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 opened its Country Office in Ukraine in 2015 with an ambitious program to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment through its main office in Kyiv, and three sub-offices. Working in close cooperation with governmental and civil society partners, UN Women amongst various tasks, produced evidence and gender analysis, and provided substantive support to mainstream gender in the national and regional strategies, policies, programs, plans and budgets, supporting institutional capacities for gender equality and working in close cooperation with governmental institutions and women-led civil society organizations. Key program areas included preventing and combating gender-based violence, advancing the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda, and supporting women’s leadership and participation in decision-making.

Since the Russian Federation’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, UN Women has shifted its activities to meet the new needs and context. Rapid gender analyses demonstrate that the war is having a disproportionate effect on internally displaced persons and marginalized communities—specifically, women, girls, people with disabilities, as well as the LGBTQIA+ and Roma communities. Women’s rights, needs and participation need to be fully incorporated in the humanitarian response. Women led organizations are filling critical gaps to support the most vulnerable and have crucial inputs to share with decision makers working along the humanitarian-development spectrum.

Aligning with the UN and national priorities, UN Women has designed its future operations in Ukraine to focus on amplifying the local women-led gender-responsive humanitarian response and ensuring the experiences of displaced, at risk and vulnerable women and girls are centralized in the recovery process. UN Women will continue to leverage its long-term partnerships with governmental institutions and CSOs and its value added in policy and programming on issues related to women, peace and security (WPS), the elimination of violence against women, women’s leadership and gender responsive governance and women’s economic empowerment. UN Women will also continue to contribute to the UN Country Team (UNCT)/Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) to support coordinated gender responsive crisis and recovery. With its focus on localization and supporting community-based women-led organizations, UN Women will maintain and further develop its sub-offices in Lviv and Dnipro in addition to its presence in Kyiv.  

Reporting to the Country Representative in Ukraine, the Deputy Country Representative is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Country Office. S/he is responsible for substantially contributing to the design, implementation, management, and oversight of the country Programme and to the operations supporting its implementation to ensure effective and efficient delivery of results as planned in UN Women’s Strategic Plan and the CO plans. S/he will play an important role in UN coordination on gender, particularly in humanitarian action, and may represent UN Women in relevant coordination mechanisms, including those led by the government of Ukraine.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Manage the programme and operations teams

• Manage the day-to-day work of the programme and operations teams, including the development of UN Women’s sub offices;
• Manage the process of programme conceptualization, planning, implementing and monitoring; and the management of material and financial resources;
• Lead the process of preparing programme implementation progress reports and identifying areas for UN Women Country Representative’s action and/or decision;
• Technically support the development of the Office security strategy and plan, as required.

 2. Provide advisory and specialized technical support on the strategic direction of the office

• Advise and guide the Country Representative on strategic areas;
• Provide specialized technical and strategic support in managing the programme design and related activities and for ensuring compliance and accountability in programme monitoring, reporting and evaluation;
• Oversee development of policy documents, briefs and other strategic papers/materials for use in the development and presentation of innovative and coherent policy and programmatic positions;
• Serve as a senior member of the management team.

 3. Represent UN Women in UN system coordination, with a focus on humanitarian programming and operations

• As delegated by the UN Women Country Representative, represent UN Women in the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and/or the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) to collaborate with the Resident Coordinator and UN system on interagency coherence, collaboration, cooperation, resource mobilization, advocacy, common services, and operations.
• On behalf of UN Women lead work of the Gender Theme Group (GTG), the Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) sub group and/ or similar UN mechanisms aimed at mainstreaming gender perspectives in UN humanitarian operations, including in the work of the humanitarian clusters
• Ensure UN Women’s participation in UN system thematic and other working groups

4.  Provide technical support in creation of strategic partnerships and resource mobilization strategies

• Provide inputs in the formulation and implementation of the country resource mobilization strategy, program documents and reporting;
• Establish and maintain relations with government, partners, stakeholders and donors to achieve active collaboration, cooperation and alliances on programme development and implementation and resource mobilization.
• Take active part in government-established and multi-stakeholder mechanisms to advance gender equality in the country

 5. Represent UN Women and support advocacy strategies

• Represent and advocate for UN Women in organizational, regional, global, public information/ relations events and key meetings, as delegated;
• Support development and implement advocacy and public communication strategies.

 6. Facilitate knowledge management, innovation and capacity building

• Manage the process of collecting and sharing lessons learned on gender equality and women’s empowerment to build knowledge and capacity of partners and stakeholders;
• Oversee the design and implementation of capacity building training activities to enhance skills and knowledge.

 7. Manage personnel under supervision

• Manage the performance of personnel under supervision; provide managerial direction, guidance and leadership to staff and provide performance feedback and coaching to personnel supervision, ensure performance assessment are implemented on time and ensure personnel are fully aware of UN Women workplace relations policies;
• Create an enabling work environment;
• Identify learning and development opportunities

 Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality provision of strategic support and advise to the Country Representative
• Timely and quality delivery of the programme teams
• Regular interaction and establishment of joint activities and programmes with other agencies and partners
• Quality of inputs provided in formulation and implementation of the country resource mobilization strategy
• Quality and number of knowledge management and advocacy initiatives undertaken
• Quality mentoring, training, coaching which affects performance of personnel, inclusive workplace environment
• UN Women is seen as a reliable and trustworthy partner, providing substantial inputs to progress UN women’s mandate

Competencies

Core values

• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Respect for Diversity

 Core Competencies

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

 Functional Competencies

• Excellent programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them
• Ability to provide policy advice and support to partners
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong leadership skills, ability to create and enabling work environment
• Strong analytical skills
• Excellent knowledge of Results Based Management
• Strong knowledge of the UN system
• Strong knowledge of local country context
• Strong negotiation skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree in international development, humanitarian assistance, public policy or other relevant fields is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A project/programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience that combines strategic and managerial leadership in development programmes with a strong focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Experience in humanitarian work at country level, preferably within the UN system, Agencies, Funds or Programmes is  required;Field experience working in countries experiencing humanitarian crisis, conflict and/ or post-conflict countries is required.
• Experience in leading large multi-cultural teams is required.

 Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset;
• Knowledge of Ukrainian or another language of the region is an asset.

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, color, 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.)