DEPUTY COUNTRY PROGRAMME MANAGER

BACKGROUND:

UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is the coordinating agency within the United Nations System for human settlement activities and, in collaboration with governments and partners, is responsible for implementing the SDGs including Goal 11 of "Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable".

In Pakistan, UN-Habitat’s Country Programme is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework (UNSDF 2023-2027) and the One UN Programme (OP-III). Over the past two decades, the focus of UN-Habitat’s country programme has been on slum upgrading, adequate housing, universal access to safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation and other basic services, as well as on resilience and protection. The country programme has contributed to emergencies, recovery and reconstruction responses in the wake of earthquakes and floods. It has collaborated in programmes in the context of poverty alleviation, environmental and resilience building and crisis, displacement and migration.

The expansion of UN-Habitat Pakistan’s project portfolio merits the recruitment of a Deputy Country Programme Manager. The position will require a strong background in managing project implementation including projects with a strong engineering and construction focus. The position also requires experience in responding to natural disasters and managing durable and safe reconstruction.

OBJECTIVES:

The Deputy Country Programme Manager (DCPM) will play a critical role in the implementation and delivery of UN-Habitat Pakistan’s projects. S/he will support the Country Programme Manager (CPM) throughout the project lifecycle to ensure effective, timely, and compliant execution of all activities. S/he will also take direct charge of a number of projects, leading an engineering team of qualified senior engineers in project cycles.

The DCPM’s second reporting officer will be the Human Settlements Officer in UN-Habitat’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the direct supervision of the Country Programme Manager and liaising as necessary the senior team members in the projects, the DCPM will perform the below duties:

• Support the CPM with regard to the coordination of the implementation of overall project cycle activities, including HR processes, partner selection and procurement processes and infrastructure delivery, and reporting and risk management, all in cooperation with project leaders who will take the responsibility for their projects.
• Oversee the agency-level tracking of implementation procedures, timelines, results and reports of individual projects, in terms of meeting quantity and quality benchmarks and donor commitments.
• Ensure that UN-Habitat’s Pakistan uses a coherent set of policies and SOPs for project implementation, conform to rules and regulations, compliant to funder’s requirements, and endeavouring excellence in development and community settings.
• Monitor that all UN-Habitat Pakistan project adhere to the same policies and SOPs, adjusted if needed.
• Act as the most senior team member with regard of managing design and engineering plans and outputs as per required standards, managing procurement by rules and regulations, and overseeing the delivery of construction.
• In FIDIC-compliant construction agreements, DCPM leads an engineering team of qualified senior engineers, for contracts of relevant size, as guided by the CPM. He may be assigned in this role as project manager or as team member, as guided by the CPM.
• Act as the lead responder / coordinator if UN-Habitat Pakistan needs to respond to emergencies and disasters.
• Prepare agency response plans, in consultation with the CPM and project leaders. The DCPM will endeavour that resource mobilization is completed and project cycles are started up, with assigned project leaders, as guided by the CPM.
• Coordinates knowledge and its applications on disaster-resilient and earthquake-safe rebuilding

The DCPM will also:

• Engage consistently with a complete understanding of UN-Habitat’s place-based, participatory approaches to engagement.
• When design and engineering is undertaken within project settings, reconfirm that proper evidence-based planning is undertaken, in close cooperation with communities and local government stakeholders, and that community-based construction approaches are prioritized, as viable; and build team capacity together with other team members if methods and approaches need to be improved.
• Undertake any other assignment on request of the CPM, as required.

Competencies:

• Promotes UN’s values and ethical standards (tolerance, integrity, respect, results orientation, impartiality) and displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Endeavours professionalism, being earnest and job-focused on delivering results, setting a team culture of professionalism and being able to learn from mistakes.
• Encompasses team work, able to take on roles as assigned, and able to foster team culture where results are collectively achieved and individual failures are recognized with the aim to improving teams.
• Skilled in planning and organizing, settings milestones and targets and ensuring that the incumbent and the team in which s/he works are enabled to all work towards those milestones and targets, while foreseeing challenges requiring the incumbent to timely organize team-endorsed work adjustments.

Knowledge Management and Learning:

• Promotes technological innovation
• Promotes learning and development.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Education

• A Master degree in civil engineering, environmental management, or construction project management studiesi is required. A Master Degree requires also at least 5 years of relevant field experience, as specified below, in order to be longlisted.
• Alternatively, a Bachelor’s Degree in civil engineering, environmental management, or construction project management studies is required and sufficient, if the candidate can demonstrate 12 years of relevant field experience.

Experience

• At least 3 years* of relevant experience in managing progressively responsible engineering and construction management assignments is required.
• At least 3 years* relevant experience in managing shelter and settlement coordination activities in development and disaster/conflict settings is desirable.
• Experience working within large international organisations is desirable.
• Experience directly engaging with international donors is desirable.
• Experience working for large community-based programmes is desirable.
• Experience working for disaster reconstruction programmes applying EQ-safe construction techniques is desirable.

(*) For candidates only holding Bachelor Degrees, the years is relevant experience required/desirable is 9 years.

Language

• Fluency in English and Urdu (both oral and written) is required.
• Knowledge of other national languages in Pakistan is an advantage.

Other skills

• Proficient in MS Office, especially Excel, is required and knowledge of engineering or project management e-tools are desirable.

TOTAL POSITIONS

1

POSTED ON

April 23, 2026

EXPIRY DATE

May 10, 2026

BUSINESS

UN-HABITAT

CATEGORY

N.G.O./Social Services

JOB TYPE

Full Time/Permanent

MINIMUM EDUCATION

Masters

CAREER LEVEL

LICA-10 (equivalent to NO-C)

MINIMUM EXPERIENCE

5 Years