Background

UN Women operational from January 2011 was created to address challenges faced by the UN in its efforts to promote gender equality globally. Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the UN Charter, it will work for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls, empowerment of women and achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. The work of UN Women is oriented around four core principles:

1. to provide a demand-driven support to Member States and women’s organizations;
2. to advocate for the world’s women;
3. to serve as a a catalyst and leader within the UN system to ensure coherence in the UN’s response on gender equality and to ensure that all UN organizations, leaders and staff, gender experts and units, pursue their mandates in a manner which best contributes to achieving a gender equal world;
4. to be a global broker of knowledge, expertise and experience on what works and on how to align practice with normative guidance from UN inter-governmental bodies.

With the aim to support the national partners for upholding commitments to advance women’s rights and gender equality, UN Women Sub-regional office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (SRO) contracts a National Portfolio Manager, who will be responsible for providing support to, facilitating and managing the programme and operational tasks within assigned thematic area/-s. It is also planned to contract Programme Associate who will provide necessary programme related and administrative support for the National Portfolio Manager to run the country programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Programme Associate willl work under the direct supervision of the National Portfolio Manager and overall supervision and guidance of the SRO Programme Specialist.  S/he will specifically support the implementation of the UN Women complex activities in the country, and will receive technical guidance from SRO, as well as regular information from the Europe and Central Asia Division and relevant thematic sections at UN Women Headquarters.  More specifically, he/she will be responsible for:

1. Support to administration and implementation of the programme/portfolio and adaptation of processes and procedures focusing on achievement of the following results:

• assists in day-to-day management in terms of implementation agreements, trainings, meetings and other related events to facilitate the programme/portfolio implementation;
• presentation of information/reports for identification of areas for support and intervention. Presentation of thoroughly researched information for the programme, preparation of work plans, budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements and reports on implementation;
• assist in formulation and implementation of the partnerships strategy, preparation of reports on implementation of the planned activities;
• provision of guidance to the implementing partners on routine implementation of programme activities, tracking use of resources;
• contribute to monitoring on implementation of the programme activities by implementing partners;
• follow up on performance indicators/success criteria, targets and milestones, preparation of reports;
• analysis of the situation in the programme/portfolio implementation, identification of operational and financial problems, development of solutions;
• taking records of meetings with partners, drafting letters and other correspondence on subjects of the programme;
• documenting evidences, facts and other information and reviewing and compilation of inputs for implementing partners to contribute to preparation of quarterly and annual reports;
• assist in annual reporting for the programme/portfolio implementation under the SRO reporting frame.

2. Ensures efficient financial administration and operational support focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Provision of information for formulation of work plans, budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements and execution modalities;
• Verifying availability of funds for activities, recommending and effecting necessary budget line changes;
• Assisting in managing the programme financial matters;
• Preparing and modifying programme budgets, implementing control mechanism for budget monitoring, preparing annual and monthly expenditure plans for submission to UN Women SRO;
• Maintain accurate financial records of the programme in line with UNDP/UN Women rules and regulations;
• Monitoring the budget utilization/implementation in lieu with the Annual Work Plan;
• Preparing and submitting financial requests to the UN Women SRO with complete package of supporting documents in line with UNDP/UN Women rules and regulations;
• Assisting in administering operation of the office in accordance to the UNDP/UN Women rules and regulations;
• Ensure the maintenance of a filing system, reports or other documentation related  to the administrative matters of the programmes are properly collected and kept safely for audit in hard and electronic formats;
• Assisting in managing human resources of the programmes as per UNDP/UN Women rules and regulations;
• Proper control of the supporting documents for payments, review of projects’ narrative and financial reports;
• Follow up on deadlines, commitments made, actions taken and coordination of collection and submission of the reports.

3. Ensures facilitation of knowledge building and sharing focusing   on achievement of the following results:

• synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices under the programme;
• sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
• assist in maintenance of a calendar of the most relevant regional/national fora related to country programme/projects/activities, and assist to facilitate access to that information by partners and relevant UN Women staff.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN Women
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Technical/Functional:

• Substantive knowledge and understanding specifically on gender equality issues as well as more broadly, human rights and development cooperation 
• Demonstrated ability to work with governmental bodies as well as civil society organizations on the advancement of women and equal rights issues
• Experience in writing project documents, fundraising proposals and project reports
• Experience in results-based and rights-based programme management, monitoring and evaluation
• Excellent writing skills with demonstrated ability to carry out research, to contribute to the formulation of policies, procedures and guidelines
• Proficient in IT skills
• Familiarity with UN system.

Development and Organisational Effectiveness

• Proven ability to problem-solve and think creatively to develop and implement smart solutions in a challenging socio-economic environment
• Proven ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets and deliver on them for development results.

Behavioural

• Excellent interpersonal communication skills, initiative and dynamism
• Ability to work in an international and multicultural environment
• Maturity, ability to take decisions under pressure and ability to deal with matters that are politically or culturally sensitive
• Ability to work as a member of a team 
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• University degree in development related field.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of relevant experience for programming geared to development issues as well as financial experience at the national and international levels;
• A proven track record in managing and monitoring results-based and rights-based national programmes/projects is required, including in-depth knowledge of and proficiency in results-based management approaches.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Russian.

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 online applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/P_11_form_UNwomen.doc).

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.