UN WOMEN Jobs - 55010- UN Women: Special Assistant

UN Women: Special Assistant

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Panama City, PANAMA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

03-Apr-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English Spanish

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 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.

In the Americas & Caribbean Region, UN Women has a Regional Office based in Panama City, 9 Country Offices, one Multi Country Office and programmatic presence in 6 countries throughout the region. In addition, the Regional Office provides support to the governments, civil society and UN system in 4 countries with no UN Women presence.

The Special Assistant, under the supervision of the Regional Director provides substantive and practical support to the Regional Director in the performance of the Director’s responsibilities. The Special Assistant to the Regional Director will provide timely analytical information, prepare documentation and will have a proven ability to work and act under pressure and with discretion in a sensitive and challenging environment. He/She has to have excellent communication and organization skills to manage the substantive and normative agenda.

Duties and Responsibilities

Key Functions:

Coordination and Facilitation
Communication

Coordination and Facilitation:

Support the Regional Director in her interactions and exchanges with UN Women Representatives, Regional Office and HQ staff, keeping record and ensuring action and follow-up when required in a timely and efficient manner, and serving as note-taker in regular meetings and exchanges;
Provide specialized technical support to the Regional Director in her interactions, representation duties, exchanges and relationship cultivation with other UN agencies, UN regional coordination mechanisms, regional and sub-regional integration mechanisms, intergovernmental bodies and national authorities by providing relevant background information as required and by working closely with liaison staff or senior officials of those entities as appropriate to ensure follow-up actions;
Assist the Regional Director in the implementation of cooperation agreements, memoranda of understanding, etc. with partner institutions by channeling his/her relevant directives and instructions and following up on commitments and any required action;
Provide relevant input when needed on key developments and opportunities to develop and strengthen institutional partnerships for the promotion of gender equality and women´s rights in the region and to ensure the inclusion of a gender perspective in regional and sub-regional intergovernmental fora;
Keep the Regional Director informed of incoming requests, correspondence and all matters requiring her attention, provide sound input as appropriate to facilitate decision making and ensure follow-up action, as directed;
Support the Regional Director in her duties of oversight of UN Women’s programmatic portfolio in the LAC region by channeling her directives and instructions to Country and Programme Offices and within the Regional Office, and ensuring timely and effective follow-up;
Liaise regularly with the Civil Society Advisory Group moderator to keep abreast of ongoing issues, discussions and requests and regularly brief the Regional Director on urgent or pressing issues that require his/her attention;
Organize and coordinate regular virtual meetings between the Regional Director and the Civil Society Advisory Group, in coordination with the Moderator, keeping track of issues raised and ensuring action and follow-up when required;
Perform other official duties and special assignments which may be requested by the Regional Director.

Communication:

Manage the planning and organization of the Regional Director´s agenda and official travel, including the timely preparation of official travel files, background documents and briefing notes, working closely with relevant staff and prepare official travel reports;
Draft speeches, talking points and /or design presentation materials for delivery by the Regional Director in key events, meetings and other internal and external fora ensuring that UN Women´s corporate and regional perspective, goals, objectives, strategies and/or policies on gender issues and UN Women programmes are appropriately reflected, working closely with relevant staff as required;
Support the Regional Director in managing and ensuring timely response to incoming requests from different divisions in HQ, liaising with Country and Programme Offices when needed, to gather and systematize input received in a timely and efficient manner;
Working closely with relevant staff in Communications, handle the Regional Director´s media relations, including drafting press statements and releases, coordinating interviews and organizing press conferences, monitoring media coverage and responding to journalists´ inquiries and media requests.

Impact of Results:

The key results have an impact on the overall execution of the Director’s responsibilities and successful operation of the UN Women Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean. In particular, the key results will ensure overall coordination and will have an impact on the delivery of services. Results will contribute to ensure a coherent team, timely and effective delivery of UN Women activities.

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 promote ethics and integrity by creating organizational precedents.

Organizational awareness:

Build support for the organization and ensure political acumen.

Development and innovation:

Support staff competence development, and contribute to an environment of creativity and innovation.

Work in teams:

Build and promote effective 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.

Communication and information sharing:

Create and promote an environment for open and 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 Kkowledge sharing:

Share knowledge across the organization and build a culture of knowledge sharing and learning.

Appropriate and transparent decision making:

Ensure fair and transparent decision making processes and manage risk.

Functional Competencies:

Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization;
Strong communication skills, both written and oral;
Strong analytical and problem solving skills;
Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organization;
Work in a highly pressured environment;
Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability;
Knowledge and understanding of gender equality issues as well as more broadly, human rights and development cooperation;
Experience with development issues in the LAC region;
Proficient in IT skills;
Familiarity with results based management and rights-based programming;
Familiarity with UN and UN Women system.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master's degree (or equivalent) in one or more of the following disciplines: International Relations, Communications, Public Relations, Public Affairs, Social Sciences.

Experience:

5 years of progressively responsible experience in international/regional organizations and communications/public relations;
Prior experience with the UN or other international organization working in capacity as Assistant/Adviser to senior management a strong advantage;
International development work preferably focused on, or strongly involving gender equality at national, regional and international levels;
Prior experience in the UN System and the Region will be an asset.

Languages:

Fluency in English and Spanish, both oral and written, is required;
Proficiency in other language of the region is an advantage.

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, please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document . 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.