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.

UN Women MCO-Caribbean (MCO) covers 22 English and Dutch speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean. The MCO is based in Barbados and has personnel across 5 Caribbean countries as there remains high and consistent demand for the exercise of UN Women’s integrated mandate across the 22 countries and territories.

The MCO Caribbean has entered into a new Strategic Note and has expanded its organizational structure to meet the need of the new work programme. In addition, the MCO team has doubled in one year and is continuing to grow.

The MCO hosted a retreat in Q2 2022. The retreat aimed to meet the following 4 objectives:

• Get to know each other better.
• Gain insight and take actions on key elements for the Caribbean MCO to consistently have a high performing, healthy and inclusive team culture that delivers transformational results.
• Enhance our listening and communication skills to foster team cohesion, performance and inclusion.
• Develop and practice public speaking skills for communicating with internal and external audiences.

In pre-retreat survey staff and personnel identified External Communication skills as a key area which they would like to have strengthened. While the retreat was deemed successful feedback highlighted that communications support specifically regarding presentation skills was still needed.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective of Assignment

To provide coaching to strengthen MCO staff presentation skills and public speaking.

Scope of Work and Deliverables

The Consultant will be responsible for producing the following deliverables:

• 4 training sessions for all personnel on presentation skills and public speaking (2hr sessions).
• 2 in person sessions for all personnel on presentation skills and public speaking at MCO Retreat.
• Summary Report (no more than 10 pages)

Reporting Requirements

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the UN Women MCO-Caribbean Representative, with direct reporting to the Admin/Operations Associate (HR Focal Point).

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.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf.

Functional Competencies:

• Strong coaching skills.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills including the conveying complex concepts and recommendations, in a clear and persuasive style tailored to match different audiences.
• Ability to interact independently as part of a team.
• Ability to multi-task and operate effectively in stressful situations.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A Bachelor’s degree with post-graduate qualifications in any of the following areas: Communications, Business Administration, or a related field.

      OR

• Professional training and certification in related areas, preferably related to Communications with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in a related business.

      OR

• 15 years demonstrable experiences in teaching/coaching.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of experience in communications training.
• Prior experience in the UN System and the Region will be an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in oral and written English is required.

Location and Duration:

• The consultancy will be home based, with travel to the MCO retreat.  The MCO will organize and cover all costs related to travel to the MCO retreat.
• The consultant will be engaged for a maximum of 40 working days during the period 20 February – 30 December 2023.

Remuneration:

• The consultancy fee will be negotiated before contracting. Each payment will be based on a predefined and formal agreement between UN Women and the consultant and will be disbursed based on satisfactory completion of agreed deliverables.

• The remuneration for this contract type is an all-inclusive fee, the organization will not be liable for additional cost or benefits.  Hence, it is the responsibility of the consultant to take out adequate medical insurance for the duration of the contract and it is recommendable that the policy includes coverage for COVID-19 related illness.   The medical coverage should be international when the contract requires missions or international assignment.
• If selected for this vacant post, proof of medical coverage should be presented within the first two months of the contract.

Hardware, Software and Communication:

• The consultant must be equipped with a fully functional laptop, which must comfortably run Office 365 programs, using operating systems Microsoft Windows 10/11, or Mac OS X 10.11 or upward. The consultant must be reasonably accessible by email and telephone (preferably mobile).  The use of reliable, internet-based communications platform (Skype or equivalent) is required.

References:

• Minimum of three client references that include the name of the contact person, title and contact information.

Documents to be submitted:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; 
• Applications received without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
• Please group all documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows one document to be uploaded. 

Other:  

Submissions to UNDP Jobs are limited to a maximum of 10 MB, virus-free or corrupted contents to avoid rejection, and no more than 1 email transmission.   All applications must be submitted through UNDP jobs.  Please do not send applications to UN Women staff as they will not be accepted.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

 If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.