Job: Bridge Engineer

Location: Juba 
Deadline: Monday, 21 October 2013 

Description

UNOPS mission is to expand the capacity of the UN system and its partners to implement peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations that matter for people in need. Working in some of the world's most challenging environments, UNOPS vision is to always satisfy partners with management services that meet world-class standards of quality, speed and cost effectiveness. By assisting UN organizations, international financial institutions, governments and other development partners, UNOPS makes significant, tangible contributions to results on the ground. UNOPS employs more than 6000 personnel and on behalf of its partners creates thousands more work opportunities in local communities. With its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, a network of five regional offices and a further 20 operations and project centres, UNOPS oversees activities in more than 80 countries. UNOPS is committed to achieving a truly diverse workforce.

Background Information -South Sudan

South Sudan

The UNOPS South Sudan office helps a wide range of local and international partners improve the lives of the South Sudanese people by implementing infrastructure and procurement projects. All UNOPS operations have an increasing emphasis on developing national capacities and considering gender, environmental and community concerns. UNOPS is working in a range of sectors in South Sudan including: transport, education, health, post-conflict stabilization and emergency response. UNOPS – South Sudan Operations Centre (SSOC) is based in Juba, Republic of South Sudan. Current SSOC operations are largely focused on assisting partners with the implementation of physical infrastructure projects including designing, constructing and rehabilitating roads and bridges, schools, clinics and Government and Ministry offices. SSOC also procures goods and services for a number of partners and provides logistics and operational support to institutions in South Sudan with the overall objective to support partners in achieving their programme goals. UNOPS–SSOC works with various partners including the government ministries of South Sudan, donors, and United Nations agencies including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the European Union (EU), the Department for International Development (DFID) and the World Bank.

Background Information - Job-specificUnder the direct supervision of the UNOPS-SSOC Programme Manager, the Bridget Engineer will be based in South Sudan. He/she will be a senior member of the project team and will support the Programme Manager in ensuring that all project work is of a high quality and completed within the timeframe set by the donor. The main focus of the Bridge Engineer's work will be on economic growth infrastructure, especially bridges. The successful candidate for the job must have solid extensive experience working as an engineer in the building of bridges.Functional Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Programme Manager of UNOPS – South Sudan Operations Centre, the Bridge Engineer will be required to perform the following duties and responsibilities:

• Establish a procedure to develop standard documentation for any bridge works under construction;
• Review the existing standard documentation for the construction of bridges in South Sudan and propose any improvements deemed necessary;
• To review the design drawings as per the alignment of any existing bridge and/or acquired land for the project;
• Make any necessary changes in the design drawings as per the site conditions. Conduct an initial survey for the selected bridge works;
• Review the bills of quantity as per the final design drawings and calculate the final quantities;
• Conduct engineering surveys for the selected bridge workss and structures;
• Review the hydrological and drainage design and modify it as per the project requirements on site;
• Develop geometric design from the survey results on either AutoCAD and/or Civil CAD programmes;
• Develop a procedure to establish norms to define the project alternatives that will be evaluated for each bridge. As a minimum, two project alternatives will be evaluated, but preferably many project-alternatives will be evaluated for each bridge;
• Conduct quality assurance for the bridges under construction;
• Develop a procedure to establish norms to estimate the life-cycle cost of the project-alternatives being evaluated for each bridge, based on the condition survey of the bridges, traffic demand and the estimates of recurrent and periodic maintenance needs for each project-alternative;
• Assess the work activities for which labour-based construction methods are appropriate;
• Prepare and maintain proper record of daily progress reports. Assess and evaluate the contractor's performance and resources;
• Manage a team of national and international staff. Prepare the Bill of Quantities and the contract documents for each section of the bridge under construction;
• Prepare the drafts for contractual correspondence, interpret the contract conditions and specifications, monitor the progress of works, prepare work plans, minutes of meetings, etc. Follow up on bidding and contracting;
• Maintain good relations with all stakeholders and local authorities. Define a procedure for using the cost norms to establish the cost of rehabilitation and maintaining the bridge;
• Prepare the 'as-built drawings' and keep records of all events related to the works;
• Supervise the contractors in the implementation of the work;
• Perform any other duties deemed necessary by the Programme Manager.

Education

• Master's Degree in Civil Engineering or equivalent acceptable qualification. Adequate years of relevant experience may substitute the requirement for a university degree;
• Academic engineering qualifications which relate to civil engineering works, particularly bridge construction a requirement;
• Certification in Prince2 or Project Management Professional (PMP) methodologies an asset.

Experience

• Minimum 7 years of relevant experience (in combination with a Master's Degree). Additional years of relevant experience will substitute the requirement for a university degree;
• Solid experience of working on large bridge projects is required;
• Extensive experience in reviewing rural & urban bridge designs and maintenance needs is required;
• Experience in the application of labour-based appropriate technology and working with small to medium-sized contractors; i.e. use of local resources, appropriate standards for bridge construction and maintenance;
• Experience with tailoring and implementing training programmes for local staff or private sector sub-contractors;
• Experience of working in South Sudan is an asset.

Competencies

• Be a good mentor, capable of working with others in a participatory and capacity building manner;
• Ability to work long hours in fast-paced, often stressful environment;
• Ability to work in demanding cultural context with transitional government partners, under challenging physical conditions and poor national infrastructure;
• Highly motivated with a positive attitude and problem-solving approach;
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office programmes and telecommunications systems;
• Knowledge of the UN system and familiarity with UNOPS procedures an advantage;
• Competent in the use of all commonly used computer software – spreadsheets and other computer programmes.

Languages

• The candidate must be thoroughly proficient in written and spoken English;

Additional Considerations

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time (CET);
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered;
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified;
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply;
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.

Contract type, level and duration

Contract type: International Individual Contractor Agreement;

Contract level: IICA-2;

Contract duration: One year initially, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability. For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link: http://www.unops.org/ENGLISH/WHOWENEED/CONTRACT-TYPES/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements-ICAs.aspx

More Info and Application