This position is located in the Office of the Regional Director (ODR) and will be supervised by the Regional Director (D2) and will work in close collaboration with HQ Infrastructure and Project Management Group (IPMG). This position will be instrumental in setting the Infrastructure and Project Management (IPM) strategy in response to the need to evolve from reactive monitoring toward a system of predictive oversight and proactive assurance. Its core mission is to assure performance monitoring, portfolio risk analysis, and quality assurance, thereby strengthening governance, predictability, and efficiency in the delivery of results across the regional portfolio. The incumbent will foster project alignment with the Project, programme and portfolio management service delivery framework (P3M), the Risk Management framework (RMF), and other relevant IPM principles, guidelines and practices, generating actionable data intelligence for high-level decision-making and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
The incumbent serves as senior regional authority on infrastructure and project management, with delegated decision-making authority from the Regional Director. He/she provides high-level strategic advice, technical expertise, and guidance to the Regional Director (RD), Country teams and senior stakeholders throughout all project phases. The role is accountable for oversight, governance, and performance assurance of high-risk and high-value projects across the regional portfolio, driving improvements in project delivery, risk mitigation, and operational excellence. The incumbent also leads regional initiatives to strengthen infrastructure management frameworks, promote a culture of accountability, and ensure alignment with corporate policies and best practices.
1. Strategic Leadership
Lead the development, implementation, and continuous refinement of the regional Infrastructure and Project Management strategy, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives and fostering a high-performance environment across Country Offices.
Develop, implement, and monitor the Project Management strategy in the region, fostering a high-performance environment and ensuring the high quality of all deliverables, acting as the primary point of contact for LCR senior management and project managers of high-risk/high-value projects/portfolios across the region, exercising delegated authority for decision-making, risk mitigation, and approval of strategic actions.
Drive regional initiatives to strengthen governance, project management maturity, and operational excellence, introducing frameworks, standards, and tools that enhance predictability, accountability and quality across the portfolio.
Review and provide authoritative guidance on proposals for new infrastructure projects, identifying systematic and project-specific risks, recommending mitigation measures and ensuring robust planning and execution approaches.
Leverage and coordinate networks of regional experts to ensure technical excellence and strategic alignment in the development and delivery of high-risk and high-value engagements.
2. Portfolio delivery, oversight, risk management and operational Excellence
Provide authoritative oversight of the regional project portfolio, ensuring that governance, performance, and risk management standards are consistently applied across all high-risk and high-value projects and programmes.
Lead the design and implementation of regional monitoring systems, metrics, and predictive indicators to proactively identify portfolio-level risks, systemic trends, and major deviations, enabling informed, strategic decision-making by the Regional Director and Country teams.
Drive high-impact process improvements and operational enhancements across the region, strengthening management controls, accountability, and portfolio delivery efficiency.
Ensure regional reporting on portfolio performance and governance maturity delivers actionable intelligence to senior management, enabling proactive mitigation of risks and achievement of strategic objectives.
Exercise delegated authority to approve or recommend corrective actions, including Back-on-Track interventions, for projects and programmes at risk, ensuring alignment with corporate policies and regional priorities.
3. Portfolio Intelligence and Decision Support
Lead the development and implementation of regional systems for early identification of delivery-related risks, ensuring timely escalation and proactive response across high-risk and high-value projects.
Generate actionable data intelligence, derived from comprehensive performance and risk reports and analysis, that LCR Regional Director and Country Directors can use proactively to anticipate deviations and enable informed strategic decisions.
Oversee the generation and interpretation of comprehensive portfolio performance and risk intelligence, integrating KPIs, trend analyses, and systemic insights to anticipate deviations before they impact results.
Direct the production of high-level decision-support products, ensuring that portfolio data is actionable, aligned with corporate standards, and tailored to inform executive decision-making.
Promote a culture of evidence-based management and continuous improvement by translating intelligence into regional strategies, operational adjustments, and capacity-building initiatives.
4. Infrastructure and Project Management Technical Advice and leadership
Drive the IPM Regional Team to fulfil its function as the Second Line of Defence by focusing on P3M and infrastructure excellence.
Advise project managers, infrastructure practitioners and grant support management practitioners on the application, interpretation and adoption of corporate policy, guidance and best practices, ensuring consistency and high-quality implementation across the region.
Oversee the delivery of high-risk and high-value infrastructure projects, providing substantive strategic and technical support to Programme and Project Managers and ensuring alignment with corporate governance, risk, and quality standards.
Advise and support the development and management of strategic partnerships with regional and local consultancy firms, ensuring that collaboration enhances project quality, compliance, and value for money.
Ensure monitoring and audit findings are systematically integrated into regional quality improvement initiatives, internal audits, and compliance reviews, strengthening operational excellence and adherence to P3M framework.
Advise and provide expertise/support in the implementation of UNOPS Project and Programme Management methodologies, based on best practices as recommended by PMI and PRINCE2®, including governance structure, risk management, planning, etc.
Lead regional initiatives on Health and Safety, including efforts to achieve Goal Zero targets, awareness campaigns, and the integration of H&S considerations into project planning, execution, and governance.
Conduct missions to perform high-level assessments of Country Offices and projects to evaluate quality, progress and operational risks, providing expert recommendations to the RD for decision making and mitigation strategies.
Provide expert technical advice and support on new project engagement, with a focus on quality assurance and quality control of project documents, costing and cost implications, implementation plans, achievements and benchmark indicators. Ensure mainstreaming of sustainability aspects including but not limited to GESI and Climate action.
5. Strengthen capacities and Knowledge Management
Lead the assessment and mapping of infrastructure capacity and capabilities across in-house units and Country Offices, strengthening regional networks of experts to support strategic project engagement and delivery.
Support the recruitment of business critical / program/project and/or infrastructure roles in the Country offices, ensuring skills alignment of new recruits with portfolio and project needs & risk profile.
Drive the systematic collection, analysis, and dissemination of lessons learned and root causes to inform the design of new projects and strengthen institutional capacity.
Propose and lead the identification and implementation of innovations, process improvements, and tools that strengthen regional infrastructure and project management maturity, promoting operational excellence and standardization.
Participate in organisational knowledge by gathering case studies and best practice examples from the region, making recommendations on policy and tools, as well as participating in the development of guidance material and tools.
