Senior Project Manager

The Senior PM must be able to undertake independently the following tasks:

Project Delivery and Performance

• Ensure the preparation and delivery of all the project’s elements and activities mentioned in the project document/ legal agreements;

• Ensure timely planning and implementation of the project activities, ensuring that goals and objectives are accomplished within the prescribed project time frame and the available funding parameters/budget;

• Develop, complete and update implementation plan(s);

• Implement the approved plan (including the establishment of milestones) within tolerances set by the Steering Committee;

• Follow up and report on the project objectives and plans including any delineation of scope, budgeting, scheduling, and setting performance requirements;

• Study and/ or prepare revisions of the standard operating procedures (SOPs), budgets, terms of reference, contracts and all technical requirements for the project activities;

• Analyze and review all project documents, including documents for the UN and Member States, and ensure compliance with specifications utilizing research, development, relevant codes and standards;

• Ensure agreements with Member States and stakeholders are correctly implemented;

• Embed sustainability dimensions including social, gender, environmental and economic aspects into the 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.

Stakeholder Engagement and Management

• Develop stakeholder profiles and facilitate the formulation of stakeholder engagement strategies;

• Establish, build, and maintain solid working relationships with the project stakeholders, including the Government of Yemen, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Government of Djibouti, donors, UN OCHA, UN agencies, and other 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, and exceptions and are in a position to accept handover outputs;

• In coordination with the Regional Office, maintain regular contact with the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), UN Department of Political Affairs, and other internal stakeholders;

• Convene regular Steering Committee meetings, and donor meetings, and lead on the organization of donor field visits and briefing requests;

• Ensure donor visibility as stipulated in the approved project document/ legal agreement;

• Prepare for and participate in Project Steering Committee Meetings.

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.)

Personnel Management

• Lead, supervise, and motivate the project management 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, harassment, sexual harassment 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.

Procedures

• Comply with all organizational policy and specifically the Project Management Manual, and OneUNOPS Projects System requirements.

• Prepare/adapt all relevant plans for approval by the Steering Committee;

• Manage the reporting obligations defined in the Legal Agreement(s) 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;

• Ensure the development and implementation of project financial management guidelines and control mechanisms, in conformity with UNOPS rules and regulations;

• 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.

Monitoring and reporting

• In coordination with Partnerships Section, prepare and issue regular project and/or financial reports in accordance with each donor and/ or UNOPS requirements for reporting and as stipulated in contribution agreements;

• Analyze, monitor, and review key economic indicators on commercial trade in Yemen including, but not limited to, statistics, economic projections and trends;

• Monitor and assess the developments in Yemen related to the UNVIM and keep the Regional Director, Regional Office, the Multi-Country Office Director, Head of Programme, Partnerships Advisor, and UN OCHA, informed;

• 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.

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