Portfolio Manager

The UNOPS Global Portfolios Office (GPO) brings together diverse expertise to help partners deliver impact worldwide. With hubs in New York, Geneva, and Vienna, and expert teams operating globally, GPO leads multi-regional initiatives that advance sustainable development, climate action, and peacebuilding - including in some of the world’s most challenging environments. By leveraging our collective expertise and global networks, GPO supports UNOPS’ strategic priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals across more than 130 countries. We work closely with major global partners - including governments, international financial institutions, and UN agencies - to deliver a wide range of services, such as project management, fund management, hosting services, and HR support.

From Geneva, UNOPS facilitates the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), working with governments, other United Nations (UN) agencies and partners by providing quality servces, integrated solutions and management support through strategic, cost-effective and results-oriented approches. This includes supporting platforms and hosting high-profile, flagship initiatives and funds focusing on health, nutrition, water and sanitation, sustainable cities, environment, energy, climate and trade. UNOPS is a recognized resource for the UN system in Geneva – from fund management and oversight and advisory services, to providing hosting solutions to a range of global initiatives, as well as operational support to partner organizations.

Launched in 2020, the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) was established as a coalition to mobilize new sources of public and private finance to safeguard the world’s most climate-resilient coral reefs—coral refugia—and prevent their collapse. The GFCR mission is to enhance the resilience of coral reef ecosystems, communities and economies by unlocking new public and private resources that accelerate sustainable businesses and finance solutions (reef-positive solutions).

GFCR applies a blended finance approach that sequences different forms of capital to support coral reef conservation, economic, and community resilience outcomes. The approach combines grant funding, technical assistance, concessional finance, risk-sharing structures, and private investment to address constraints from early pipeline development through scale.  At later stages, commercial and near-commercial capital can support expansion of proven reef-positive enterprises and larger-scale investment opportunities.

The GFCR supports reef-positive businesses and financial solutions across four core investment pathways: Sustainable Ocean Production; Sustainable Coastal Development; Circular Economy and Pollution Management; and Financial Mechanisms. Complementing these investment pathways, GFCR also advances a broader systems-change agenda by leveraging lessons learned from its portfolio and global coalition to promote ocean finance innovation, influence international policy processes, strengthen enabling environments, and catalyze the replication and scaling of reef-positive finance solutions.

Under the direct supervision of the GFCR Deputy Director, the Portfolio Manager supports the strategic development, oversight, and performance management of the GFCR programme portfolio. The incumbent leads portfolio coordination, programme monitoring, technical reviews, risk management, reporting, and impact analysis to help ensure that GFCR-funded programmes are well designed, effectively implemented, and aligned with the Fund’s objectives, policies, and blended finance approach.

Summary of key functions:

1. Programme portfolio management

2. Monitoring, reporting, and impact measurement

3. Programmes proposals technical reviews

4. Partnerships development

5. Team management

1. Programme portfolio management

• Coordinates the overall portfolio development and management of assigned specific trust funds; 

• Ensure programmatic collaboration with other trust funds as needed.

• Leads and manages the development of portfolio management tools, including proposal evaluation and scoring criteria.

• Oversees and manages the identification of programmatic risks and guides the systematic entry of inputs into Risk Registries.

• Drafts relevant memos and presentations for submission to relevant Steering Committees.

2. Monitoring, reporting, and impact measurement

• Leads and manages the GFCR portfolio and specific programmes progress and implementation reports. 

• Produce progress reports, investment updates, and lessons learned for stakeholders as requested. 

• Leads the development and applies monitoring frameworks to Strategic Funds portfolio performance, ESG compliance, and environmental and social impact. 

• Produces lessons learned assessments for stakeholders as requested and supports the integration of investment learnings into adaptive portfolio management. 

• Liaises with UNEP, other UN agencies and partners to ensure complementarity with monitoring and evaluation and knowledge sharing activities.

3. Programmes proposals technical reviews

• Conducts technical reviews of concepts notes and programme proposals, providing input on strategic and operational aspects of the documents to ensure that the programme strategy reflects the blended finance and its alignment to the GFCR objectives. 

• Along with other team members, conducts scoring evaluation of concept notes and programme proposals.

• Ensures compliance of programme proposals and concept notes with relevant policies and standards, including social and Environmental Safeguards and Gender policies.
  
  
  

4. Partnerships development

• Leads specific and assigned programmatic partnerships or initiatives.

• Contributes to the development of flagship initiatives through programmatic design and financial modeling support. 

• Provides technical advice and support to investment and implementing partners on all programming aspects and supporting documentation, as needed. 

5. Team management

• Supervises and manages a team of Portfolio Specialist(s) and Programme Analyst(s), in addition to one consultant.

• Provides guidance, performance management, coaching, and professional development support to team members.

• Ensures effective workload distribution, quality control of deliverables, and timely achievement of team objectives in support of GFCR portfolio goals.

Required

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Environmental Sciences, Development Studies, International Relations, Programme or Project Management, Economics or related fields with 9 years of relevant experience OR

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in any of the above or related fields with 7 years of relevant experience is required

Required

• Minimum 7 years (with master’s degree) or 9 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant work experience in project management, preferably in climate, environment, or development sectors.

• Experience in project/programmes portfolio management and coordination, including project monitoring and quality assurance. 

• Track record of managing donor-funded projects.

• International experience working in developing countries.

Desired

• Demonstrated experience with design and implementation of multi-sectoral and sectoral programmes and projects at different scales.

• Experience engaging with the private sector, development partners, and government stakeholders in a developing country context.

• Experience designing projects and initiatives that incorporate blended finances approaches and/or development of sustainable finance mechanisms. 

• Experience with donor reporting to and managing donor and partner relationships.

• UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the selection process, which may include various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of a wide range of nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. We strive to sustain and strengthen this diversity, fostering an inclusive working environment where all personnel are treated with respect and have equal access to opportunities.
• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to a fair and transparent selection process and welcome diverse perspectives, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and persons with disabilities.
• We are committed to enabling all candidates to perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require support or reasonable accommodation to complete any assessment, please inform our human resources team upon receiving your invitation.
• UNOPS has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment, and other forms of abusive conduct, including discrimination, abuse of authority, and harassment. To uphold these standards, background checks are conducted for all final candidates to help ensure that individuals with a history of such conduct are not hired. By applying for a position with UNOPS, candidates acknowledge and consent to these verification processes.
  

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda. 
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.