Health, Safety, Social and Environmental Specialist - Occupational Health & Safety

The HSSE Lead serves as the national technical authority for Health, Safety, Social and Environmental matters within the PMO Infrastructure Unit. The position is responsible for governance of the HSSE function across the infrastructure portfolio, ensuring consistent implementation of HSSE activities through a structured assurance framework, and providing technical leadership, quality assurance, capacity development, and operational oversight for infrastructure projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead the implementation and continuous improvement of the HSSE governance framework across the infrastructure portfolio.
• Ensure consistent application of UNOPS HSSE policies, standards and procedures.
• Advise senior management on HSSE risks, performance and strategic priorities.
• Promote a proactive safety culture and continuous improvement.
• Support the integration of HSSE considerations into project planning, design reviews, procurement, implementation and project closure activities.
• Provide direct technical and functional supervision to HSSE Specialists, HSSE Associates, HSSE Site Engineers and HSSE Focal Points.
• Coordinate deployment and allocation of HSSE resources across projects.
• Review work plans, inspections, audits and monitoring reports.
• Monitor performance and provide coaching and professional development support.
• Ensure consistency in reporting methodologies, inspection protocols and corrective action follow-up mechanisms across all projects.
• Prepare, coordinate or lead the preparation and review of HSSE documentation and safeguard-related documents required by UNOPS, Clients, Donors, national authorities and development partners.
• Provide HSSE guidance and quality assurance services for all Category 3 infrastructure projects.
• Review and validate contractor HSSE plans and procedures.
• Review safeguard documentations and corrective action plans.
• Conduct compliance reviews, audits and field inspections.
• Verify emergency preparedness and response arrangements on project sites.
• Support project teams in identifying, assessing and mitigating HSSE risks.
• Provide technical support for safeguard reporting, monitoring indicators and corrective action tracking.
• Design and deliver induction, awareness and training programs in French and Haitian Creole.
• Lead contractor HSSE capacity-building initiatives.
• Develop awareness materials, guidance notes and training tools.
• Promote lessons learned and best practices across projects.
• Design and implement contractor HSSE maturity assessments and improvement programmes.
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of the PMO Contractor Register.
• Support contractor classification according to geographic coverage, technical capability and HSSE maturity.
• Participate in contractor performance evaluations and compliance assessments.
• Recommend improvement measures and corrective actions.
• Coordinate with PMO Quality Management functions to strengthen contractor development programmes.
• Maintain systems for incident reporting, investigation and corrective action tracking.
• Conduct investigations and root cause analyses.
• Monitor implementation of corrective actions.
• Prepare consolidated monthly and quarterly HSSE performance reports and dashboards.
• Serve as the primary focal point for interactions with IFIs regarding HSSE and safeguard matters.
• Support donor reviews, audits and supervision missions.
• Contribute to the PMO Segregation of Duties framework by maintaining clear separation between implementation, supervision and assurance functions.
• Coordinate technical reviews with the ORD Regional HSSE Advisor on complex HSSE and safeguard matters.
• Support the development and continuous improvement of the PMO assurance architecture.
• Support development and implementation of emergency preparedness and response plans.
• Ensure compliance with national legislation and industry best practices.
• Support crisis management and business continuity measures.
• Ensure lessons learned from incidents and emergency exercises are incorporated into future planning.

Requirements

• Advanced University Degree (Master's Degree) in Occupational Health and Safety, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Sciences, or another relevant discipline.
• A Bachelor's Degree combined with two additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree.
• Minimum five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in HSSE management.
• Experience in infrastructure construction projects.
• Experience in risk assessment, contractor management and compliance monitoring.
• Experience supervising multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience working with International Financial Institutions (World Bank, IDB or similar) is desired.
• Experience in fragile, post-conflict or complex operational environments is desired.
• Experience with UN organizations or international development agencies is desired.
• Fluent in Haitian Creole and French, intermediate proficiency in English.

Skills

• Occupational Health and Safety
• Environmental Engineering
• Environmental Sciences
• HSSE Management
• Infrastructure Construction Projects
• Risk Assessment
• Contractor Management
• Compliance Monitoring
• Supervising Multidisciplinary Teams
• HSSE Governance
• Quality Assurance
• Capacity Development
• Operational Oversight
• Experience in Fragile Operational Environments
• Experience with UN Organizations

Languages

Haitian Creole, French, English