Design Review Coordinator

Contract

This is a IICA-1 contract. This kind of contract is known as International Individual Contractor Agreements. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's an external contract. It usually requires 2 years of experience, depending on education. More about IICA-1 contracts.

Background Information - UNOPS

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.

Background information - Implementation Practices and Standards (IPS)

Within UNOPS, Implementation Practices and Standards (IPS) is responsible for the UNOPS delivery practices. IPS provides thought leadership, standards and oversight as support to the successful delivery of programmes and projects within UNOPS service lines (infrastructure, procurement, project management, human resources and financial management services).

IPS is comprised of the Infrastructure and Project Management Group (IPMG) and the Procurement Group (PG) which aims to reduce organizational risks, improve project performance, and promote excellence across UNOPS projects through the Standards Management Framework; and provides organisational oversight on the application of standards. These Groups also support the positioning of UNOPS in the UN system and development sector in Infrastructure, Project Management and Procurement. In addition, the Portfolio Support (PS) unit aims at building up and managing aspects of the organisational readiness of UNOPS. Last, the IPS is hosting the corporate Knowledge Management initiative.

Background information - IPMG

UNOPS strategic focus places increased emphasis on national capacity development and sustainable approaches to project management, procurement and infrastructure services. A key objective is to be recognized as an organization that delivers world-class infrastructure and project management, which is both economically and socially sustainable, even in the most challenging environments. To achieve this goal, UNOPS has established the Infrastructure and Project Management Group (IPMG).

Within UNOPS, it is IPMG’s objective to serve the organization’s personnel and partners by broadening their infrastructure and project management capabilities, while disseminating best practices in both of these areas. Through this work, the group helps facilitate the successful delivery of programs and projects around the world.

To achieve its objectives, IPMG has established three interrelated and interdependent work streams, namely, Strategic Initiatives, Standards, and Engagement Assurance. IPMG is managed overall by the Deputy Director of IPMG.

The Engagement Assurance (EA) team ensures an oversight function on the application of standards, guidance and best practices throughout the project cycle. This is undertaken through the following functional teams: Infrastructure Design Review, Organizational Portfolio Management Office (OPMO) reviews, Risk-based Performance Assessments (RBPA) and hosting the secretariat for the Engagement Acceptance Committee.

As per its organizational mandate, the Design Review team ensures delivery of safe and functional infrastructure designs to UNOPS partners, incorporation of minimum engineering codes and standards to protect safety and functionality. The Design Review team ensures that these fundamental internal assurance requirements are consistently applied across all infrastructure designs delivered by the UNOPS global office network.

Functional Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Design Review Manager, the successful candidate will be responsible for a variety of tasks to support;

1. the daily operation of design review and;

2. the progressive development of design review processes.

Qualified applicants will be highly organized and detail-oriented and have demonstrated the ability to be effective under the pressure of competing priorities. The role requires coordination, budget management, and reporting and analysis skills, as well as effective communication and stakeholder management. An infrastructure background is welcome but not required.

Functional Responsibilities

Coordinate and administer the daily operation of Design Review:

• Lead daily meetings to coordinate reviews of design submissions and facilitate responses to and other technical requests from project teams
• Track and coordinate design review-related tasks between the core team, technical reviewers, and project teams
• Log and track passage of infrastructure designs through review and maintain updated records
• Support the coordination of necessary procurement activities such as the arrangement of Call-Off orders (COOs) for coordination of engineering Design Review services with our evaluation partners
• Serve as primary focal point for guidance to UNOPS project offices on Design Review process and related documentation

Design Review Database Management and Performance Reporting

Regularly evaluate and update Design Review performance monitoring and reporting databases including:

• Design Review project submissions platform for project office infrastructure designs (JIRA)
• Design Review infrastructure design development monitoring and reporting systems for the global portfolio and project offices
• Design Review cost recovery databases for technical support services to UNOPS project offices
• Lead regular data coordination, analysis, and reporting on fundamental Design Review and UNOPS project office performance indicators, risk analysis, escalation and mitigation strategies, and overall programmatic growth and development indicators including quarterly and ad-hoc analysis

Support infrastructure Design Review reporting to internal and external partners

• Coordinate with other corporate units to deliver on design review objectives, meet reporting and policy requirements, and respond to requests
• Support the development of Design Review standard operating procedures (SOPs), intranet updates, UNOPS Design Planning Manuals and other guidance materials
• Support the implementation of Design Review policy changes and agreed actions from steering committee’s and other management initiatives

Lead coordination of Design Review metrics

• Ensure timely processing of payments for engineering Design Review services provided by retainer and corporate partners
• Track Design Review expenses and recovery to ensure accurate and timely financial recording and reporting
• Coordinate with project teams and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that costs incurred by retainer and corporate partners are fully recovered

Other support

• Support to Engagement Assurance and IPMG work packages, as required.
• Support training/Web-Ex event initiatives within IPMG as required.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education

• A Master’s Degree or higher in a relevant field, including but not limited to: Architecture, Civil Engineering, Project Management, Business Administration, Public Administration is required.
• A first-level University degree (Bachelor's or equivalent) in combination with additional 2 years of experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• Candidates with educational background in Engineering, Architecture, or Planning are preferred, as are candidates with international development/volunteering experience.

Certifications

• Certification in project or programme management (such as Prince 2 or Management of Successful Programmes (MSP)) is an asset .

Work Experience - A minimum 2 years of experience in international settings in a) project management/management support, and/or b) Infrastructure engineering is a requirement. - Expertise with spreadsheets, presentation, and word processing software is a requirement - Work experience that includes stakeholder analysis/management would be considered an asset - Experience working in large, global organizations or national institutions following public procurement rules and regulations would be considered an asset. - Knowledge of public procurement rules would be considered an asset - Experience in multicultural environments, including in developing countries would be considered an asset. - Knowledge of/experience with Google Suite, including Data Studio and BigQuery would be considered an asset.

Languages

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of French and/or Spanish would be considered an asset

Other requirements

• Applicants should include a cover letter explaining the motivation/fit for this specific position. Applications without such a letter will not be considered for the position.

Competencies

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.

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. 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). 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. 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 behavior. Performance is consistent, even under pressure. Always pursues continuous improvements. 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. 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.

Contract type, level and duration - Internship

Contract type: International ICA Contract level: IICA-1 Contract duration: open-ended

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.

****Work environment** IPS offers a unique work environment in UNOPS headquarters, in Copenhagen, Denmark, located in the UN City building, one of Copenhagen’s landmarks. UNOPS HQ offers a safe, family-friendly lifestyle environment with multiple opportunities for networking and and active lifestyle, in a city known for its excellent urban design and planning.**

The IPS team is a diverse team in terms of age, nationalities and family situations. The team is inclusive and values social and athletic activities like team breakfast, Friday evening networking or sports such as sailing, climbing, running and squash. IPS is very dynamic and welcomes agility, autonomy and self-drive. The work of IPS is oriented towards exciting opportunities which have a corporate, global impact and is in touch with the whole of UNOPS. UNOPS has a hosting agreement with the Government of Denmark, and as such both national and international candidates are eligible for HQ-based positions. UNOPS officials are exempt from Danish taxes on UN incomes. EU citizens may opt to be registered with the Danish State Administration as EU migrant worker and keep the rights associated with that status or register through UNOPS with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. EU Citizens may apply for the public Danish health insurance or special health card depending on their choice of registration, while the non-EU citizens will be registered by UNOPS under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

IPS is very respectful of the UNOPS policy on work life balance. IPS is keen on strengthening diversity in the team with a current focus on gender equality and geographic diversity.