UN WOMEN Jobs - 57332- UN Women: Technical Specialist

UN Women: Technical Specialist

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Chisinau, MOLDOVA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

14-Jul-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 centre 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.

Women’s leadership and participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work as mandated in its inception, recognizing the integral role of women in strong and stable democratic processes. In order to promote the leadership and participation of women in decision-making processes, UN Women works to promote gender equality in parliaments, electoral bodies, political parties, media, and other institutions.

UN Women has a proven track-record in supporting women’s political participation through its projects across various regions, under the guidance of UN Women’s founding resolution (GA resolution 64/289) and its Strategic Plan. To achieve its objectives, UN Women supports the adoption and implementation of constitutional and law reforms and other measures in laws and policies, (including temporary special measures), gender-responsive electoral processes, and institutional change to enhance women’s engagement on leadership positions.

In 2014, UN Women and UNDP in partnership with the East Europe Foundation (EEF) and the Centre for Participatory Development (CPD) launched a new programme: “Enhancing Women’s Political Representation through improved capacity and enhanced support in Moldova” (Women in Politics Programme). Furthering the commitments of the Government of Moldova with women’s rights, the programme aims to increase women’s leadership and political participation

The Programme is managed as a Joint Programme (UN Women and UNDP) on the basis of the UN Moldova Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF); and its activities are implemented in close coordination and cooperation with the on-going UNDP Democracy Programme (2012 – 2016).

Within this framework, UN Women and UNDP will lead the implementation two different components:

UN Women leads on outreach, supporting gender equality advocates’ advocacy efforts to influence reform or implement legal and policy frameworks (including Temporary Special Measures) to increase women’s leadership and political participation; gender responsive media coverage; gender responsive media coverage; and capacity development of aspiring women leaders and candidates;
UNDP leads on providing technical support to the Central Electoral Commission on gender responsive electoral management and administration; and parliamentary assistance including building the capacities of elected women parliamentarians and councillors for performing the elected official’s duties.

Within this framework UN Women will recruit a Technical Specialist to provide effective and efficient technical oversight to the implementation of WiP Programme in Moldova in alignment with UN Women Strategic Note for 2014-2017. The incumbent will work under the guidance and direct supervision of the UN Women Country Representative and in close coordination with UNDP Portfolio Manager. The Technical Specialist will work in close collaboration with the Programme, Operations and Communications teams at UN Women and UNDP Country Offices for effective achievement of results, anticipating and contributing to resolving complex programme-related issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance and supervision of UN Women Country Representative and in close coordination with the UNDP Portfolio Manager, the Technical Specialist will ensure the provision of development services and products (commensurate with the scope of the Programme) of the highest quality and standards to national counterparts and clients through applying Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) and Gender Equality (GE) approach.

More specifically, he/she will perform the following tasks:

Summary of Key Functions:

Analysis and monitoring of trends, challenges and opportunities;
Programme technical support;
Strategic partnerships with key stakeholders;
Advocacy and Communication;
Knowledge management and reporting.

Ensures analysis and monitoring of trends, challenges and opportunities:

Identify and analyze trends, opportunities and challenges for the promotion of Women in Politics and decision making in the Republic of Moldova;
Provide advice on program’s substantive role and specific contribution in promoting adequate women participation and representation in politics and decision making processes in Moldova;
Participate in policy dialogues around gender equality and the political empowerment of women;
Advise UN Women and UNDP on strategies and approaches for promoting women in politics based on the lessons learnt;
Support UNCT in analyzing, synthesizing, as well as monitoring and reporting on UN’s efforts to promote women’s effective participation in decision making processes and political empowerment.

Provides programme technical support:

Provide guidance and support to the programme staff, national partners on gender responsive initiatives to empower women in politics and build strategic links with National Development Strategies and National Action Plans;
Provide guidance and advice to the program, development partners and national counterparts on implementation of key UN frameworks and conventions on women’s rights, with the specific focus on women’s leadership and political participation.

Ensures strategic partnerships with key stakeholders:

Strengthen and enhance partnerships and cooperation with key partners and stakeholders including: national and local state actors, national and international civil society especially, women's organizations, political parties and their women’s organization, the media, the Central Election Commission, Parliament, women and the communities, UN, and donors for effective and coordinated implementation of women empowerment strategies;
Ensure effective partnership, networking and coordination between ongoing UN Women and UNDP programmes, including but not limited to Democracy Project, Joint Integrated Local Development Project, Women Migration Workers project, Gender Responsive Budgeting program and other projects and activities in the country for a more holistic and coherent approach to programme implementation.

Ensures advocacy and communications:

Lead and facilitate advocacy for adoption and implementation of legal and policy frameworks (including TSMs), through partnership building among all concerned actors;
Lead and facilitate the promotion of women in politics and decision making using all key platforms at central and local levels and in close coordination with key State and non-state actors;
Ensure timely implementation of a communication strategy, including through coaching communications specialists from the UN agencies, NGOs as well as other partners, including media on women in politics and decision making issues.

Ensures knowledge management and reporting:

Ensure results based quality and timely reporting in collaboration with the relevant programme officers;
Contribute to concept notes, strategies, and other knowledge products;
Review and provide feedback to programme-related strategies and documents, case studies and other knowledge products and office website content and publications as requested;
Contribute substantively on knowledge management and ensure documentation and dissemination of lessons learned through different forums;
Support the capacity building of programme staff and its partners to maximize their potential and optimize the existing knowledge in the area;
Perform other tasks as requested.

Impact of Results

The post has an impact on the overall effectiveness and success of UN Women and UNDP interventions and activities in the assigned sectorial/thematic area of promoting women’s political participation, which impact in turn on the overall effectiveness of the UN Women programmes on the global and national levels. By helping ensure effective design, planning, implementation, and M&E of assigned sectorial/thematic area, and building networks and helping mobilize resources for these areas, the incumbent enhances the organization’s capacity and credibility in implementation of highly effective programmes with strong impact on increased women’s participation.

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:

Demonstrated development/programming skills particularly those that are pertinent to UN Women strategic priorities on gender issues and women’s rights;
Ability to lead formulation and evaluation of development programmes and projects;
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;
Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships and mobilize resources.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree or equivalent in Political or Social Science, International or Gender Studies, Public Policy, or related filed.

Experience:

At least 7 years of substantive experience at International senior programmatic position with recognized expertise and experience in gender with a focus on women empowerment in politics and decision making, particularly mainstreaming and public policy analysis;
Collaborative work experience with stakeholders at policy/decision making, institutional and local level;
Proven experience in working with international organizations (successful experience working with UN Women) will be a very strong advantage;
Extensive experience in managing a multidisciplinary team;
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and advance knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web based management systems;
Strong analytical and writing skills.

Languages:

Fluency in English is required;
Working knowledge of Romanian and/or Russian language is 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, 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.