Safeguards, Risk, and Inclusion Specialist

In Latin America and the Caribbean, UNOPS operates across 23 countries, delivering high-impact solutions that drive sustainable development. UNOPS focuses on building and improving resilient infrastructure—including roads, bridges, public facilities, sanitation systems, and housing—to enhance quality of life and foster inclusive growth. UNOPS also supports public health by procuring essential medicines and medical equipment, ensuring broader access to healthcare services. By strengthening institutional capacities, UNOPS promotes transparent, efficient, and equitable public management. As a trusted partner to governments and development stakeholders, UNOPS aligns its interventions with national priorities, helping countries advance the Sustainable Development Goals through practical, results-driven support.

The Barbados Country Office (CO) functions as a strategic hub to support Caribbean nations in implementing the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), helping regional leaders advance a global agenda on climate justice and financing.  The primary mandate of the Barbados Country Office is to Speed Up and Scale Up engagements across 17 Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS), ensuring that partner expectations are met with agility and precision. Through dedicated operational presence, UNOPS Barbados Country Office streamlines complex regional logistics and fosters stronger collaboration with sovereign governments and financial institutions in the Caribbean. The office focuses on delivering high-value solutions aligned with the region’s priorities, including the economy, nature and climate, human capital, infrastructure and capacity development.

The Caribbean Resilient Infrastructure Implementation and Skills Exchange (RIISE) Facility is established as a regional mechanism designed to support governments in implementing climate-resilient infrastructure. The Facility provides demand-driven technical assistance, strengthens institutional capacity, and facilitates knowledge and skills exchange across countries in the region. 

The Facility is envisioned as a five-year initiative, initially serving countries in the Eastern Caribbean eligible for Official Development Assistance, namely Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. 

Through a growing number of short‑ and medium‑term technical assistance assignments and surge deployments, the Facility is expected to strengthen the capacity of ministries, project implementation units, and utilities responsible for delivering climate‑resilient infrastructure in these countries. 

The Facility will be implemented through a United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Hosted Entity Partnership, which will provide the institutional platform required for the Facility’s establishment and early operations.

The functions/responsibilities/key results of this job description are generic and may not always be applicable, nor be comprehensive, for all assignments and/or missions under this job title. The specific tasks and deliverables for each retainer assignment may vary and will be detailed in the terms of reference developed for each assignment by the RIISE Secretariat.

The RIISE Facility delivers demand-driven technical assistance primarily through two service modalities: the Rapid Helpdesk, which provides short-term remote advisory support for urgent queries, and Surge Deployments, which involve medium-term engagements designed to support the effective resolution of complex project implementation needs. While RIISE operates on a "remote-first" delivery approach—utilizing digital collaboration tools by default to optimize responsiveness and cost-efficiency—the Consultant must possess the availability and willingness to travel for on-site deployments across participating Caribbean countries. In-country field presence remains a fundamental requirement for complex assignments where direct hands-on engagement, collaborative work with government counterparts, and on-site technical assessments are critical for effective delivery.

The Specialist shall ensure that safeguards, risk management and GBA+/GESI requirements are applied proportionately to the nature, scale and risk profile of each RIISE request and assignment, in accordance with the RIISE Project Implementation Plan, Operational Manual, ESMF/EMP, applicable GESI instruments, and other relevant RIISE policies and procedures.

While the contract modality for this Vacancy Announcement is an ICA retainer contract on a project or assignment basis, UNOPS may offer, on a need basis, full-time employment for a specified consecutive period of time (up to one year maximum, with possible extensions), with the possibility to move between the two contract modalities subject to operational needs and the incumbent’s acceptance of the proposed assignments.

The specific tasks for each assignment may vary from one assignment to another assignment. Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the RIISE Secretariat and designated Supervisor, the Specialist will work on a retainer contract and will be called upon for specific projects to fulfill one or more of the following key tasks:

• Screen RIISE requests and assignments for environmental and social safeguards, risk, GBA+/GESI, stakeholder engagement, grievance, OHS and related requirements.
• Strengthen safeguards, risk management and inclusion integration throughout the RIISE programme and assignment management cycle.
• Support RIISE-level grievance and referral procedures and assess the adequacy of project-level grievance mechanisms relevant to RIISE-supported assignments.
• Provide technical support, quality assurance and capacity building to the RIISE Secretariat, requesting government entities and other relevant assignment stakeholders.

Screen RIISE requests and assignments for safeguards, risk and inclusion requirements

• Review RIISE requests, preliminary scopes and assignment documentation to identify environmental and social safeguards, GBA+/GESI, stakeholder engagement, grievance, OHS and other relevant risk considerations.
• Recommend proportionate risk screening, categorisation, due diligence, mitigation, monitoring and reporting requirements to be incorporated into assignment-specific Terms of Reference and delivery arrangements.
• Assess relevant policies, procedures and systems of requesting government entities, ministries/agencies, project implementation units, utilities and, where relevant to the assignment, contractors, consultants or other entities involved in supported infrastructure projects.
• Identify material gaps, practical risks and corrective or strengthening measures, with clear allocation of responsibilities and follow-up actions.
• Advise on when specialist technical expertise should be mobilized for higher-risk or technically complex safeguards, OHS, climate adaptation or social inclusion matters.

Strengthen safeguards, risk management and GBA+/GESI integration across the RIISE programme management cycle

• Review programme and assignment documents, annual work plans, governance papers, progress reports, donor reporting inputs, risk registers and other programme-cycle documents to assess whether applicable RIISE policy requirements are sufficiently reflected.
• Advise programme teams on environmental and social risk screening, risk categorisation, mitigation measures, risk ownership, monitoring and reporting.
• Support GBA+/GESI screening and analysis, including identification of barriers to participation, differential impacts, accessibility considerations and opportunities to strengthen equitable access to the benefits of RIISE-supported technical assistance.
• Advise on appropriate stakeholder engagement and consultation approaches, including measures to reach groups that may face barriers to participation and, where applicable under RIISE policies, safeguarding and PSEAH-sensitive referral considerations.
• Review implementation frameworks, management plans and procedures to assess alignment with RIISE policies and identify required updates or corrective actions.
• Lead the review and consolidation of relevant programme and assignment risk registers, ensuring that safeguards, stakeholder, OHS, inclusion, reputational, institutional-capacity and implementation risks within the Specialist’s scope are clearly described, rated, assigned and linked to mitigation measures.
• Support the review of RIISE policies, procedures and guidance notes and propose updates, as required, for consideration and approval through the applicable RIISE governance arrangements.

Support RIISE grievance and referral procedures and assess project-level grievance mechanisms

• Support the development or improvement of a practical RIISE grievance intake, acknowledgement, registration, assessment, referral, escalation, response, monitoring, closure and reporting procedure for matters related to RIISE-supported assistance.
• Assess, where relevant to an assignment, whether project-level grievance mechanisms are accessible, legitimate, predictable, equitable, transparent, confidential where needed, and responsive to affected communities.
• Assess whether grievance access channels are adequately communicated to relevant government entities, project stakeholders, technical assistance recipients and affected communities.
• Provide recommendations to strengthen project-level grievance mechanisms while maintaining clear accountability with the entity responsible for the underlying project; RIISE shall not replace or operate such mechanisms unless specifically authorized under an assignment.
• Support grievance tracking, trend analysis and reporting for RIISE-related matters, including identification of recurring issues, systemic risks and lessons for programme improvement.

Provide technical support, quality assurance and capacity building

• Provide on-demand technical advice to RIISE Secretariat staff, regional leads, relevant government focal points and assignment teams on applicable safeguards, risk and inclusion requirements.
• Prepare concise advisory notes, review comments, checklists, tools and templates to support implementation and quality assurance.
• Provide technical inputs for RIISE programme reporting, governance updates, donor reporting and internal decision-making.
• Deliver capacity-building sessions and supporting materials for RIISE colleagues, government counterparts and other relevant assignment stakeholders.
• Document knowledge transfer and practical capacity strengthening achieved through assignments, with emphasis on approaches and tools that can be sustained by counterpart institutions.

RIISE Assignment Deliverables

a. Primary Assignment Reports (Modality-Specific)

• RIISE Helpdesk Report: For short-term Rapid Helpdesk assignments, the incumbent must deliver the response and advisory inputs using the standardized RIISE Helpdesk Report Template.
• Assignment Closure Report / Final Technical Report: For Surge Deployments and other medium-term assignments, a comprehensive report must be submitted by the incumbent within 10 working days of the assignment’s end and must be cleared by the RIISE Technical Adviser before final approval.

b. Mandatory Components of the Final Technical Report

Regardless of the assignment, final technical outputs must adhere to RIISE’s Deliverable Standards and include, as applicable, the following components:

• Knowledge Transfer Summary: A mandatory section documenting the specific skills, methodologies, tools or capabilities shared with and transferred to government counterpart staff during the assignment.
• GBA+ / GESI Integration Outcomes: A section documenting how Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) and Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) considerations were integrated into the expert’s analysis, engagement approach and final recommendations.
• Safeguards and Risk Summary: A concise summary of relevant safeguards and risk issues identified, measures recommended or implemented, residual risks and any required follow-up actions.
• Actionable Recommendations & Limitations: Clear recommendations accompanied by prioritized action items, responsible parties where applicable, and an explicit section noting the limitations and assumptions taken into account during the assignment.

c. Specialized Safeguard & Compliance Outputs (Trigger-Based)

Depending on the nature and risk profile of the assignment, the Specialist shall determine, support, review and/or quality-assure the following outputs in coordination with the relevant technical or engineering expert, as applicable:

• RIISE CCA (Climate Change Adaptation) Integration Checklist: Required for assignments involving engineering design reviews or the development of technical specifications. The Specialist shall support or quality-assure completion of the checklist to confirm that climate hazards, design life, applicable resilience standards and residual climate risks have been appropriately considered. Technical validation of engineering design parameters remains with the relevant qualified technical expert.
• OHS Assessment and ESMP Review: Required for assignments involving on-site technical or construction supervision where relevant. The Specialist shall review, quality-assure and/or coordinate the required OHS and ESMP assessment, and shall recommend specialist OHS or environmental expertise where the risk profile requires it.

d. Administrative Closure Deliverables

• Intellectual Property (IP) Handover Confirmation: A mandatory administrative document that the expert must secure before the assignment can be financially closed. It must be signed by the government counterpart, confirming that all relevant technical outputs (reports, drawings, specifications, data) have been successfully transferred to the requesting government.

Required

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in environmental management, environmental science, social sciences, international development, gender studies, human rights, Indigenous Peoples studies, environmental law, natural resource management, marine or coastal management, sustainable development, development finance, or related fields with 5 years of relevant experience is required  OR 
• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in any of the above related fields with 7 years of relevant experience.

Desired

• Project management certification from a globally recognized institute is desired (PRINCE2® Foundation/Practitioner or PMI -Project Management Professional - PMP or similar certification).

Required

• Relevant of experience is defined as experience in environmental and social safeguards, social and environmental risk management, GBA+/GESI, grievance mechanisms, stakeholder engagement, OHS/ESMP oversight, human rights, sustainability, climate adaptation, infrastructure or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience applying safeguards, accountability or environmental and social risk requirements in infrastructure or development programmes financed or implemented by United Nations agencies, international organisations, development finance institutions, climate funds, multilateral agencies or comparable institutions.
• Demonstrated ability to translate safeguards, risk and inclusion requirements into practical screening, mitigation, monitoring, reporting, quality-assurance and capacity-building measures.

Desired

• Experience working in multicultural environments or UN system organizations in a developing-country context.
• Direct prior experience in Caribbean countries, particularly OECS Member States, and a strong understanding of the region’s institutional landscape and climate vulnerabilities.
• Experience with climate-resilient infrastructure and environmental and social risk issues relevant to Caribbean infrastructure, including coastal and marine environments, disaster risk, community livelihoods, land access and other context-specific social or environmental considerations.
• Experience applying GBA+/GESI approaches to infrastructure, technical assistance or institutional-strengthening programmes.
• Experience reviewing or supporting grievance mechanisms, stakeholder engagement plans, ESMPs, OHS arrangements and related safeguard instruments.
• Experience with rights-based and culturally appropriate engagement with Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and other groups that may face barriers to participation, where relevant to the assignment.

• UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the selection process, which may include various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of a wide range of nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. We strive to sustain and strengthen this diversity, fostering an inclusive working environment where all personnel are treated with respect and have equal access to opportunities.
• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to a fair and transparent selection process and welcome diverse perspectives, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and persons with disabilities.
• We are committed to enabling all candidates to perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require support or reasonable accommodation to complete any assessment, please inform our human resources team upon receiving your invitation.
• UNOPS has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment, and other forms of abusive conduct, including discrimination, abuse of authority, and harassment. To uphold these standards, background checks are conducted for all final candidates to help ensure that individuals with a history of such conduct are not hired. By applying for a position with UNOPS, candidates acknowledge and consent to these verification processes.
  

• 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. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
• For more details about the contract types, please click 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.