Project Engineer (C – Housing -WASH)

  • Salary:
    negotiable / YEAR
  • Job type:
    CONTRACTOR
  • Posted:
    4 hours ago
  • Category:
    Engineering, Environment and Natural Resources, Project Management
  • Deadline:
    06/10/2024

JOB DESCRIPTION

Background
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP:  we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.

UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP) derives its mandate from United Nations General Assembly Resolution 33/147 of 20 December 1978. Called upon by United Nations Member States in that year, UNDP was requested “to improve the economic and social conditions of the Palestinian people by identifying their social and economic needs and by establishing concrete projects to that end”.

UNDP’s Palestinian Programmatic Framework (PPF) 2023-2025 sets out a vision of “a world in which all Palestinians can enjoy a dignified life and fulfill their own vision of a unified, peaceful, and free society”. The PPF is centered around the concept of “Transformative Resilience” and its three elements: a cohesive Palestinian identity, self-reliance, and ownership and leadership.

Over the next three years, UNDP/PAPP will build on its experiences and achievements to make critical contributions to the priorities defined by the Palestinian national development plans and the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), through interventions in three programmatic priority areas:  i) democratic governance and quality services; ii) inclusive economic opportunities; iii) sustainable natural resources management.

Under the Early Recovery, Reconstruction, and Resilience programme in Gaza, UNDP will conduct the Damage Assessment in the Gaza Strip to assess damages in housing, public and social infrastructure, education, health, transportation, and other facilities that have incurred damages, and identify and quantify damages. In addition, UNDP will implement the Emergency Removal of Post-war Generated Debris in The Gaza Strip. However, UNDP will engage the communities within the proposed activities to be implemented where the Community Coordinator will be following up on the community participation and engagement including consultation, discussions on plans and ongoing activities, and receiving feedback from the targeted communities. One of the Lessons Learned from previous/ongoing debris management​ is Community-Centric Approach where Engaging community incorporates local citizen perspectives, identifies and addresses specific concerns, and fosters a safety culture through education and awareness campaigns. In addition to the importance of Social Assessment to be done at the time of Technical and Engineering Assessment for the damaged housing units considering social criteria such as PWD, unemployment status, Elderly, etc.

As part of this programme, providing emergency response and relief interventions to alleviate the catastrophic suffering and socio-economic impact on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is paramount. Against the backdrop of the unprecedented and protracted internal displacement in the Gaza Strip, UNDP/PAPP seeks to actively contribute to address the urgent and widespread need for decent transitional shelter for IDPs – through the below-outlined programmatic interventions.

The Project Engineer provides the day-to-day management of the implementation of WASH facilities including rehabilitation/Reconstruction of damaged WASH facilities and networks and ensures that the project produces the results specified in the developed project document, to the required standard of quality and within the specified constraints of time and cost. S/he cooperates with programme and the operations teams in Gaza, West Bank, and Jerusalem, as well as other UN Agencies, and counterparts as required to ensure proper progress and success of all projects’ activities.

ONLY CURRENT PALESTINIAN NATIONALS AVAILABLE FOR EMPLOYMENT IN GAZA STRIP AND WILLING TO WORK AND TRAVEL THROUGHOUT VARIOUS CITIES IN THE STRIP ARE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR THIS POSITION. ALL OTHER APPLICANTS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

Duties and Responsibilities
Scope of Work :

The Project Engineer will be undertaking the following functions:

1. Ensure effective supervision of the design, tendering, implementation, and closure of infrastructure projects.

  • Preparation/ review of the project’s tender documents including Bill of Quantities (BOQ) and verification of prices based on the market survey on required construction materials.
  • Follow up on the tenders, assist in technical analysis, and review relevant evaluation reports.
  • Field technical engineering follow-up on-site implementation and progress.
  • Arrange weekly meetings with the contractors and draft Minutes of meetings.
  • Review field inspection reports throughout the lifecycle of the project.
  • Assist the project manager in the drafting and issuance of tenders, budgets, cash flows, and preliminary schedules.
  • Follow up on project schedule prepared and updated by contractors including coordination of activities and solving site problems.
  • Assist the project team in the approval of materials and follow up on the installation of the approved materials.
  • Follow up on the daily site activities and leading site engineers to maintain: Daily, weekly, and monthly reports about the development of works at the site and records of the contractor’s site personnel.
  • Supervision and monitoring of physical and financial progress against the set work plan including reviewing all workshop drawings and the as-built drawings.
  • Prepare variation orders and review relevant details with the contractor before submission for review and approval of the project manager.
  • Prepare the payment certificates and updates on site measurements versus BOQ on weekly basis.
  • Follow up on all the required tests for materials, concrete, or equipment, and report on any testing result under the minimum requested level upon the technical specifications, and line with the local requirements.
  • Effective monitoring of access of materials, storage, and distribution of coordinated materials during the project construction.
  • Proper filing of documents and records related to the project including approval of materials.
  • Prepare substantial completion certificates and ensure all required project close out documents are obtained.

 

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2. Provide quality assurance and ensure compliance for technical aspects of the project.

  • Monitor and ensure that safety precautions are implemented and followed including close monitoring of the safety measures and labour (including preventing child labour) for the different sites, as well as following up on the project risks and issues and providing solutions where applicable; update the status of project risks and issues by maintaining the logs.
  • Identify changes and challenges in the external environment and promptly suggest necessary actions/corrective measures.
  • Monitor and ensure relevant gender mainstreaming considerations are embedded in project activities.
  • Ensure project implementation complies with UNDP Rules and Regulations.
  • Liaise with stakeholders and relevant authorities to ensure proper implementation of the project and to obtain any necessary permits.

3. Prepare and assist in the finalization of reporting requirements, filing system and communication material related to the infrastructure projects.

  • Handle correspondence and ensure the filing system is maintained and updated properly.
  • Document lessons learned, best practices, and success stories to contribute to learning.
  • Monitor project implementation against the established indicators in coordination with the RBM Team.
  • Support the development of communication and visibility materials in coordination with implementing partners and UNDP’s communication team.
  • Ensure that all donor branding and visibility requirements are fulfilled.

4. The incumbent performs any other duties agreed to within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization

Institutional Arrangement

Under the guidance of the Gaza Infrastructure Portfolio Programme Analyst and the direct supervision of the Project Manager. The Project Engineer will be supervising one UNV Engineer.

Competencies
Core
Achieve Results: LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work
Think Innovatively: LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking
Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning
Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process
Act with Determination:  LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously
Engage and Partner: LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build/maintain coalitions/partnerships
Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making
Cross-Functional & Technical competencies 

Thematic Area Name Definition
Business Direction

 and Strategy

Effective 

Decision

Making

Ability to take decisions in a timely and efficient manner in line with one’s authority, area of expertise and resources.
Business Direction              and Strategy Negotiation and Influence Ability to reach an understanding, persuade others, resolve points of difference, gain advantage in the outcome of dialogue, negotiates mutually acceptable solutions through compromise and creates ‘win-win’ situations.
Business 

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Development

Knowledge 

Facilitation

Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to

participate and share, particularly externally.

Business

Management

Project

Management

Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and control resources,

procedures, and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Business

Management

Partnership 

Management

Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of

stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts, and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies.

Business

Management

Results-based 

Management

Ability to manage programmes and projects with a focus at improved

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performance and demonstrable results.

Business

Management

Monitoring Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback on the consistency or discrepancy between planned

and actual activities and programme performance and results.

ONLY CURRENT PALESTINIAN NATIONALS AVAILABLE FOR EMPLOYMENT IN GAZA STRIP AND WILLING TO WORK AND TRAVEL THROUGHOUT VARIOUS CITIES IN THE STRIP ARE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR THIS POSITION. ALL OTHER APPLICANTS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

Required Skills and Experience
Min. Education requirements
  • Secondary education is required OR
  • A university degree in Mechanical/Civil Engineering or relevant related field will be given due consideration, but it is not a requirement.
Min. years of relevant work experience 
  • Minimum of 7 years (with a high school diploma) or 4 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience in WASH construction projects including water wells, desalination units, and water and wastewater networks.
Required skills 
  • Experience in the environmental requirements of WASH projects including water and wastewater projects.
  • Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc), database packages, and web-based management systems such as ERP, very good AutoCAD drafting, Microsoft Project planning software and drawing skills.
  • Excellent planning skills.
  • Professional experience in report writing, email writing, preparation of Meetings minutes, etc.
Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section
  • Knowledge and familiarity with NGO/INGO or UN and/or UNDP procedures is an asset.
  • Project management certification is an asset.
  • Certification in Health and safety for Infrastructure projects is desired.
  • Previous Experience in the Rehabilitation/Reconstruction WASH projects is an asset.
Required Language(s) 
  • Fluency in both English and Arabic languages is required.
Professional Certificates
  • Valid membership in Local or International Engineering Association is required.
Disclaimer
Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.
UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.
Applicant information about UNDP rosters
Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.
Non-discrimination
UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.
UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.
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