Infrastructure and Project Management Senior Analyst (Development Economics and Finance) – Strategic Initiatives

Background Information

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 technical streams, namely, Strategic Initiatives, Standards, and Engagement Assurance, that are supported by the Portfolio Support team. IPMG is managed overall by the Director of IPMG.

The Strategic Initiatives (SI) team works to develop methodologies and tools to improve development outcomes as well as assist in the positioning of UNOPS at the highest levels in related fields, including various global agenda focus areas, such as resilience and sustainability.

Purpose and Scope of Assignment

Working within the Strategic Initiatives team and under the overall guidance and supervision of the Senior Infrastructure Sustainability, Resilience and Inclusion Specialist (IPMG), the successful incumbent will be be responsible for providing technical support to Strategic Initiatives activities, as well as contributing to the overall administration of the team.

Please attach a cover letter explaining your motivation for this position and describing how relevant your experience is for the mandatory and desirable requirements listed below. Applications without a cover letter may be disregarded.

The Senior Analyst will be based in Copenhagen; however, the incumbent may be required to travel to support Strategic Initiatives activities in the field.

The Senior Analyst’s responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

Support to strategic initiatives

• Conduct research, development and piloting of frameworks, tools and methodologies which focus primarily on improving the sustainability, resilience and inclusion of infrastructure;
• Structure research projects on developments around green and climate finance in the context of infrastructure development;
• Coordinate initiatives for increasing knowledge and developing an applied understanding of sustainable, resilient and inclusive infrastructure both internally and externally;
• Draft reports and other key positioning pieces, particularly, those which highlight the role of economics and finance for sustainable and resilient infrastructure in global development, including in relation to the global agendas;
• Develop awareness materials, including case studies, that promote UNOPS infrastructure activities internally and externally across UN agencies and the private sector;
• Support the mainstreaming of sustainable, resilient and inclusive infrastructure within UNOPS policies, processes and standards

Operations Support

• Create knowledge products and tools to improve the capacity of the organisation in the area of development economics and financing sustainable and resilient infrastructure;
• Contribute to the implementation of initiatives aimed at supporting governments to access finance for sustainable, resilient and inclusive infrastructure.
• Generate new ideas and stimulate innovative thinking and approaches to addressing barriers to infrastructure investments in a developing country context.
• Plan and deliver of missions to countries to support Strategic Initiatives work;
• Design and implement activities and initiatives around sustainable, resilient and inclusive infrastructure and its application within the development contexts;
• Provide research and data collection support on topics upon request by supervisors;

Reporting & Tools

• Identify areas for improvement and provide ongoing maintenance and updates to the Strategic Initiatives workspace;
• Draft external articles, presentations, e-mails and other communication;
• Initiate, contribute to, and manage key activities, including project concept development and preparation of project proposals, etc.
• Manage projects and engagements with relevant internal and external stakeholders. Draft reports and other communication materials including blogs, newsletters, and bulletins to promote Strategic Initiatives’ achievements;
• Support organisational reporting – i.e. quarterly progress reports, management reports, and end of year report.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

• Set standards, personal and development objectives in Performance Evaluation Review;
• Responsible for monitoring and reporting on set goals, targets and performance requirements against the Performance Evaluation Review and work plan;
• Coordinate updates of the Intranet Page for the Strategic Initiatives team;
• Successfully meet deadlines based on the Strategic Initiatives workplan.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education

• Candidates must hold a Master’s Degree or higher preferably in one of the following: Economics, International Development, Political Science, Mathematics, or other related subject;
• However, candidates with degrees in infrastructure or the built environment AND experience in the application of infrastructure financing and economics may apply;
• 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;

Work Experience

• 2 years of experience in economic or finance related analysis, in the built environment is required;
• Experience researching and supporting the development of relevant thought leadership publications or positioning papers is required;
• Experience in a developing country context is considered an asset;
• Experience working with a variety of institutions; including UN, government/public institutions, private sector, and or research/academia in the field of the built, natural and enabling environment is considered an asset;
• Experience working with the global policy frameworks around sustainable, resilient and inclusive infrastructure is considered an asset;
• Experience developing analytical frameworks is considered an asset;
• Experience developing software based tools is considered an asset;
• Experience in data analysis is considered an asset.

Languages

• Fluency in English is required;
• Fluency in French and/or Spanish is highly desirable.

Additional Information

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce.
• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.
• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions

• 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 (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. For more information on a retainer contract here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and 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 personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.