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.

In support of the organization’s objectives, the Policy, Programme, and Intergovernmental Division (PPID) Directorate provides global support to UN Women offices at Headquarters and in all field locations to deliver results in support of UN Women's Strategic Plan 2018-2021 and internationally agreed goals on gender equality and women's empowerment, including the Beijing Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Division provides intellectual and strategic leadership on normative support and the delivery of integrated policy and program advice, including through policy analysis and gender mainstreaming. The Division leverages innovation, knowledge management, and cutting-edge technical expertise to support UN Women programmes and to build the capacity of partners to deliver results on gender equality and women's empowerment.

As part of PPID, the Programme Support Management Unit (PSMU) in UN Women Headquarters works to strengthen corporate programme and project management capacities and provide increased support to the field and headquarters in non-core programme and project implementation. In this context PSMU is prioritizing the PPID priority to enhance pivoting to the field through strengthening of Project Quality assurance mechanisms and capacity building for quality assurance of projects corporately.

Duties and Responsibilities

Responsibilities:

The consultant will be responsible for supporting the corporate initiative on strengthening Project quality assurance processes and capacity building. The consultant, under the direct supervision of the Chief, PSMU will be responsible for support to the PSMU’s efforts in enhancing programme and project quality Assurance mechanisms.

The consultant must have excellent communication and organizational skills to manage the substantive inputs and quality control of work related to the assignment and must be able to work with a broad range of stakeholders.

  • Advise Chief-PSMU on additional gaps in the current quality assurance mechanism.
  • Support the Chief-PSMU on strengthening the quality assurance mechanisms Project Appraisal Committees (PACs) including tools and Human Resources capacities building.
  • Support the Chief-PSMU in the work related to the policy and procedure revisions in relation to the Quality Assurance procedures, including for newly introduced quality assurance mechanism.
  • Support the Chief-PSMU on any other duties, related to project quality assurances, capacity building and policy procedure and guidance revisions, support, and oversight, as required.  
  • Support the Chief-PSMU in the establishment of a Community of Practice (COP) on project quality assurance.

Deliverables:

  • Finalize the analysis of the Regional PACs in support of imminent increased delegation of authority in line with the UN women corporate priority strategy to enhance pivot to the field including coordination, communications.
  • Finalize gap assessment in current procedures as it relates to Quality assurance mechanism.
  • Advance the work on the procedures and tools to enhance the quality assurance mechanisms.
  • Support the new works stream on the Operational Oversight Committees for quality assurance.
  • Finalization and launch of the Global Community of Practice on Quality Assurance of Projects - that is, COP for all PACs in the organization.
  • Develop training (capacity building) materials for PACs.
  • Undertake training, capacity building for PACs for each of the 6 Regions - including their countries.

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

Functional Competencies:

  • Programme and Project management and oversight skills, in particular skills in programme project quality assurance in programme designs, and implementation and monitoring and reporting
  • Experience in coordinating key stakeholder from different units/departments; in quality assurance of projects
  • Demonstrates strong ability and work experience in developing training content
  • Demonstrates strong skills in contribution to writing policies, procedures, and guidance
  • Orientation, Presentation, facilitation, and interpersonal skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

  • Master’s degree in business or public administration, project management, social sciences, law, economics, or a related field.
  • PRINCE2, PMP, or MSP certification is an advantage

Experience:

  • 5 years of relevant and progressively responsible experience, including experience in Programme and Project management, Programme and project appraisals and quality assurance at various levels in a corporate entity.
  • Experience in developing training materials, particularly related to project design and quality assurance of projects, and in programme and project implementation.
  • Proven ability in strategic planning, results-based management, and reporting.
  • Excellent knowledge and work experience in programme and project management training and capacity building.
  • Working experience in mapping business processes, analysis, and identification of gaps.
  • Working knowledge of mission-driven organizations and the UN system in programme and project quality assurances processes (experience working with UN Women is considered a strong advantage).

Language:

Fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable.