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.

Under the overall guidance and direction of the UN Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) Programme Officer, the programme assistant contributes to the effective follow-up and coordination of UN Women project in agri-business sector by providing substantive inputs to programme design, and implementation and reach-out to private agribusiness sector in Upper Egypt.  S/he facilitates the delivery of UN Women project field related activities by contributing to achieving results and providing advice for enhancements as necessary.  She/he works in close collaboration with the project team and the agribusiness sector to ensure successful achievement of UN Women project’s objectives.

UN Women has entered into a partnership with USAID to provide a mechanism to advance safe and women-friendly workplaces within the agribusiness sector in Egypt. The project targets agribusiness firms and related value-chains to assist them to reposition themselves as models in gender-balanced workplace policies, attitudes, and inclusive work environments that promote equal job opportunities, equal wage for work of equal value, provides incentives for employees’ retention, and low rate of absenteeism particularly for women. The project works at multiple levels to respond to the specific support needs at the targeted agribusiness firms dealing with management, staff, related supply chain, women farmers/ workers at processors and factories, and farmers’ associations (if any), so that they may have greater influence in reshaping their internal employment policies.  

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

• Support in the formulation of Programme Strategies;
• Programme Management Support ;
• Administrative and Financial Management Support to the Programme Unit;
• Facilitation of Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing.

Support in the formulation of Programme Strategies:

• Collect and present background information for the preparation of effective application of RBM tools;
• Provide programme and administrative support in the preparation of programme work plans, budgets, and proposals on programme implementation arrangements;
• Assemble briefing materials and prepare power-point and other presentations for the programme unit;
• Identify sources, and gather and compile data and information for the preparation of documents, guidelines, speeches and position papers.

Programme Management Support:

• Support the Programme Team in the implementation of the control mechanisms for development projects through monitoring of budget preparation and modifications;
• Create projects in Atlas, prepare required budget revisions, revision of project award and project status, determination of unutilized funds, operational and financial close of a project;
• Support the Programme Team in the financial management of Programmes;
• Provide guidance to the executing agencies on routine implementation of projects, tracking use of financial resources;
• Provide necessary information for the audit of programmes/projects and support implementation of audit recommendations;
• Organize, compile and process information from donors, Regional Office, and programme team, as inputs to various databases and documents;
• Support the Programme team in the tracking and reporting on mobilized resources.

Administrative and Financial Management Support to the Programme Unit:

• Ensure maintenance of the internal expenditures control system which ensures that vouchers processed are matched and completed; transactions are correctly recorded and posted in Atlas;
• Take timely corrective actions on un-posted vouchers, including the vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions, unapproved vouchers;
• Create requisitions in Atlas for development projects registers of goods receipt in Atlas;
• Make budget check for requisitions, POs and vouchers;
• Prepare cost sharing, and trust fund agreements, follow up on contributions and resource mobilization efforts.

Facilitation of Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing:

• Support synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices related to programme management;
• Support synthesis of lessons learned and best practices in programme finance;
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.
• Support organization of training for the office staff and partners on programme and operations related issues.

The post has an impact on the overall effectiveness and success of UN Women intervention and project related activities. The assistant will support the project’s team in delivering and finalizing all the administrative and operational activities required to speed implementation and delivery that would be in line with the project’s objectives.

Competencies

Core Values/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:

Results Based Reporting:

• Demonstrate the ability to report using Results Based Management and Reporting.

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 the ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situation with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others;
• Demonstrated ability to organize work efficiently and to deliver on results concerning multiple tasks.

Functional Competencies:

Field Competency:

Ability to work in the field and communicate efficiently with the beneficiaries.

Continuous Learning and knowledge Sharing:

• Encourage learning and sharing knowledge.

Gender Issues:

• Demonstrated analytical skills on issues related to gender, the economy and poverty reduction.

Soft Skills:

• Excellent communication, presentation and writing skills in Arabic and English. Knowledge of any other official UN language would be an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor degree in Social Sciences, Political Science (Economics Section), Business or Public Administration, development studies or other relevant degrees 

Experience:

• Minimum of 3 years of relevant experience in project admin support and implementation. Previous experience in UN agencies and knowledge of ATLAS would be an asset.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English & Arabic is required.