brazil, the Consultant – Geotechnical Engineer will: a) Participate and support Izidora's Urban Planning Technical Team; b) Analyse land permeability studies to guide filtering device strategies; c) Evaluation of risk areas and define strategies for action; d) Give technical support to environmental licensing processes; e) Work together with URBEL to define guidelines for risk structuring projects; f) Give technical support to environmental licensing processes; g) Participate in meetings with Izidora’s community to discuss the Plan and projects; h) Support UNOPS at the elaboration of the Term of Reference for Basic Urban Projects; i) Evaluate basic urban projects developed by UNOPS; j) Attend to meetings and conferences promoted by UN-Habitat partners; k) Prepare reports to partners, internal reports, etc. at various stages of the projects; l) Attend to meetings and conferences promoted by UN-Habitat, as requested; m) Elaborate monthly activities reports regarding the consultancy; n) Be responsible for the delivery according to deadlines for each task; o) Perform other duties which may be requested by the supervisor.

The consultant will be responsible for completing all courses and training activities that are indicated to him/her by his/her supervisor. The security course BSAFE is required to be accredited during the first month of employment.

The consultant will be responsible for his/her own security, so the person should get familiarized with United Nations security mechanisms and comply with them according to the Framework of Accountability for the United Nations Security Management System.

Outputs/Work Assignment

The Consultant – Geotechnical Engineer shall assist the implementation of the above-mentioned project according to the responsibilities indicated below.

Qualifications/special skills Skills:

● Good computer skills in Windows, as Microsoft Office, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and Web search engines is required; ● Knowledge and experience in Building Information Modelling (BIM) is desirable; ● Good command of AutoCad or Revit is desirable; ● Good command of geographical information systems (GIS) software, such as QGIS, MapInfo and ArcGIS, is desirable.

Academic Qualifications:

● Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Geology or related fields is required, or additional three years of relevant experience to the post, beyond the requirement. ● Desired: Postgraduate Degree (Lato Sensu or Stricto Sensu) in Geotechnics is an asset.

Experience:

● A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in project/programme management on urban related themes; ● Professional experience related to land characterization and classification, surface dynamics processes, subsoil geotechnical survey, compaction, slope stability analysis, and land movement is required; ● Experience in development of slope containment and stabilization projects is required; ● Experience in planning, design and/or work in informal settlements is highly desirable; ● Experience in monitoring and design of interventions of maintenance and urban infrastructure, drainage, sewerage, paving, earthworks, reinforced concrete structures for infrastructure and buildings is desirable; ● Experience in development of gulls treatments projects is desirable; ● Experience in finance/budget projections for urban infrastructure projects is desirable; ● Previous experience within the UN System would be an asset.

Language:

● Fluency in Portuguese is required and good command in English and Spanish will be considered as an added advantage. ● English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat, and Spanish is the working language of the Regional Office.

Knowledge Management

● The person must know the processes, procedures and norms of UN-Habitat, in order to guarantee an adequate quality of the activities described above, following the standards of the organization. ● The person will propose formats and procedures that allow the efficient implementation of the activities related to the project development. ● The person must know the file of the Office, work with it and ensure its proper maintenance, accessibility for all staff and due updating. ● The person will prepare databases related to the project running. ● The person will make sure that all relevant technical information will be adequately shared with the correspondent staff. ● The person will ensure that all produced material will be fit-for-purpose and delivered, in an organized way, for posterior consultation and use of the Agency.

Competencies

● Professionalism: Experience working in inter-institutional environment, project management, monitoring-evaluation; approaches and strategies with regard to good urban governance and local and regional development. ● Planning and organization: Professional approach to work, strong sense of responsibility, operate with minimal supervision; proven organizational skills and ability to manage a workload efficiently and within set deadlines. ● Communication: Ability to write clearly and effectively; listen to others, interpret messages correctly and respond appropriately; show openness in information sharing and keep everyone informed; solid abstract reasoning skills together with a proven capacity to write documents for diverse audiences. ● Teamwork: Ability to work with teams, demonstrate leadership, conflict management and consensus facilitation skills; ability to work in a multicultural and multi-ethnic environment, and to respect diversity; sensitivity to the main-streaming of vulnerability; willingness and ability to work in difficult environments.

Additional Information Remuneration

(SB-3/4, part-time, 20h per week) - R$ 3.541,02

Travel details

The consultant must be available to travel to the places related to the activities in the country, if requested by the National Officer for Brazil and/or the International Officer. Travels will be coordinated and financed by UN-Habitat, according to the United Nations travel rules and guidelines. Note: During the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine, travel is not advised.

Appointment against this post is on local basis and only nationals from Brazil or external candidates who hold a permanent visa in Brazil may apply.

It is required for all the curricular information to be inserted in the system, which may take a few hours. Only complete applications in English will be considered.

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. Due to the volume of applications received, receipt of applications cannot be acknowledged individually. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.