UN WOMEN Jobs - 59666- Liaison Specialist

Liaison Specialist

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA

Type of Contract :

FTA Local

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

15-Sep-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

NO-C

Duration of Initial Contract :

One 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

The UN Women office in Ethiopia plays a dual role, representation to the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and representation to Ethiopia. In this regard, under its regional function, the Ethiopia country office engages with the AU and its various organs, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), regional (Africa wide) women’s rights networks, as well as the diplomatic community and in particular, delegations to the African Union. Through the office UN Women is able to provide technical support to member states and the AU in the adoption, implementation and monitoring of commitments on gender equality at the regional level, and in accordance with its mandate.

Furthermore, the ECO will represent UN Women in the UN Liaison Team and facilitate participation of UN Women Regional Directors for East and Southern Africa (ESAR), West and Central Africa (WCAR) and North Africa or participate in the Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) to advance UN Women’s agenda in these processes.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

Technical coordination and leadership of the regional program.
Policy advocacy, research and analysis.
Knowledge management and networking.
Financial and Human Resources Management.

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Technical coordination and leadership of the regional programme:

Serve as the expert for UN Women’s regional liaison Programme, providing technical advisory services and substantive leadership on policy and programme development regional gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) issues, based on knowledge of good practices and evidence-based approaches, to a range of partners, including the AU, non-governmental and UN partners;
Provide strategic and substantive leadership in the conceptualization, development and oversight of implementation of the regional liaison portfolio of UN Women ECO in alignment with the UN Women corporate and thematic strategies;
Represent UN Women in meetings and conferences on regional GEWE issues;
Participate and provide technical inputs and coordination support to UN’s Regional Coordination Mechanism Clusters and UN Liaison Team;
Convene and provide substantive leadership for technical and programme-related meetings on the regional GEWE issues;
Prepare technical background documents and briefs within the context of UN Women's work at the regional level;
Monitor trends and issues related to the implementation of regional policy commitments on GEWE and develop strategic responses to opportunities and challenges;
Negotiate joint regional policy advocacy and knowledge management initiatives with multi-lateral, bilateral, regional organizations working on GEWE initiatives.

2. Policy advocacy, Knowledge management and analysis:

Coordinate high level regional policy advocacy initiatives and dialogues;
Provide technical backstopping to key regional partners in the coordination of policy dialogues with AU member states and prepare reports/notes for the file on such meetings;
Track and engage in relevant policy debates to ensure the development and adoption of gender responsive regional, policies, programs and initiatives;
Managing knowledge on policy debates, conduct background research, and analyze policy changes for their impact on gender equality;
Commission and carry out research, policy briefs, concept notes, background papers, news stories and support their publication;
Provide a liaison support between UN Women and UN Women offices.

3. Partnership, networking, donor relations and resource mobilization:

Determine policy and programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, AUC priorities and donors’ priorities;
Implement CO partnership and resource mobilization strategies to achieve UN Women’s regional liaison programmatic outcomes;
Contribute to development and strengthening of networks and broad-based partnerships at regional level to ensure collective knowledge of gender equality, advocacy and lobby for GEWE and documentation on good practice;
Explore, identify and follow up on resource mobilization opportunities for regional initiatives and establish broad-based partnerships;
Sustain donor confidence in UN Women capacity to deliver quality service by supporting the implementation of set procedures for donor reporting, and the provision of timely, regular and quality donor briefs and reports as may be required.

4. Financial and Human Resources Management:

Manage the regional liaison programme resources and administration to ensure proper utilization of allocated funds and accountability;
Provide clear direction, manage and monitor performance of the teams working on the liaison programme based on specific benchmarks.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN Women’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

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

Promotes knowledge management in UN Women and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills

Development and Operational Effectiveness

Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting
Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects, mobilize resources
Ability to formulate and manage budgets, manage contributions and investments, manage transactions, conduct financial analysis, reporting and cost-recovery
Good knowledge of the Results Management Guide and Toolkit
Good ICT skills, knowledge of Atlas
Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioral/ attitudinal change

Management and Leadership

Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
Leads teams effectively and shows mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree or equivalent in Gender studies, Law, social Science or development-related area of study.

Experience:

5 years of progressively responsible experience in program implementation and advocacy with gender-related development programmes at national, regional and international levels;
Experience with managing, supporting and overseeing development policy-making, programme and operations management, resource mobilization and partnership creation.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in Amharic and English.