ICT Advisor - Retainer (Homebased), Multiple positions

2. Summary of Key Functions  

1. Strategic and Technical Leadership

2. Project Planning and Management

3. Results Orientation and Quality Assurance

4. Requirements, Landscape and Options Analysis

5. Contracting and Evaluation

6. Implementation and Contract Management

7. Capacity and Change Management

8. Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing

Strategic and Technical Leadership

• Provide advisory services on digitalization strategies and technologies, aligning them with local and international standards.

• Lead the development of technology strategies for new and existing services, outlining technical requirements, standards, and specifications.

• Collaborate with Senior Technical Advisors to adapt strategies based on emerging evidence and industry best practices.

• Establish technical frameworks in compliance with relevant international programs and strategies.

• Identify and assess various risks, including political, institutional, inter-agency, legal, and technology-related risks, and develop risk mitigation plans.

• Contribute to the identification, design, formulation and negotiation of new projects and programs and draft concept notes and project document briefs for discussion with partners.

Project Planning and Management

• Lead the planning, execution, and monitoring of digitalization projects and work packages per UNOPS methodologies.

• Coordinate multiple team assignments, balancing capacity against client requirements.

• Tracking and reporting of resource allocation.

Results Orientation and Quality Assurance

• Offer strategic technical direction and quality assurance to ensure alignment with international standards.

• Advise on work plan development, ensuring they are adaptive and realistic.

• Present findings and preferred option to project governance body for decision making.

• Provide inputs for project reports, capturing progress, challenges, and future activities.

• Escalate potential risks to avoid implementation delays.

Requirements, Landscape, and Options Analysis

• Conduct stakeholder and landscape analysis to document key personas, technical capacities, and business requirements.

• Use a user-centered approach to outline functional and non-functional requirements, including key use cases.

• Conduct options assessments, incorporating considerations like total cost of ownership (TOC), duration, sustainability, and scalability.

• Present findings to project governance bodies for informed decision-making.

Contracting and Evaluation

• Contribute to development of technical specifications (ToR) for the procurement and delivery of IT products and solutions, including cost estimation.

• Supporting vendor evaluation and selection process.

• Design optimal delivery and payment schedule to ensure iterative release of functionality.

• Monitor and evaluate performance of service providers / suppliers.

Implementation and Contract Management

• Monitor and adjust the Action Plan in collaboration with internal teams and external partners.

• Track project progress against plan, requirements, and quality measures.

• Establish a user-focused working group engaged throughout the development and implementation phases.

Capacity and Change Management

• Develop a change management plan from the project's outset, focusing on user adoption and change resistance mitigation.

• Tailor communication, training and change management to suit different groups of users and stakeholders.

• Develop appropriate communication and training material as well as an effective training approach.

Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing

• Stay updated on emerging technologies and advocate for their consideration where appropriate.

• Contribute to digitalization standards and strategies within UNOPS and external networks.

• Engage in communities of practice, sharing knowledge and lessons learned.

• Encourage routine and effective capacity building activities are conducted in order to build the long-term and sustainable capacity of staff.

• Contribute to the oversight of lessons learned procedures, ensuring that lessons learnt are shared in a timely and appropriate manner. 

• Participate in the relevant Communities of Practice.

• Coordinate research and logging of lessons learned throughout the project life span.

a. Education

• An advanced university degree (e.g., Masters) in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related subject is required. 

• A first-level university degree (e.g., Bachelor) in combination with two (2) additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

• Certification in ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) Strategic Leader is a strong asset.

• Certification in Google Cloud technologies is an asset.

• Certification in Prince2, PMP, or similar project management certifications is an asset.

b. Work experience 

• A minimum of seven (7) years of IT, software development lifecycle, or related experience is required.

• Experience with leading ICT and digital innovation projects in UNOPS or other UN organizations is an asset.

• A minimum of 2 years of relevant experience (out of 7 years) working in field contexts and dealing with local Government stakeholders is required.

• A minimum of 2 years of relevant experience (out of 7 years) in leading cross-functional teams and multi-stakeholder initiatives is required.

• Experience with data management, analytics, and modeling is highly desirable.

• Experience with Google Workspace is highly desirable

c. Languages

• Proficiency in English is required.