Jobs - 31433- UN Women: Programme Specialist

UN Women: Programme Specialist

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

TA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

10-Aug-12 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

364 Days

Languages Required :

Expected Duration of Assignment :

364 Days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women thematic clusters will bring together specialists supporting the normative and operational aspects of UN Women’s mandate. The thematic cluster on Governance, Participation, Leadership includes the Leadership and Political Participation Section (LPP) established to support UN Women’s fulfillment of the thematic priority to expand women’s voice, leadership and participation through: i) Promote normative and legal frameworks that embody principles of inclusion and participation of women; ii) Provide support UN Women programing across all five geographic sections on leadership and political participation; iii) Support adherence to gender equality measures across the UN System in relation to women’s leadership and political participation

The section is currently developing a Global Initiative on LPP which includes areas of work as follows:

i) Electoral assistance; ii) Constitutional Reform; iii) Temporary Special Measures (TSMs); iv) Ending Violence Against Women in Politics (EVAWiP); v) Local-level Governance vi) Parliaments and Parliamentarians; vii) Political Parties; viii) Youth and political participation; ix) Media and Politics; x) Women’s Movement.

In order to respond to the increasing demands from UN Women field offices reflected in the analysis of UN Women field offices Annual Work Plans 2012-2013, civil society partners, donors and UN partners, to provide specific and often short-term expertise on gender responsive Constitutional Reform and Electoral Assistance, UN Women LPP has prioritized these two areas for the period 2012-2013.

Under direct supervision of the Leadership and Political Participation Advisor and in close collaboration with Human Rights Section the programme specialist will support the implementation of these two components of the global initiative on LPP. He/She will be in charge of: i) programme management, including operational guidance to field offices reporting and accountability ii) support the communications and knowledge management strategies iii) advocacy and partnership building at global level; iv) work with other HQ Units within UN Women different pillars to ensure synergy and collaboration with other programmes and corporate initiatives.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

Programme management operational support and coordination
Knowledge building and communications
Policy advocacy and partnership building globally

Programme management operational support and coordination

Ensure compliance with UN Women’s development goals through results-based monitoring to ensure progress, timely and technical support and proactive oversight.
Develop Terms of References (TOR) related with the roster of experts to be deployed in the field and managing data base of roster
Prepare project cooperation agreements with implementing partners and service providers.
Tracking budget performance and monitoring in close collaboration with the finance specialist and Geographic Sections.

Knowledge building and communication

Support the knowledge management and communications strategies on electoral assistance and constitutional reform, for learning, advocacy, donor reporting aligned , accountability and resource mobilization
Identify and document best practices and lessons learn and ensure internal dissemination and close collaboration with iKnowPolitics
Ensure adequate knowledge sharing through the UN Women website & intranet, in close collaboration with UN Women different pillars
Participate in internal corporate programme and policy development including, task forces/working groups, Programme Appraisal Committee and any others as requested

Policy advocacy and partnership building globally

Undertakes advocacy work and develop supportive networks and relevant global partnerships.
Assists in resource mobilization efforts.

Competencies

Core values and Guiding principles:

Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity

Organizational Awareness:

Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment

Development and Innovation:

Take charge of self-development and take initiative

Work in teams:

Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others

Conflict Management:

Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making

Functional competencies:

Ability to interact and coordinate with diverse partners and stakeholders at national, regional and global levels
Demonstrate networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills
Ability to deal with multiple constituencies
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities as well as conflict resolution skills
Ability to work under pressure and meet strict deadlines
Ability to communicate effectively with and relate to people of different cultures
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree or equivalent in Political Science, International Development Studies, Gender and Development Studies, Sociology or related field.

Experience:

At least 5 years of relevant national and/or international experience in development.
Experience on women’s rights economic and political empowerment is highly desirable
Experience in managing, monitoring and implementing results-based and rights-based national, sub-regional and regional programmes is required
A range of experience working in civil society, bilateral, UN System and/or other multilateral organizations is highly desirable

Language Requirements

Fluency in English is required.
Working knowledge of another UN language will be an asset.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.