UN WOMEN Jobs - 63832- UN Women: Policy Specialist

UN Women: Policy Specialist – Leadership and Governance

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

TA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

25-Feb-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

until December 31, 2016

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.

UN Women’s Policy Division provides the substantive underpinning for UN Women's normative, operational and coordination work. It provides this through research and analysis; technical guidance; knowledge management; training and capacity building; partnerships and programming; UN system coordination and collaboration; normative and intergovernmental work; and corporate positioning.

Within the Policy Division, the Leadership and Governance Section contributes to Impact Area 5 of UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2014-17 “Governance and national planning fully reflect accountability for gender equality commitments and priorities”. In order to meet this objective, UN Women is required to work with a range of stakeholders including national and local governments, civil society organizations, and UN partner entities, with a focus on normative work at intergovernmental level, UN System coordination, and the provision of on-demand advisory support to Member States.

Under the supervision of the Governance Policy Advisor, the Policy Specialist is responsible for supporting global policy initiatives on gender responsive budgeting, local governance and decentralization through: i) the provision of advisory and technical support ii) research and programme development iii) knowledge generation and capacity development iv) support to intergovernmental processes. UN Women is addressing knowledge and data gaps in a range of areas related to financing, local governance and decentralization, as it impacts implementation of Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide substantive advisory and technical support:

Provide substantive technical and advisory support to regional and country offices on gender responsive local governance with emphasis on local level planning and budgeting;
Prepare policy briefs and other strategic documents for use in the development and presentation of a coherent global strategy on gender responsive local governance;
Provide technical guidance and support to country offices on gender budgeting and local governance by strategically linking to localization of the SDGs;
Provide inputs to and participate in resource mobilization efforts, including follow-up with donor agencies;
Liaise with and broker support from governments, UN agencies and other bilateral and multilateral aid organizations, and establish linkages with their work.

Provide research and policy support to programme development:

Conduct research and analysis of global, regional and national trends to address knowledge and data gaps on local governance and decentralization;
Undertake periodic analyses of trends in financing for gender equality at the local level to inform policy and programme development;
Contribute substantively to the production of high-quality, results-oriented reports, for internal and external audiences, including providing guidance to ongoing programmes and projects;
Document and disseminate information on programme results in accordance with the UN Women Documenting Guide.

Knowledge management and capacity development:

Provide substantive contributions to the production of knowledge products to: i) build expertise and develop knowledge in the area of local governance; ii) inform policy and future programming; iii) facilitate capacity development initiatives and South-South exchanges, and ultimately contribute to address major gaps in key areas related to gender equality and local governance;
Establish and nurture relationships with academia, research institutes, civil society and experts on the focus area to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on latest findings, incorporate cutting-edge thinking into UN Women’s work;
Monitor, maintain overview of work on gender responsive local governance and gender budgeting at country and regional level in respect to UN Women’s Strategic Plan and work on gender budgeting and financing for gender equality;
Ensure regular information dissemination and publication of knowledge products related to gender responsive budgeting, local governance and decentralization;
Develop and maintain roster of experts, and a databank of research institutes, academics, and civil society experts of direct relevance to the Focus Area.

Provide technical support to advocacy and intergovernmental processes:

Contribute substantively to the preparation of position papers and reports related to gender budgeting, local governance and financing for gender equality for presentation to intergovernmental bodies such as Commission on the Status of Women, Economic and Social Council, the General Assembly and other policy-making organs, as appropriate and prepare analytical summaries of debates, supporting negotiations and analyzing/compiling outcomes;
Engage, liaise and coordinate with development partners, the UN System, national and local governments, national, regional and international civil society organizations and networks. Liaise with UN Women colleagues and others, as relevant, to ensure coordination with intergovernmental initiatives;
Participate in and/or represent the Section in internal and external committees, inter-governmental, inter-agency task forces, and international technical and advocacy as required.

Key Performance Indicators:

The key results expected will have positive impact on the overall effectiveness of UN Women’s work related to gender and local governance contributing directly to the achievement of UN Women’s Strategic Plan Impact Area 5.

Timely and quality technical advice and support;
Quality reports and other strategic documents delivered in a timely manner;
Timely and quality knowledge products;
Strong relationships with various partners, stakeholders and experts;
UN Women is well represented in important meetings on topics related to expertise;
Contributions to resource mobilization.

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. Demonstrating 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 Knowledge 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:

Extensive knowledge of local governance and gender budgeting;
Strong understanding of key aspects of local governance as they relate to women’s participation and influence in local planning and budgeting;
Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research;
Ability to draft well written policy papers, speeches, briefings;
Strong written and oral communication skills; strong interpersonal skills;
Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints;
Establish, build and sustains effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly;
Ability to develop and maintain roster of experts, and a databank of research institutes, academics, and civil society experts of direct relevance to the Focus Area.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Masters degree in gender, development, public policy/administration, human rights, or other social science fields, of direct relevance to the Focus Area.

Experience:

A minimum of 7 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in gender programming, policy research and gender analysis at country level, at least 2 of which should be directly related to the focus area;
Experience writing policy papers with a focus on gender, governance and decentralization and/ or gender responsive budgeting;
Experience in an international organization is an advantage;
Experience working in developing countries is an advantage.

Language:

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

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.

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. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.