UN WOMEN Jobs - 52514- UN Women: Special Assistant to Deputy Executive Di

UN Women: Special Assistant to Deputy Executive Director for Policy and Programme

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

06-Jan-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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.

The Policy and Programme Bureau is responsible for setting the policy agenda for the organisation and for ensuring programmatic implementation of the work. The Policy Division develops UN Women’s work on analysis, research and knowledge management that provides the evidence base for the advice and guidance UN Women provides to the intergovernmental process, the UN system, and to UN Women staff working at country and regional level on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment. It identifies emerging issues and trends, and develops and proposes new strategies for achieving the agreed goals through innovative approaches and lessons learned about what works in practice. It also designs and oversees the training and capacity development programmes of UN Women, working closely with the UN Women training facility in Santa Domingo.

The Programme Division sets the standards, assures quality of programme design, and provides guidance to the country level programme work of UN Women, as well as supporting the coordination role of UN Women at country and regional level. It supports the effective use of results based management and reporting across the organization. It also manages global Trust funds, and Global Programmes, and it provides technical capacity to countries on request. Finally, it provides the linkage between the country level and HQ, through the Regional Offices which support and oversee country activities in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and central Asia, and the Arab States.

The Deputy Executive Director for Policy and Programmes is responsible for providing strategic guidance on programming in line with UN Women Strategic Plan. The Special Assistant to the Deputy Executive Director for Policy and Programme supports all of the responsibilities related to the work of the Deputy Executive Director and works as part of the Directorate team.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

Ensure that the office of the Deputy Executive Director for Policy and Programmes is managed effectively and efficiently to respond to programming and policy issues;
Support the Deputy Executive Director for Policy and Programmes to represent UN Women in UN inter-governmental, inter-agency and external fora including on behalf of the UN Women Executive Director.

Ensure that the office of the Deputy Executive Director for Policy and Programmes is managed effectively and efficiently to respond to programming and policy issues:

In coordination with the Special Assistants of the Executive Director and the Deputy Executive Director for the Intergovernmental Support and Strategic Partnership Bureau, ensure that regular staff, management and programme meetings are organized with clear agendas, documented and that decisions are disseminated and followed up;
Maintain close contacts with the Executive Director Office, the Inter-Governmental Support and Partnerships Bureau and the Division of Management and Administration and bring to the attention of the Deputy Executive Director all matters requiring his/ her personal attention. Formulate options as to how those matters might be best handled and followed-up, as directed;
Work closely with the Deputy's Administrative Associate to ensure high-quality and rapid response to e-mail, telephone and written correspondence and an effective and efficient file management system;
Work with the Deputy's Administrative Associate to backstop Deputy Executive Director to ensure that all of the human resources actions that s/he is responsible for - from recruitment or approval of key programme staff, to staff reviews and work planning - are undertaken in a timely, open and transparent manner and that related documentation is complete and up-to-date;
Provide assistance to the Deputy Executive Director in the strategic management of the Bureau; liaise with heads of divisions, regional directors, thematic advisors and programme staff to ensure smooth and timely flow of information and follow-up;
Support the Deputy Executive Director in his/ her interactions with other UN entities by working closely with liaison staff of senior officials of those entities.

Support the Deputy Executive Director for Policy and Programmes to represent UN Women in UN inter-governmental, inter-agency and external fora including on behalf of the UN Women Executive Director:

UN inter-governmental activities: the Executive Board, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the UN Commission on the Status of Women, and specific inter-governmental events, including at the regional level;
UN inter-agency activities, including the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), the inter-agency task teams on gender equality that UN Women chairs or participates in, and specific inter-agency joint programmes at HQ and in programme countries where UN Women is involved;
Conferences of women's rights advocates, donors, and other partners in which the Deputy Executive Director participates for joint strategy and programme development or to present UN Women's work and priorities;
Coordination of briefing materials preparation to support missions to donor and programme countries, as well as preparation of speeches, presentations and other public documents that the Deputy Executive Director may have to present.

Impact of Results:

The Special Assistant to Deputy Executive Director for Policy and Programmes supports and backstops the Deputy Executive Director in his/ her role of providing strategic guidance on policy and programming in line with UN Women Strategic Plan. S/he ensures efficiency and smooth operation of the Directorate with the support of the Administrative Associate.

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

Strong communication skills, both written and oral; ability in drafting and editing briefing notes, speeches, reports and correspondence;
Strong analytical and problem solving skills;
Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organisation;
Ability to work in a highly pressured environment;
Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree or equivalent in gender or social sciences-related field.

Experience:

A minimum of 7 years of professional experience, including 3 years’ experience working on gender equality, women's rights and international development assistance programmes;
Previous experience in supporting head office management and coordination functions an asset.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is required;
Proficiency in another UN working language is desirable.

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.