Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women will work 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 centre of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women is dedicated to advancing gender equality and women's empowerment in Afghanistan. Staff and consultants of the Afghanistan Country Office (ACO) are expected to contribute to a professional working environment in which the strengthening of national capacities and human potential is prioritized.  Respect for diversity and human dignity is required, as is the active pursuit of a collaborative and inclusive approach to both internal and external stakeholders, including colleagues and partners.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the UN Women ACO Deputy Country Director, the Program Management Specialist shall be overall responsible and accountable for the effective and efficient provision of donor related support services to senior management, programmes and operations units within the Country Office (CO).The donor related support services include external relations and resource mobilization coordination, corporate monitoring and evaluation processes, coordinating the preparation of proposals and donor reports.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

• Work with the senior management to build and maintain effective external relations, partnerships and support resource mobilization;
• Coordinate results-based orientation of CO programmes and projects;
• Ensure the provision of effective and efficient coordination of proposal and timely reporting to donors;
• Assist senior management in monitoring and evaluation;
• Perform other tasks as may be assigned by senior management from time to time.

Effective external relations, partnerships and resource mobilization support:

• Supports UN Women ACO in the development, implementation and coordination of country office resources mobilization strategy/plan and periodically reviews resource mobilization plan and adjusts it, as needed;
• Develops a prospective donor profile database that includes prospective donor funding areas, geographical and sectoral preferences, criteria, and policies with a view to indentify funding opportunities;
• Monitors calls for proposals related to UN Women ACO mandate;
• Initiates RM meetings and presentations to prospective donors in Afghanistan and outside, including preparation of briefing notes, under the supervision of DCD;
• Supports preparation of reports to donors in close collaboration with the CTS, Programme staff and negotiates use of unspent balances and closed projects and accrued interest;
• Tracks all donor reporting requirements of projects and identifies "pending" reporting and funding requirements of all on-going and closed projects;
• Ensures that both financial and progress reports are timely submitted as per donor's requirements;
• Develops and implements strategies for maximizing potential for existing trust funds and regional projects and other sources;
• In close cooperation with Programme staff, drafts project proposals/briefs to be submitted to donors for funding;
• Develops staff capacities on corporate requirements for resource mobilization (Letter of Agreements, Memorandum of Understanding, donor reporting requirements, etc.);
• Works with programme units to identify gaps in funding and seek new and existing donors to provide financial assistance.

Results-based  monitoring of programmes and projects:

• Supports the management, review, development or revision of the UN Women ACO Corporate Strategic Plan, as well as Unit Work Plans;
• Coordinates the preparation of annual results reports and target setting with programme units;
• Supports the development of an annual results-based management schedule for the country programmes and projects;
• Liaises with relevant programme units and senior officers, reviews and appraises proposals or documents submitted to senior management to ensure that these meet UN Women ACO's strategic plan requirements;
• Participates, as needed, in country level UN programming processes and similar exercises;
• Coordinates preparation and finalization of ACO annual report with programme units and HQ.

Monitoring and evaluation:

• Ensures regular corporate monitoring and evaluation of the CO strategic plan and unit programs and work plans;
• Supports mid-term reviews, annual reviews and outcome evaluation in collaboration with programme units and other UN Agencies as needed;
• Ensures realistic inputs into the annual target setting exercise, follows-up targets or adjustments and monitor progress;
• Maintains and support the implementation of the CO evaluation plan and ensure that it adheres to the corporate evaluation policy and follow up on evaluation recommendations and observations;
• Contributes to programme/project appraisal and evaluation according to results-based management requirements.

Impact of results: 

The key results of the post are to improve development and organizational effectiveness of the CO, to strengthen the cohesion and synergies between programme and operations teams, as well as between the CO and projects. It is further expected that the senior post ensures linkages between strategic planning, policy analysis, external relations, networking, knowledge management, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation, and resource mobilization.

Programme and project management consistency, effectiveness, efficiency and oversight for CO programme and projects shall be improved and resources are mobilized while effective partnerships are being maintained.  Timely preparation of reports and submission to donors. This highly strategic post ensures overall support to coherence and results-based management of the UN Women ACO.

Competencies

Core values and Guiding principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity:

• Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity. 

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring:

• Self-development, initiative-taking.

Working in Teams:

• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

• Creating synergies through self-control.

Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements;

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

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others.

Functional Competencies:

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

• Ability to lead results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to lead resource mobilization;
• Ability to formulate and manage budgets, manage contributions and investments, manage transactions;
• Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioural/ attitudinal change.

Management and Leadership:

• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Good planning, goal setting and prioritization skills.

Other skills:

• Ability to lead and inspire staff and partners toward shared goals;
• Good inter-personal and diplomacy skills;
• Capacity to write clearly and concisely;
• Ability to take decision under pressure and to deal with matters that are politically and cultural sensitive;
• Ability to work across multi-cultural context and build partnership to ensure achievement of results in a post conflict environment;
• Demonstrates sensitivity, discretion, tact and courtesy in relation to gender equality and women's rights, development principles, implementing partners, and national and international personnel of varied nationalities and backgrounds;
• Commitment to upholding the organizational values and principles of UN Women;
• High level of proficiency in computer systems, internet navigation and various office applications.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's degree in Public Administration, Economics, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Sciences, Development Studies or related field.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of progressive relevant professional work experience in management methodologies along the areas of policy and program development and management, planning, design and project implementation, monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management, resource mobilization and networking, administration and human resource development and management;
• Track record on gender and participatory approaches with sound knowledge of international standards on women's rights and related instruments;
• A proven ability to liaise with a myriad of stakeholders and partners, including government, civil society, international organizations and grassroots organizations;
• A proven history of leadership, management and staff supervision through a style of mutual accountability and professional development;
• Knowledge and understanding of the social, cultural and political context of Afghanistan and its relation to gender.

Language Requirements:

• Excellent command of English, including analytical writing skills and presentation skills;
• Knowledge of local language, Dari and/or Pashtu, will be considered as an asset.

Application:

• 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.

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.