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.

The Programme Division (PD) sets the standards, assures the quality of program design, and provides guidance to country level program work of UN Women, as well as supports the coordination role of UN Women at regional and country level. It supports the effective use of results based management and reporting across the organization. It also manages global Trust funds, and Global Programs, and it provides technical capacity to countries on request, including a humanitarian response capacity. 

The Programme Team makes possible the oversight function of the Programme Directorate for UN Women’s programmes and activities in the field. It supports corporate planning and the oversight of planning processes. It leads UN Women’s corporate analysis of developments and trends at the country and regional level, ensuring UN Women’s senior management receives timely advice and recommendations. It supports UN Women’s field based presences, specifically Regional Offices including on operational matters, and connects them appropriately to other parts of headquarters as required. The Programme Team’s members represent UN Women in interagency fora, and provide support to UN Women normative work in intergovernmental processes, as well as contributing to resource mobilization and partnership building more broadly at headquarters level. 

Under the supervision and guidance of the Programme Advisor, the Programme Specialist provides operational programme support to the Directorate of Programme Division, Regional Office (RO), Multi Country Office (MCO) and Country Office (CO) in the region. The Programme Specialist contributes to the development of program standards and tools to support results based management, quality of program design and adherence to UN Women Strategic Plans (SP) and commitments on gender equality and women’s human rights in UN Women programs/ projects as well as standards of accountability framework.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

• Technical Support to the Directorate, RO and MCOs/COs;
• Programme development, management and oversight support;
• Support to UN inter-agency coordination and normative process;
• Support to partnership building and resource mobilization efforts;
• Knowledge management and capacity building.

• Under the guidance of the supervisor, contribute to the Programme Division and Programme Team’s work-planning and priority setting processes;
• Assist proactively and substantively the supervisor in the provision of technical support to the RO/MCOs/Cos in the region throughout their programming cycle;
• Under the guidance of the supervisor, support the appraisal and approval of UN Women regional and country programs in HQ by actively facilitating communication between HQ offices and RO/MCOs/COs to ensure the timely submission of Country Program documents and materials that are in accordance with UN Women strategies, policies and guidelines;
• Liaise for the RO and MCO/CO with EB on format and content;
• Under the oversight of the supervisor, prepare briefing materials for the Senior Management’s missions and participation in meetings and international events based on reports and other materials submitted from regional and country offices;
• Undertake travel and troubleshooting missions, as delegated/requested to provide technical support and collaboration on programming and related issues.
  

• Support the supervisor in the review of the regional and country program performance and progress reports to assess impact and compliance with development goals and results-based performance indicators;
• Under the guidance of the supervisor, support the regular assessments of the regional and country offices’ strategic and implementation plans. Identify lessons learned to guide program improvements and future strategic development planning;
• Assist the supervisor in the review proposals for programs and operations that are above the regional approval threshold and submit recommendations for approval in PD;
• Under the guidance of the supervisor, facilitate the flow of information to the Policy Division and Inter-governmental Divisions on thematic trends, from the regions/countries so that policy direction and guidelines respond appropriately to demand from the countries.
  

Support to inter-agency coordination and normative processes:

• Under the guidance of the supervisor, liaise, as required, with HQ based inter-agency task forces, committees and initiatives to ensure that UN Women issues are taken into account in development planning and formulation;
• Under the oversight of the supervisor, support UN Women positions in IATFs, ITFS, HQ-based inter-agency coordination and crisis mechanisms thematic trends, from the respective regions/countries so that policy direction and guidelines respond appropriately to demand from the countries;
• Support the supervisor on issues related to normative processes as required including attendance in meetings and other events and preparing reports/results of participation and following up on actions and commitments taken.

• Assist the supervisor in the establishment of partnerships with UN system agencies at HQ to collaborate on joint projects and interagency efforts to promote/advocate UN Women interests and commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment and to maximize results and achievements;
• Provide substantive administrative support to the Programme Advisor on matters related to resources mobilizations, donor relations, fundraising activities in support of resource mobilization efforts in PD and/or on behalf the regional and country offices;
• Under the guidance of the supervisor, liaise and facilitate the flow of information with/to the Partnership Division on corporate partnerships/resource mobilization related issues from the respective regions/countries so that corporate partnership strategies respond appropriately to the field’s demands and needs.
  

Knowledge management and capacity building:

• Under the guidance of the supervisor, work with UN Women Units to share best program and management practices;
• Support the supervisor in the design and implementation of capacity building training activities with RO, MCOs/COs to enhance skills and knowledge in Results Based Management, Results based budgeting and systematic quality assurance;
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of global and regional program knowledge networks and practices, and development of knowledge products.

The key results impact on the effectiveness of Program Director to manage, monitor and oversee UN Women’s programs and operations at the regional and country level leading to enhanced visibility and image of UN women as an effective leader on gender equality and women’s rights and empowerment.

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: 

• Demonstrated development/programming skills particularly those that are pertinent to UN Women strategic priorities on gender issues and women’s rights;
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them for development results;
• Good knowledge of Results Based Management principles and approaches;
• Ability to establish and maintain broad strategic networks and partnerships with UN agencies and other international partners to promote partnership and build alliances to advance organizational interests and competencies. 

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in development related disciplines, economics or public policy or other social science fields. 

Experience:

• 5 years of extensive development programs experience some of which should be in the area of gender equality and women’s rights at the international level, preferably in developing countries within the UN system, Agencies, Funds or Programs. Knowledge/experience of the region is an asset.

• Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of Arabic is an asset.
  

• 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.