PROCARIBE+ Senior Project Officer (Technical Specialist, Environmental)

Contract

This is a IICA-2 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 5 years of experience, depending on education. More about IICA-2 contracts.

Background Information - Job-specific

Background Information - UNOPS Austria Multi-Country Office (AUMCO)

The Austria Multi-Country Office (AUMCO) is part of the UNOPS Europe and Central Asia Region (ECR). Specifically, AUMCO aims to enable achievement of Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement through global programmes focused on:

• Infrastructure
• Procurement
• Project Management (full service, back on track)
• HR and Transactional Services
• Grants Management
• Technical and Advisory Services

Background Information - Water, Environment and Climate (WEC)

The Water, Environment and Climate (WEC) Portfolio under the UNOPS Austria Multi-Country Office has built strong partnerships and has effectively been managing a portfolio of 490 million USD over the last 15 years to support key initiatives with fund management, project implementation and administrative support. WEC effectively operationalizes partners' agendas with global approaches, as well as regional and country specific activities focused on climate action, protection and conservation of the environment. Partners profit from WEC’s ability to operationalize and/or scale up their important substantive agendas, including in support of key multilateral environmental and climate agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, the Cartagena Convention as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.

The CLME+ region and the new 5-year UNDP/GEF PROCARIBE+ Project

The globally unique Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems (LME’s) - further also referred to as “CLME+ region” - constitute an area of 4,4 million km2 that is shared among 26 independent States and 18 dependent/associated territories.

These ecosystems, rich in marine and coastal biodiversity/natural capital, support a multitude of interconnected and globally important ecological processes and economic activities which underpin the livelihoods and socio-economic well-being of the peoples from the region and beyond.

The UNDP Project “Protecting and Restoring the Ocean’s natural Capital, building Resilience and supporting region-wide Investments for sustainable Blue socio-Economic development” (PROCARIBE+) is a 5-year project (co-)funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF-ID 10800, May 2023 - April 2028) that aims to protect, restore and harness the natural coastal and marine capital of the region, to catalyze investments in a climate-resilient, sustainable Blue Economy, through strengthened regional coordination and collaboration and wide-ranging partnerships.

It will seek to achieve this by enabling and supporting the development of sustainable and resilient ocean-based (blue) economies, through, for example, the upscaling of actions on Marine Spatial Planning, marine conservation (MPA’s, OECM’s), Blue Carbon, sustainable fisheries, community grants, and through enhanced regional ocean governance (including capacity building efforts and enhanced marine data, information and knowledge management, strategic planning and environmental and socio-economic reporting). In doing so, the project will take into account cross-cutting issues such as climate change, gender and post-covid recovery.

In support of the aforementioned, the project will play a global pioneering role as it will operationalize a region-wide “Coordination Mechanism to Support Integrated Ocean Governance in the Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems” (the “Ocean Coordination Mechanism”, or “OCM”). This “OCM” will seek to enhance cross-sectoral collaboration and coordination among the region’s many countries, and the numerous Intergovernmental Organizations (IGO’s) with an oceans-relevant mandate.

Functional Responsibilities

The PROCARIBE+ regional Project Management and Coordination Unit (PMCU) will provide: project management services, support/oversight and direct implementation services for the project’s activities, as well as the geographic and thematic coordination of those project activities that are to be implemented by the different participating countries and/or project Executing Partners (e.g. other UN Agencies and IGO’s, national governments, NGO’s, CSO’s, private companies, as applicable). For the duration of the Project, the PMCU is also expected to exercise the function of (interim) Secretariat of the regional Ocean Coordination Mechanism (OCM).

In the above context, the operations of the PMCU will be supported by 2 full-time Senior Technical Specialists.

These positions will be expected to bring in substantive technical expertise, practical project management/people leadership experience, ideally supported by strong language management and relations management skills.

Functional Responsibilities:

Under the overall supervision/direction of the Project Manager/Regional Coordinator (PM/RC) and in close coordination with the other PMCU staff members and project partners, the PROCARIBE+ Senior Technical Specialists’ responsibilities will include:

Technical/Thematic project activities:

• planning, leading, overseeing and/or supporting/undertaking/monitoring/evaluating thematic project activities
• developing the technical elements of the Terms of References (ToRs) for contracts, co-executing agreements and service requests
• (supporting the) (technical) screening and selection of potential human resources, service providers and co-executing partners
• overseeing, providing (technical) advice and backstopping support, exercising (technical) quality control, risk/issue management, and compliance checks, and pursuing/promoting the overall coherence and synergies among the thematic project activities executed by consultants, contractors and co-executing partners; this may include (support for) the development, implementation and systematic use of M&E plans and tools
• supporting other PMCU team members and consultants/project human resources by providing the technical angle and inputs to their activities and deliverables
• providing the technical angle, inputs and requirements in the definition, fine-tuning and periodic revisions of the project budgets and work plans, project risks and issues assessments and management

Stakeholder relations:

• liaising with project participants, stakeholders and beneficiaries (e.g. designated officials in the participating countries, other members of the PROCARIBE+ Steering Committee and Partnership(s), UNDP, UNOPS and prospective partners, donors and other stakeholders) on matters of relevance to the PROCARIBE+ initiative, in particular on (technical/thematic) matters within the competencies and responsibilities of the SPO
• preparing, or contributing to the preparation of PROCARIBE+ technical and progress reports, documents, and associated dissemination materials
• preparing, or contributing to the preparation of technical content and advocacy/awareness raising/dissemination materials for all relevant project meetings and/or other events where the project will be presented
• representing the Project at (technical/thematic) meetings, within the region and globally, and present the prepared materials at these events
• identifying opportunities, and actively advocate for, and secure additional stakeholder buy-in and support (incl. financial) for the PROCARIBE+ Project and next iteration of the regional SAP (and associated initiatives, as applicable)

Project management:

• reporting and providing recommendations to the PM/RC, and (as relevant) other PMCU members, based on (the findings of) his/her work

• when requested, and in coordination with other PMCU staff members, support the PM/RC in:

  • leading and overseeing the overall day-to-day management of the project, and ensuring compliance with UNOPS’ project management standards (UNOPS Project Management Manual) and all applicable GEF, UNDP and UNOPS rules and regulations, and Project Board decisions
  • mobilizing all project inputs, and supervising (the day-to-day work of) project staff, responsible parties, consultants and sub-contractors
  • presenting key deliverables and documents to the Board for their review and approval, including progress reports, annual work plans, adjustments to tolerance levels and risk registers

The PMCU as Secretariat for the Ocean Coordination Mechanism (OCM):

• when requested, and in coordination with other PMCU staff members, support the PM/RC in his function as Director of the OCM Secretariat, in:

• preparing, supporting and documenting meetings of the Steering Group, Executive Group and Working Groups of the OCM

• preparing draft work programmes and budgets for the OCM and incorporate recommendations and feedback from the Steering Group and Executive Group;
• implementing/supporting the implementation of activities as determined in the work programmes of the OCM
• performing other functions assigned to the OCM Secretariat by the OCM Steering Group or Executive Group
• preparing/supporting the preparation of performance reports on the execution of the OCM Secretariat functions and present them to the Executive Group and the Steering Group
• supporting the coordination with other relevant international bodies as may be needed for the effective discharge of the functions of the OCM Secretariat
• representing the OCM (as approved by the OCM Steering Group)

• strategically leading, overseeing, and technically supporting the delivery of Project Outputs linked to the mandate and work programme(s) of the regional OCM (e.g. the regional OCM Knowledge Hub; the regional marine data infrastructure blueprint, the regional “State of the Marine Environment and associated socio-Economics (SOMEE)” report, etc:).

• other related duties, as may additionally be requested/required.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education: - Master’s Degree, or equivalent, in Marine Sciences, Marine Governance, Environmental, Natural Resources or Marine Ecosystems Management, Natural Resources Economics, Marine Fisheries, or a similar field(s) directly related/relevant to the project’s scope and objectives and the incumbent’s role within the PROCARIBE+ PMCU - Complementary training/certification in project management, multi-stakeholder processes and/or other topics of high relevance for the assignment will be positively evaluated

Expertise and practical work experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of succesful experience in the planning, management, coordination and (support for the) implementation of projects, programmes or multi-stakeholder initiatives, ideally at both national and international levels is required

• A first-level university degree may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree in cases where a combination of academic qualifications and a minimum of 7 years of practical, consistently succesful recent work experience relevant to the announced position, and with progressive responsibilities, can be demonstrated

• Practical experience with complex, multi-year, multi-country sustainable development projects, in particular within the context of the UN system/UNDP/UNOPS and/or the GEF International Waters Focal Area, or similar, will be considered important assets

• Expertise in/sound knowledge of marine/natural resources governance/management, in fields/on topics relevant to this assignment
• Familiarity with the goals and regulations, rules, policies, procedures and practices of international organizations (GEF, UNDP, UNOPS, others…) will be considered an important asset
• Practical work experience covering/in the Wider Caribbean region, in a function(s) relevant to the announced position will be positively considered
• Familiarity with the ongoing regional ocean/marine resources governance processes in the Wider Caribbean region, with the CLME Project/CLME SAP and CLME+ Project, and/or with related global, regional and national-level initiatives will be positively considered
• Prior exposure to and familiarity with diplomacy and protocol, and experience with its practical application in the context of regional or global multi-country processes, will be positively considered

Languages:

• Fluency in both written and oral English;
• Fluency in/knowledge of Spanish is highly desirable;
• Knowledge of other languages from the region - French, Portuguese, Dutch - would constitute an additional asset.

Contract type, level and duration

Contract type: ICA

Contract level: I-ICA2 - ISC10

Contract duration: Full-time assignment for the duration of project, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and 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

Competencies

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) 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.

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.
• UNOPS embraces diversity and it is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, or disability.
• 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.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.
• 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.