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.

Aligned with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Women’s Second Chance Education and Vocational Learning (SCE) Programme is a solution for those who have missed out on education. It aims to break current trends and provide a comprehensive solution for marginalized women and young women who are at risk of being left behind.

The project initiated in July 2018 aims to develop context specific, affordable and scalable learning, entrepreneurship and employment pathways for empowering the world’s most disadvantaged women and young women. It offers women and young women, their families, local communities and societies the benefits of access to educational services which are tailored not only to their needs as learners, but also to their future as earners. The SCE Programme achieves this by leveraging the opportunities of innovative teaching approaches, digital technologies and social networks. 

The Programme will contribute to the following outcomes: i) More marginalized women and young women  access and benefit from high quality educational content, material and learning pathways; ii) More marginalized women and young women benefit from increased employment, livelihood and entrepreneurial opportunities; iii) Fewer marginalized women and young women are disadvantaged and denied education opportunities due to harmful and discriminatory social norms; iv) More marginalized women and young women have improved access to education and employment pathways through enhanced multi-sectoral policy and financing frameworks that enable scaling of successful SCE solutions.

Given the successful implementation of the pilot phase, the programme is now expected to be scaled up for a period of one and a half years. The scale up phase will focus on implementing successful models of the pilot phase. The scale up phase will also bring in various co-financing models to ensure sustainability of the programme beyond the scale up phase. Additionally, scale up will focus on the work initiated in the pilot phase on interventions focused on contributing to the economic empowerment of women such as the Women Empower Asia (WEA) Programme, leveraging the Women Empowerment Principles (WEP) Tool for increasing commitment of public and private companies to gender equality and women´s empowerment and strengthening their capacities to implement these commitments, at the national and regional level.

Reporting to the Deputy Country Representative, India CO and the Programme Manager based in Geneva the Country Programme Manager in India CO is responsible for the leadership, substantive coordination and overall management of SCE Programme results in country, working together with local partners and Global Technical Support unit based in Geneva.

The Country Programme Manager will be responsible for day-to-day management, implementation and effectiveness of the programme. In particular, he/she is responsible for the monitoring and review of the programme portfolio, workplans and budget, for preparing reports as required by donor and UN Women management, and to mobilize resources as needed.

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead the programme development and planning services related to programme scale up phase:

• Lead the provision of technical and operational support throughout all stages of scale up programming processes globally and to country programmes;
• Ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programme with other economic empowerment programmes, such as WEA.
• Lead the preparation, design, implementation and of situation analysis;
• Set priorities, strategies, design and implementation plans;
• Develop the strategic direction of the scale up phase;
• Formulate, design and prepare proposals;
• Establish specific goals, objectives and strategies and implementation plans for the sector/s using results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM).

Manage the implementation of the Programme in India CO:

• Develop and oversee the implementation of annual workplans plans (AWP), provide overall advice, guidance and supervision of programme activities, and provide technical support throughout the programme cycle;
• Review and appraise detailed AWPs for each country programme, ensuring alignment with results-based management approach;
• Manage and monitor financial resources for country programmes in line with the internal control framework and/or UN Women/UN rules and regulations;
• Implement communication and visibility plan;
• Update the overall programme framework on the basis of reviews, lessons learned and best practices derived from evaluations;   
• Organize project review and/or evaluation meetings as needed.

Manage the monitoring and reporting of the Programme in India CO:

• Oversee the implementation the monitoring and evaluation framework for the programme, with specific and measurable indicators as well as evaluation missions;
• Conduct mid-term evaluation and periodic reviews to ensure intended results are achieved;
• Develop and implement Monitoring and Reporting Framework; 
• Provide timely reporting to the Global Programme Managers;
• Manage the preparation of aggregate delivery reports;
• Finalize donor reports, final Programme Narrative and Financial Reports, including lessons-learned.

Provide technical guidance and support to India CO:

• Provide policy and practice advice to the India CO and facilitate knowledge building and management;
• Conduct analysis and research of the situation in the regions, in collaboration with the programme team and prepare substantive inputs to support country offices to input into briefing notes and other policy documents;
• Analyze and identify interagency and intergovernmental processes relevant to the programme for visibility and advocacy purposes;
• Coordinate and collaborate with other service providers and external partners to support implementation of the full complement of the Platform.

Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies:

• Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;  
• Finalize relevant documentation on donors and potential opportunities for resource mobilization;
• Analyze and research information on donors, prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost sharing;
• Participate in the ongoing coordination mechanisms to ensure coherence of the programme with other country-level processes.

Establish and support partnerships within and beyond the UN system:

• In the context of UN Women’s lead role in Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and as it relates to expanding resilience based approach, provide inputs to the development of strategic partnerships and alliances with other UN organizations, multilateral organizations, regional organizations, academic and technical organizations; contribute to the negotiations in establishing such partnerships, drafting of agreements and monitoring their implementation;
• Identify and develop resource mobilization opportunities in support of the programme
• Maintain ongoing communications with the donor on the implementation of the programme and provide regular updates.

Manage the team:

• Monitor, analyze and maintain an overview of the progress of programme implementation to ensure that timely technical, managerial and administrative support is provided to all the country offices;
• Supervise programme staff; mentor and coach staff and complete performance assessments;
• Manage the performance of staff and ensure compliance to the performance management process;
• Provide oversight on the contracting of project services to implementing partners, ensuring compliance with UN Women policy and procedures;
• Submit mandated reports;
• Manage programme finances review financial reports in accordance with UN Women procedures and submit the reports to UN Women HQ and donors in a timely manner;
• Monitor and make necessary arrangement for the timely flow of project funds to the country offices;
• Oversee the release of funds to counterparts, liquidation of funds and other processes.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Programme is implemented on time, on budget, on scope.
• Timely and accurate monitoring and reporting of programme.
• Programme is well coordinated.
• Timely communication on programme to stakeholders as per agreement and annual workplan.
• Performance of Staff.
• Relationship with partners, donors, and other stakeholders.
• Additional resources are mobilized.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Functional Competencies:

• Strong knowledge of women’s rights and gender equality issues;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Excellent Knowledge of strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects, mobilize resources;
• Ability to produce concise and easy to understand text on complex issues;
• Demonstrated ability to interact with high-level decision-makers and to develop productive partnerships;
• Excellent networking skills;
• Successful track record in promoting women’s human rights and gender equality in professional capacity;
• Familiarity with the United Nations System and UN Women;
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
• Ability to manage a team.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's Degree in Social Sciences, Education, Gender Studies, Political Sciences, Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics or related field.

Experience:

• Minimum 10 years of relevant experience at the national level in providing management advisory services and programme management in the areas of education, livelihoods, women’s economic empowerment;
• Experience with UN processes, including those related to women’s empowerment and gender equality;
• Solid experience in programme design, coordination and implementation throughout the programme cycle;
• Experience managing a team;
• Experience in country support.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English, including strong English writing skills, is required.
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Interested applicants should apply to this vacancy announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org

Application Information:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs
• 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;
• UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

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.