UN WOMEN Jobs - 60406- UN Women: Special Assistant to the Director, Polic

UN Women: Special Assistant to the Director, Policy Division

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

08-Oct-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

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.

The Policy Division provides the substantive underpinning for UN Women’s normative, operational and coordination work. It provides this substantive input through research and analysis; technical guidance; knowledge management; training and capacity building; partnerships and global programmes; UN system coordination and collaboration; normative and intergovernmental work; and corporate positioning. The Policy Division is organized into four thematic sections, addressing five goal areas of the Strategic Plan, and two functional sections, Research and Data and the UN Women Training Centre.

Special Assistant reports to the Director of Policy who is responsible for providing direction and leadership in the Policy Division in the formulation of all policies, the strategic planning of knowledge management programmes and ensuring that UN Women meets all reporting requirements for support to intergovernmental processes and the management and oversight of work in progress to ensure delivery according to timeline, plans, performance standards and objectives.

Duties and Responsibilities

Expected Summary of key functions

The Special Assistant to the Director of Policy will provide timely analytical information, coherent policy advice 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.

Within the relevant delegated authority, the Special Assistant will be responsible for the following duties:

Support the Director in the performance of his/ her functions, including by the provision of sound policy inputs on issues as appropriate, to facilitate his/ her representation with UN Women staff;
Provide assistance to the Director in the strategic management of the Division, liaising closely with in-house sections as well as key partners and stakeholders;
Support the Director in his/ her interactions with other UN entities by working closely with staff of senior officials of those entities;
Manage the Director’s agenda; evaluating and keeping track of important events, meetings and advising him/her of priorities and critical meetings requiring his/ her presence and making necessary arrangements for participation including the preparation of papers, policies, etc.;
Prepare outline and/or draft policy papers, speeches and talking points for the Director. Prepare briefing folders and research for all background papers that are necessary for the Director’s meetings. Provide editorial assistance by drafting, clearing and editing speeches, reports and correspondence;
Act as focal point for the Policy Division in all corporate processes including Human Resources, Finance and Budget, Strategic Planning,Audit, Evaluation, Business Continuity;
Review all documentation presented to the Director for signature to ensure accuracy and conformity with UN Women’s financial and administrative rules and regulations;
Assist in the follow-up to meetings, including the preparation of relevant notes and briefing to staff, as appropriate;
Assist in meeting deadlines related to organizational reports;
Research and draft sections of the reports for Intergovernmental Bodies;
Provide support to the preparation of retreats, including drafting agenda and minutes, ensuring the timely submission and circulation of relevant background documents and reports;
Ensure the timely follow-up to the Division’s directives, including the effective dissemination of pertinent information to senior management and other relevant staff at Headquarters and in other offices;
Manage the planning and organization of the Director’s official travel, including the timely preparation of official travel files and background documents by the relevant divisions and units as well as prepare or ensure the preparation of official travel reports;
Perform other official duties and special assignments which may be requested by the Director.

Impact of Results

The Key Results have an impact on the overall efficiency and success of the Policy Directorate, UN Women. 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 / 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:

Managing conflict.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

Informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization;
Strong communication skills, both written and oral;
Excellent drafting skills with the ability to edit and clear reports, speeches and correspondence;
Strong analytical and problem solving skills;
Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all level of the organization;
Demonstrate sensitivity, tact and diplomacy, comfortable with handling external relationships at all level;
Work in a highly pressured environment;
Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree (or equivalent) in one of the following disciplines: social sciences, political science, international relations, business administration or management, public administration, or other related fields.

Experience:

5 years of progressively varied responsible experience with international and/or corporate organizations preferably in the United Nations system and its organizations.

Languages:

Written and oral proficiency in English is required;
Knowledge of another UN working language is desirable.

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.

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 group 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.