Programme Management Office (PRMO) - Senior Officer

Organizational Context

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the UN, supporting peacebuilding, humanitarian, and development projects globally. The West Africa Multi-Country Office (WAMCO), based in Dakar, Senegal, manages projects across 16 countries, focusing on sectors like health, climate change, and infrastructure. The Programme Management Office (PMO) within WAMCO provides strategic planning, delivery oversight, and best practice application to ensure effective project execution.

Job Purpose

The Senior Officer, Programme Management Office (PMO) supports the Head of PMO, Head of Programme, and Senior Management in governing the Multi-Country Office (MCO) portfolio. This role provides oversight, advisory, and decision-enabling functions for assigned portfolios, ensuring the successful and consistent delivery of projects. The Senior Officer guides project teams in applying UNOPS best practices to achieve excellence, fostering a collective understanding of organizational strategic goals and partner commitments. The position directly impacts project results by enhancing project management methods, reducing risks, cutting costs, and improving success rates, thereby strengthening UNOPS' reputation as a reliable partner in sustainable development.

Responsibilities

The Senior Officer, PMO is responsible for supporting project management teams in implementing UNOPS standards and best practices. This includes assisting in the development, consolidation, and tracking of unit plans, and verifying budgets against forecasts. The role involves ensuring projects have comprehensive plans (implementation, HR, procurement, quality, stakeholder engagement) and that these are followed. The Senior Officer will monitor project documentation, assess project health against KPIs (scope, cost, schedule, quality, risk), and escalate issues. Responsibilities also include ensuring regular project and corporate reports are issued, facilitating the implementation of corporate standards, and coordinating the preparation of assurance activities. The role supports risk and issues management, provides analysis of delivery data, and ensures projects have result frameworks and dashboards. Additionally, the Senior Officer will ensure stakeholder management and communication plans are in place and effective, coordinate quality reviews of project documents, and contribute to knowledge management by documenting best practices and facilitating lessons learned sessions.

Work Experience

Required experience includes work in project management. Experience in multicultural or UN system environments in developing countries, development or humanitarian contexts, and with data analysis, management reporting, and project management tools is desired. Experience in developing countries, particularly in Africa, and in international environments is highly advantageous.

Skills

Project Control, Project Planning, Stakeholder Management, Project Team Management, Risk Management, Reporting, Quality Assurance, Knowledge Management.

Explore related opportunities