Project Management Support Officer - Information Management Officer (Liaison) - Re-advertise

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.

With more than 20 years of experience in the country, UNOPS Afghanistan focuses on providing maximum support to the Government and people of Afghanistan through delivery of projects and services in line with the government’s national priorities. The UNOPS Afghanistan Country Office (AFCO) serves as an organizational mechanism to deliver a range of projects for which UNOPS has been designated as the implementation agency. At present, UNOPS AFCO is implementing a number of projects in a range of sectors including infrastructure (roads, bridges, justice and security, health, and water supply) development, procurement services, HR services, capacity building, and humanitarian protection, amongst others, on behalf of the Government of Afghanistan, the international donor community, and other UN agencies.

The functional objective of UNOPS AFCO is to contribute to the achievement of the development outcomes sought by the Government of Afghanistan. The aim of UNOPS AFCO is to provide efficient and cost-effective implementation services on behalf of all our partners to support the reconstruction and development of the country. UNOPS AFCO’s mission is to exceed expectations of all stakeholders in the delivery of AFCO’s services, at all times, in all places, in all circumstances, in order to significantly improve the lives of all Afghans in need.

Project Information

Responding to one of the most complex humanitarian crises in the world, the Afghanistan Inter-Agency Information Centre (IAIC) - Awaaz Afghanistan (Awaaz) - is an inter-agency two-way communication and accountability mechanism that responds to the information and communication needs of affected populations in Afghanistan and allows affected populations to shape their own relief and recovery. Based in Kabul and functioning as a toll-free humanitarian helpline, Awaaz is a link to the partnership between those who wish to assist and those who need assistance and is accountable to both constituencies.

Local Context

Supported by the Humanitarian Country Team, with initial funding from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP), and currently supported by the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF) and European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Organisation (ECHO), Awaaz’s primary objective is to promote two-way communication between affected populations to:
I. Empower communities through the provision of accessible and timely information on how to access humanitarian services and resources required to improve their situation
II. Help ensure efficient and effective coordination of humanitarian actors operating in Afghanistan by collecting and circulating information about the urgent needs and priorities of affected population.
III. Support an environment of transparency and accountability by:
a. Establishing an easy-to-access and safe mechanism through which affected populations can lodge feedback and complaints
b. Channelling feedback and complaints to humanitarian actors to influence humanitarian programming and shape quality advocacy

UNOPS is seeking a Project Management Support Officer to support the Project Manager in enhancing reporting, communication, and information management structures through the monitoring and enhancement of key stakeholder management processes underpinning them. The outcome of this role is to further strengthen and streamline Awaaz’s data collection, data sharing and reporting processes as part of its overall objective to strengthen accountability to affected populations in Afghanistan. The Project Management Support Officer will perform the following duties with transparency and integrity, and in adherence to the humanitarian standards for information management as provided by the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP), the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), and the Sphere Handbook.

Ultimately, the results of this function in support of the Project Manager and the project team achieves Awaaz’s objectives through the provision of:

• High-quality information sharing and messaging, which give affected populations access to essential, relevant and timely information to allow for informed decision making and access to services;
• High-quality information products and services, which give humanitarian partners access to essential, relevant and timely evidenced-based data on needs and service gaps, including cross-sectoral analysis, to improve decision-making on strategic, programmatic direction to improve the response. Information products will also document impact of the call centre on contributing to improved and more relevant programming; and
• A professional complaints and feedback mechanism that closes the loop on complaints in a timely manner and measures caller satisfaction with Awaaz’s services and the relevance of partner services to which the call centre refers callers.

• Work within the Information Management (IM) team and across other Awaaz project teams to maintain and upgrade the existing information management system to support reporting and information sharing by streamlining critical coordination and community engagement processes including a) How information is gathered from affected populations and humanitarian responders, allowing for consideration of diverse and sensitive needs, b) How information shared with partners in the form of referrals are tracked, processed and analysed. c) How feedback is shared with individuals and communities, ensuring consistency and satisfaction of all stakeholder groups;
• Analyse the current information management system and its relevance within the humanitarian context of Afghanistan, including how it integrates existing resources, emerging resources and the humanitarian coordination infrastructure to maintain a strong two-way communication and feedback with affected communities;
• Document the impact of Awaaz as an accountability mechanism in the response by developing an analysis plan in alignment with existing reporting indicators and new/thematic indicators as needs arise;
• Using participatory approaches, together with the IM team, generate recommendations for innovative tools and methodologies for optimal content management, knowledge management and sharing, and information management performance that are in accordance with standards and guidance provided;
• Maintain and upgrade where possible an online integrated database and internal information management structure;
• Undertake regular data cleaning, preparation and analysis for reporting purposes using existing and new tools including the Awaaz dashboard;
• Support the Project Manager to draft proposals and ad-hoc and regular reports, as well as representation and/or presentation of Awaaz materials at relevant meetings;
• Together with the different teams, review, maintain and update internal and external information management policies and standard operating procedures to facilitate, support, and promote data and information flow within Awaaz and information sharing within the humanitarian and wider community. 
• As part of the Information management team, assess information needs of callers, operators, and partners in a participatory way, ensuring alignment with existing indicators as well as data collection mechanisms. 
• Conduct the external referral of feedback cases to partner including the verification of information and corresponding actions required to solicit timely responses and close the feedback loop. Ensuring these responses are delivered to callers in an appropriate way, and that where necessary messaging is standardised in order to address information gaps and mitigate the risk of leaving someone behind. Ensuring up-to-date documentation of action taken.
• Maintain effective relationships with stakeholders to discuss and adapt referral agreements, core tools (service directory and standard messaging repository) and analysis/reporting needs. 
• Act as required as the accountability focal point between partners and Awaaz and represent Awaaz at meetings upon request;
• Step in to perform duties for other members in the team during periods of absence and  prepare handover documentation for reciprocated action.

• Assessment of task completion
• Successfully meeting deadlines     

Impact of Results

The key results have an impact on the overall organization efficiency in humanitarian information management and success in introducing, widespread adoption and implementation of operational information management approaches. 

• Bachelor’s degree in information management, information technology, statistics, sociology, international development and/or science disciplines all with data analytics background.

Work Experience
Required:

• Minimum of 2 years relevant experience is defined as experience in information management, data management, document management, international development or related areas.
• Proven experience in producing high-quality reports, requiring strong English-language skills that translate complex ideas into simple messages; 
• Strong background in data collection, analysis and presentation
• Strong knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods
• Strong experience in in usage of Microsoft Office software package (MS Excel especially) and Google Suite products (Sheets, Docs, Slides especially)
• At ease making public presentations and liaising with external stakeholders 
• Knowledge of Information Management software and data visualisation solutions such PowerBI, Google Data Studio or Tableau
• Working knowledge of Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), communicating with disaster affected populations and protection response infrastructure 
• Experience within the international development and/or humanitarian sector will be an added advantage.

Desired:

• Experience making public presentations and liaising with external stakeholders
• Familiarity with professional-grade design software (e.g. Adobe Creative Suites)
• Web development experience 
• Experience in applying data protection principles
• Audio-visual experience is an asset; 
• Knowledge of relational database systems 
• Experience working in complex humanitarian crises
• Knowledge of current political, economic, and social fabric of Afghanistan
• Working knowledge of communicating with disaster affected populations and protection response infrastructure 
• Commitment to continuous learning and technological awareness
• High degree of personal initiative and willingness to accept wide responsibilities
• Excellent communication skills (spoken, written and presentational), including ability to present
• technical issues/positions and reports
• Holding technical positions in the past or working on technical issues and reports
• Good analytical skills; resourcefulness, initiative, maturity of judgment
• Self-motivated, versatile and adaptable to different cultures and people

• 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.