Lead Structural Engineer(Retainer Position)

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world.  Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors and United Nations organizations.  With over 6,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical and management knowledge they need, where they need it.  By implementing around 1,000 projects for our partners at any given time, UNOPS makes significant contributions to results on the ground, often in the most challenging environments.

Established in 2009, UNOPS Ethiopia Office has been providing services to various partners, including the government of Ethiopia, UN agencies such as WHO, UNHCR and WFP, and other international organizations. Since 2014, the UNOPS Ethiopia multi-country office manages and coordinates the UNOPS activities in Ethiopia, as well as Sudan and Djibouti. The UNOPS Ethiopia multi-country office team is composed of approximately 100 national and international women and men, and offers a broad range of services such as infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial and human resources management.

Position Background

UNOPS strategy for Ethiopia Multi Country Office is aimed at providing support to the Government and people of Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti through the delivery of projects and services in line with the governments’ own priorities and also under the UN Delivery as One initiative. The UNOPS Ethiopia Multi Country Office (ETMCO) has been established as an organizational mechanism to deliver a range of projects for which UNOPS has been appointed as the implementation agency. At present, UNOPS ETMC office is implementing and negotiating a number of projects in a range of sectors including infrastructure development, Procurement Support to Government Ministries and other UN agencies and  HR support to UN agencies. The functional objective of UNOPS ETMCO is to deliver projects in an efficient and effective manner, to achieve the development outcomes sought by the Government of Ethiopia and the donor community, where capacity building is always considered and encouraged.

• To provide a high level of technical sufficiency within UNOPS Sudan, including the identification and promotion of innovative and practical design solutions.
• To assume technical responsibility for the preparation of quality plans, scheme programmes, assessments and design work, estimates, bills of quantities and review of bid documentation & assessments.
• To promote use of and participate in development of UNOPS design and production standards working with country code officials and other design professionals when an interpretation or exception to building codes is required.
• To assess the requirements of new/potential projects, breaking them into tasks, and working with the Proposal Owner to determine scope of work, budget and staffing including writing scope of work for design based on preliminary review and meetings with the potential partners and/or donors.
• To provide required technical advice, input and documentation for internal, organizational, partner and stakeholder reports.
• To review and update technical standards, office procedures, construction techniques, and use of materials to ensure that specifications and schemes prepared by UNOPS Sudan reflect best practices with continuous improvement including training to UNOPS engineers.
• To assist the Project Manager in the planning, organization and oversight of site investigations, surveys and analyses of existing buildings, feasibility studies, structural inspections and assessments and preparation of assessment of associated reports. To examine structures at risk of collapse and advise on how to improve their structural integrity, such as recommending removal or repair of defective parts or rebuilding the entire structure. To oversee third parties undertaking investigations for UNOPS Sudan and work with geotechnical engineers to investigate ground conditions and analyze results of soil sample and in-situ tests;
• To liaise with other designers, including architects, to agree on safe designs and their fit with the aesthetic concept of the construction;
• To plan, design and develop building structures and facilities; prepare calculations, models, charts and graphs; and create construction drawings and design specifications including use of computers and computer-aided design (CAD) technology for simulation purposes.
• To analyze configurations of the basic structural components of buildings and civil structures; calculate the pressures, stresses and strains that each component; consider the strength of various materials, e.g. timber, concrete, steel and brick, for structural design;
• To monitor and inspect off-site and on-site work for compliance to applicable codes, accepted engineering practices and Ethiopians  laws.

• Advanced university Degree (Master or equivalent), preferably in Civil, Structural or Infrastructural Engineering or other relevant discipline is required OR
• A First level university degree (Bachelors or equivalent) in Civil, Structural or Infrastructural Engineering or other relevant discipline combined with 2 additional years of experience may be accepted in lieu of a Masters degree.
• A professional registration license (Professional Structural Engineer) is required.

Work Experience

• A minimum 5 years of  work experience  in structural engineering is required.

• Skills in  Infrastructure-AutoCAD five(5) years is required.
• Experience/knowledge of Google Suite products, especially google forms, sheets, docs and slides is an asset.
• Project Management knowledge & skills is an asset.
• Experience working in Engineering and/or Construction Management is added advantage.
• Software Technical Analysis is added advantage.

Language

• Fluency in spoken and written English is required.