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.

Summary of Country Profile

UN Women in Colombia supports the fulfillment of international commitments to protect women's human rights, mainly the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Security Council resolutions on Women, Peace, and Security.  In line with national priorities, UN Women works to achieve gender equality in all aspects of life, focusing on strengthening women's leadership and political and economic empowerment, and the right of women to live a life free of violence.

UN Women provides technical assistance aligned with its triple mandate: 1) to government entities in the formulation of public policies, standards, and international norms (normative mandate); 2) to the efforts of the Colombian State to accelerate the closing of gender gaps, the empowerment of women and girls, the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda and the right of women and girls to live a life free of violence (programmatic mandate) and, 3) within the United Nations System to support coordination with other agencies, funds, and programs to implement concrete actions for gender equality (coordination mandate).

Reporting to the Country Representative in Colombia, the Deputy Country Representative is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Country Office (CO). The incumbent 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.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.     Manage the programme, territorial/field-based and operations team

  • Manage the day-to-day work of the programme, territorial/field-based and operations teams, including finalizing the team’s annual workplan;
  • 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;
  • Ensure monthly closure and compliance with corporate operational indicators
  • 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, including implementation of the territorial strategy;
  • Provide specialized technical and strategic support in managing all aspects of the programme design and related activities and for ensuring compliance, timeliness and accountability in programme monitoring, reporting and utilization focused evaluation;
  • Develop 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 programming

  • 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/Humanitarian Coordinator and UN system on interagency coherence, collaboration, cooperation, resource mobilization, advocacy, common services, and operations;
  • Ensure UN Women’s participation in UN system thematic and other working groups including those within the humanitarian architecture to advance UN Women’s mandate.

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

  • Provide substantive research and inputs in the formulation and implementation of the country resource mobilization strategy;
  • Establish and maintain relations with government, UN Agencies, partners, stakeholders and donors to achieve active collaboration, cooperation and alliances on programme development and implementation and resource mobilization.

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 by the UN Women Country Representative;
  • Develop 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, including field-based team

  • 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

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

  • 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, public administration, public policy or other relevant social science 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 in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment at the national or international level, preferably in developing countries within the UN system, Agencies, Funds or Programmes;
  • Field based experience working with multi-cultural teams;
  • Experience in leading a team.

Language Requirements:

  • Fluency in Spanish and English is required.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. 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.

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.

Diversity and inclusion:

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.