About the Region
UNOPS Africa Regional Office based in Nairobi, Kenya it supports African governments, UN partners, and donors by delivering infrastructure, procurement, and project management services. In the Africa region, UNOPS focuses on helping countries build resilience, improve public service delivery, and advance the SDGs, particularly in fragile, conflict-affected, and rapidly growing contexts.
About the Country/Multi-Country Office
The Central Africa Multi-Country Office (CAMCO) based in Yaoundé, Cameroon, oversees operations in 11 countries across Central Africa. CAMCO is responsible for developing, delivering, managing and implementing a portfolio of projects and programmes spread across 11 countries - Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo, and Rwanda - and includes 2 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) - Cape Verde, Sao Tome & Principe. This MCO manages an active project portfolio of $600 million, with a strong focus on infrastructure, fund management, HR and procurement services. Over the years, it has built robust partnerships with international stakeholders, UN entities (including UN missions), and national governments across the region. The office delivers technical assistance and capacity building in key development sectors such as infrastructure rehabilitation and construction in health, education, public works, and governance. Its services also span procurement, project management, policy advisory, peace and security, and environmental sustainability.
Job Specific Context
The Infrastructure Senior Manager will be a key member of the UNOPS Programme/PMO team, providing strategic guidance, technical oversight, and advisory support to all infrastructure projects across multiple offices. The Infrastructure Senior Manager will ensure projects adhere to UNOPS standards, governance frameworks, and performance objectives, while enabling effective coordination, knowledge sharing, and portfolio-level decision-making.
This position is based in the CAMCO’s largest country office in Kinshasa, DRC, and reports to the Head of Programme. The incumbent will work closely with the CAMCO management team, Programme/PMO, Partnerships, and Country Teams, Project Managers, as well as with the Regional Office and UNOPS Headquarters Infrastructure and Project Management Group (IPMG).
The role is instrumental in shaping the Infrastructure and Project Management strategy, supporting a shift from reactive monitoring to predictive oversight and proactive assurance. Its core mandate is to strengthen performance monitoring, portfolio risk analysis, and quality assurance, thereby enhancing governance, predictability, and efficiency in the delivery of results across the sub-regional portfolio.
The incumbent will promote alignment of projects with the Project, Programme and Portfolio Management (P3M) service delivery framework, the Risk Management Framework (RMF), and other relevant IPM principles, guidelines, and practices.
1. Project Delivery and Performance
Provide strategic leadership and advisory support to ensure effective governance, performance, and risk management across the CAMCO infrastructure portfolio.
Provide guidance for the consistent application of UNOPS governance, risk, and performance management standards across all high-risk and high-value projects and programmes.
Advise on the design and implementation of portfolio monitoring systems, performance metrics, and predictive indicators to proactively identify risks, systemic trends, and significant deviations, enabling timely and evidence-based decision-making by Senior Management and Country Teams.
Lead initiatives to improve processes, operational efficiency, and management controls, fostering accountability and enhancing overall portfolio delivery performance.
Ensure portfolio performance and governance reporting provides senior management with actionable insights, supporting proactive risk mitigation and the achievement of strategic objectives.
Recommend and advise on corrective actions, including Back-on-Track interventions, for projects and programmes at risk, ensuring alignment with corporate policies, regional priorities, and strategic objectives.
Provide technical advice to Project Acceptance Committee (PAC) meetings, review and approval of new infrastructure projects.
2. Infrastructure Project Technical Support and Design Management
Provide strategic technical advisory and coordination support to infrastructure Project Managers across the full project lifecycle, from feasibility and design to construction and handover, ensuring compliance with UNOPS standards, quality requirements, and performance objectives.
Advise Project Managers on planning, coordination, and monitoring of construction and rehabilitation activities to ensure timely, cost-effective, and high-quality project delivery.
Provide guidance on the development, implementation, and oversight of Quality, Health, Safety, and Environmental (QHSE) plans, ensuring alignment with UNOPS policies and international standards.
Support the PMO and Project Managers in consolidating technical data and project information for internal and external reporting, providing actionable insights for decision-making at portfolio and senior management levels.
Prepare periodic portfolio-level reports for the Head of Programme and PMO, summarizing progress, quality, QHSE compliance, and key risks including delays, cost overruns, variations, or technical issues.
Advise Project Managers in conducting feasibility studies, needs assessments, and preliminary investigations, including supervision of external consultants, and review recommendations to inform strategic decisions on project scope and prioritization.
Provide technical oversight and guidance in the preparation of tender dossiers, ensuring the completeness and quality of technical documentation including drawings, Bills of Quantities (BoQs), specifications, and applicable standards.
Support Project Managers in defining and managing design requirements, timelines, and deliverables for design services (concept, preliminary, and final stages), ensuring high-quality outputs and timely submission to UNOPS Headquarters for review.
Provide strategic technical input to procurement and project teams during tender preparation and bid evaluation, ensuring alignment with project objectives, technical standards, and UNOPS best practices.
3. Construction Oversight and Assurance
Provide strategic oversight and technical assurance for construction activities across infrastructure projects, ensuring alignment with approved scope, quality standards, cost parameters, and delivery schedules.
Oversee and assure the application of effective quality, quantity, and schedule controls across infrastructure projects, ensuring consistency with approved designs, contracts, and implementation plans.
Monitor compliance of construction works with technical specifications, contractual requirements, and applicable standards, and advise Project Managers on corrective measures in the event of deviations or performance risks.
Provide advisory support to Project Managers on the overall management of works implementation, contributing to timely completion, cost control, and achievement of required quality outcomes.
Conduct targeted spot checks and high-level reviews of construction progress, supervision arrangements, and quality assurance mechanisms to support on-time delivery and early identification of implementation risks.
Support Project Managers in the preparation and quality review of key project and contract documentation, including progress and site monitoring reports, stakeholder meeting records, engineer’s instructions, variation orders, payment certifications, contractor claims assessments, handover documentation, and contract close-out reports.
4. Monitoring and Reporting
Provide strategic oversight and advisory support to ensure robust monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of infrastructure projects, enabling informed decision-making and proactive portfolio management.
Support the integration of results frameworks and M&E plans into project implementation strategies, ensuring clearly defined indicators, measurable targets, and alignment with UNOPS and partner requirements.
Provide high-level oversight of project performance, regularly reviewing scope, cost, schedule, and quality criteria, and advising Project Managers and senior management on risks, deviations, and corrective actions.
Ensure timely, accurate, and comprehensive reporting of project and financial performance, delivering actionable insights to UNOPS management, partners, and stakeholders.
Maintain oversight of project data management, dashboards, and progress tracking systems to ensure accurate and up-to-date information for portfolio-level decision-making.
Guide project teams to consistently track, update, and report milestones and targets throughout the project lifecycle, fostering accountability, transparency, and results-focused management.
Analyze trends across projects to identify systemic issues, potential bottlenecks, and opportunities for efficiency improvements and risk mitigation.
5. Quality Assurance and Risk Management
Provide strategic oversight and advisory support to ensure that infrastructure projects consistently achieve UNOPS quality, compliance, and risk management standards, while promoting best practices across the portfolio.
Advise and support internal stakeholders to ensure projects comply with audit, regulatory, and corporate quality requirements, integrating risk management principles into project planning and execution.
Collaborate with procurement, supply chain, and project teams to ensure alignment between project delivery and suppliers’ quality management systems, mitigating potential risks to project outcomes.
Coordinate and oversee quality and risk reviews of key project documents, deliverables, and technical outputs, ensuring completeness, accuracy, and adherence to UNOPS standards.
Provide high-level quality assurance for management outputs, including project reports, monitoring data, and dashboards, ensuring that insights are actionable and support informed decision-making.
Identify portfolio-level quality and risk trends, advise on mitigation measures, and recommend improvements to project delivery processes, governance structures, and accountability mechanisms.
Foster a culture of proactive risk management and continuous improvement across the infrastructure portfolio.
6. Knowledge Management and Innovation
Provide strategic leadership to foster a culture of learning, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement across infrastructure projects and the broader project management community.
Promote a learning environment within project teams by encouraging knowledge sharing, mentoring, and capacity-building initiatives to strengthen long-term project and organizational capability.
Facilitate engagement with Project Managers and the wider UNOPS project management community to capture and disseminate lessons learned, case studies, and best practices.
Monitor emerging trends, tools, and good practices in infrastructure and project management, and proactively apply insights to enhance project delivery and advisory support.
Ensure timely documentation and sharing of lessons learned to support evidence-based decision-making and organizational knowledge retention.
Provide strategic feedback to corporate practice and functional groups on policies, systems, and operational guidance to support the continuous improvement of UNOPS frameworks, standards, and processes.
Champion innovative approaches and solutions that enhance efficiency, quality, and sustainability across the project portfolio.
