Senior Operations Officer, Home based, Remote

## Senior Operations Officer, Home based, Remote - Organization:UNOPS - United Nations Office for Project Services - Office:UNOPS - United Nations Office for Project Services in Home-based Position Title:Senior Operations Officer Job Category:Administration Duty Station(s):Home based Seniority Level:Mid Level Contract Type:ICA - IICA - Retainer Contract Level:IICA 1 Posting Start Date:20-Aug-2026 Posting End Date:13-Sep-2026 Duration:One year with a possibility of extension This is an excellent opportunity to contribute to the efficient functioning of UNOPS' Legal Group, specifically supporting critical dispute resolution matters. The role offers exposure to complex legal administrative processes within an international organization, fostering professional growth in operational support, data analysis, knowledge management, and stakeholder coordination. The Legal Group (LG) advises UNOPS management, project offices, regional offices and other specialized units within UNOPS on institutional, commercial, and administrative law matters. Legal Advisors at UNOPS provide legal advice in the areas of public international law, dispute resolution, commercial law and administrative law. This legal advice spans various topics, including host-country agreements, privileges and immunities, disputes with external parties, administrative/HR law, partnership agreements, grants, procurement contracts, and the establishment of hosted initiatives, joint programs, and multi-donor trust funds. It also involves working with outside counsel, pro bono law firms, and the UN Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) as needed. The incumbent is expected to independently manage assigned operational portfolios and workflows, determine priorities, interpret and apply applicable policies and procedures, identify operational risks and recommend appropriate course of action, with a particular focus on the Legal Group's Dispute Resolution Practice. The role supports improved communication, knowledge management, efficient service delivery and the smooth administration of dispute resolution matters. The Senior Operations Officer contributes to the effective management of this portfolio by ensuring that operational, contractual, financial, procedural and information-management requirements are systematically monitored and addressed. The role provides independent operational analysis and recommendations to support timely decision-making, risk mitigation and effective management of dispute-resolution matters. The Senior Operations Officer provides specialized operational management and advisory support to the Legal Group, with primary responsibility for the operational management of the Dispute Resolution Practice. The role independently coordinates and oversees complex operational workflows, monitors portfolio performance, identifies and mitigates operational risks, and provides analysis and recommendations to support the strategic decision-making by the General Counsel, Management Specialist, and legal advisors. Functions / Key Results Expected 1. Operational Support and Coordination - Provide operational and administrative support to the Office of the General Counsel and the Legal Group, with a particular focus on the Legal Group's Dispute Resolution Practice. - Oversee the operational administration of contracts, purchase orders, invoices and payments associated with the Dispute Resolution Practice, ensuring compliance with applicable policies, timely processing, accurate records and effective follow-up of outstanding actions. - Support procurement processes and long-term agreements for external counsel and other service providers, including supplier registration, procurement records, contract administration and coordination with procurement colleagues. - Assist with the preparation, formatting, proofreading, organization and filing of legal submissions, correspondence, exhibits, and other case materials, including related filing logistics such as indexing, electronic filing and courier arrangements. - Manage operational coordination with external counsel, arbitral institutions, tribunals, vendors and other external stakeholders, ensuring timely exchange of administrative, contractual, financial and procedural information and effective follow-up of agreed actions. - Serve as the primary operational focal point for assigned external service providers and institutional stakeholders, resolving routine and non-routine operational issues and escalating substantive legal matters to the appropriate legal advisor. - Coordinate responses to audit and similar requests, in consultation with the Legal Group's Dispute Resolution Practice and other units as needed. - Support the Management Specialist, General Counsel and legal advisors with day-to-day operations and key events. 2. Monitoring and Reporting - Maintain the operational portfolio-management framework for the Dispute Resolution Practice, including trackers, calendars, dashboards and monitoring tools covering disputes, external counsel, contracts, procurement actions, financial commitments, invoices, deadlines and other critical operational milestones - Provide periodic portfolio analysis to identify emerging risks, resource requirements, delays, financial exposure and operational bottlenecks, and recommend corrective actions to management. - Collect, organize, analyze and summarize operational, qualitative and quantitative data to support portfolio monitoring, budget tracking, planning and decision-making. - Prepare analytics and reports, updating spreadsheets, dashboards and other tools for the Management Specialist, General Counsel and legal advisors. - Coordinate inputs for audit responses, budget planning, management updates and corporate reporting exercises. - Contribute to the identification, assessment and monitoring of operational risks associated with the Dispute Resolution Practice, including risks relating to contractual obligations, procurement, financial commitments, deadlines, records management, external counsel and case administration. - Develop and maintain risk-mitigation actions and advise management on emerging risks requiring attention or escalation. - Provide regular operational briefings and analytical reports to the Management Specialist, General Counsel and legal advisors on portfolio status, operational risks, financial and contractual matters, deadlines, performance trends and areas requiring management attention. - Prepare decision-support analysis and recommendations for management on operational, resource, process and risk-management matters affecting the Dispute Resolution Practice. 3. Knowledge Management and Knowledge Sharing - Support the Legal Group through document creation, including Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, Microsoft Office documents, charts, organizational charts, surveys and other knowledge products. - Set up and manage project-management tools, run regular reports, extract and analyze data to support planning, monitoring and decision-making. - Maintain and administer case and knowledge-management systems for the Legal Group, with a particular focus on Legal Group's Dispute Resolution Practice. - Coordinate the development and ongoing management of the Legal Group's operational knowledge-management framework, ensuring that dispute-resolution information, precedents, lessons learned, guidance, workflows and key operational records are structured, accessible, accurate and appropriately maintained. - Analyze information and lessons learned across matters to identify recurring operational issues, trends and opportunities for institutional learning, and translate findings into improved processes, guidance and knowledge products. - Assist with testing new applications, implementing technical changes and improving tools used for document management, case management, reporting and collaboration, including Google Workspace tools. - Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing within the Legal Group and