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 is implementing the second phase of a programme called ‘Transformative approaches to recognize, reduce, and redistribute unpaid care work’ (the “3R Programme in Rwanda and Senegal”), implemented in Rwanda and Senegal with global components. The overarching goal of the programme is to remove the structural barriers to women’s full and equal participation in the economy by recognizing, reducing, and redistributing unpaid care work.

The “3R Programme in Rwanda and Senegal” complements existing UN Women programming and policy advocacy on women’s economic empowerment and macroeconomics at the global, regional, and country level. It builds on UN Women’s expertise on the care economy including strong partnerships with governments, women’s rights organizations and cooperatives, traditional and community leaders, and the private sector.

Reporting to the Senior Policy Advisor on Gender and Macroeconomics, the Policy and Knowledge Management Specialist provides care economy analysis and research on priority areas and is responsible for ensuring knowledge creation and exchange and evidence uptake from the “3R Programme in Rwanda and Senegal.”

The Policy and Knowledge Management Specialist will work in close collaboration with the Economic Empowerment Section and other HQ programme, policy, and research teams, as well as the manager of the “3R Programme in Rwanda and Senegal”, Country and Regional Offices, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society.

Duties and Responsibilities

Oversee Knowledge building and sharing for the “3R Programme in Rwanda and Senegal”:

• Develop and oversee a knowledge management and evidence uptake strategy for the “3R Programme in Rwanda and Senegal” to support the effective exchange of best practices, learning and approaches and the translation of research and evidence into policy and practice impact;
• Define and implement a knowledge management approach/strategy for the 3Rs Programme aimed at enhancing knowledge sharing and delivering of planned results;
• Manage process for global publication on Gender, Care, and financing for gender equality as some of the key outputs of the 3Rs Programme;
• Liaise with feminist economists and experts to develop substantive inputs and provide quality assurance for publication;
• Support Global Expert Group Meeting by drafting concept notes and relevant inputs to the conference;
• Support development of tools (including score card) to track adoption and implementation of care policies, practices and tools at country level;
• Prepare written products for various programmatic and policy advocacy purposes i.e., policy briefs, case studies, blogs, briefings to leadership, short topical papers etc.;
• Identify opportunities for research dissemination and evidence uptake with country, regional and global teams and partners (e.g., at key global and regional forums);
• Coordinate a Community of Practice on Care, Decent Work and Macroeconomic Policies to promote internal learning and knowledge exchange on the care economy across country, regional and global teams.

Manage coordination, communication and advocacy efforts:

• Coordinate policy inputs from the 3Rs programme country offices;
• Collaborate with other UN Women country/regional offices, to strengthen existing synergies in macroeconomic and care economy, and build new ones;
• Provide coordination support to the organization of global and regional consultations and thematic meetings, major advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products (when required);
• Promote and communicate on new corporate knowledge sharing mechanisms, and actively manages the existing community of practice;
• Collaborate with the UN Women Communication Team to enhance, update, and assist in the external dissemination of the joint programme results/events;
• Build relations with external professionals and institutions, including donors, UN system agencies and civil society organizations, in the substantive areas of the joint programme in support of knowledge sharing and networking;
• Support the Senior Policy Advisor on Gender and Macroeconomics in communications and advocacy efforts.

Provide technical and programme support and manage capacity development/building:

• Identify training/capacity development needs and support partners/country offices through technical assistance, mentoring, training and skills sharing initiatives in collaboration with the Senior Policy Advisor on Gender and Macroeconomics and Manager of the “3R Programme in Rwanda and Senegal”;
• Provide support to the organization of global and regional consultations and thematic meetings, major advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, and workshops;
• Provide technical support to the “3R Programme in Rwanda and Senegal” and other country offices on the implementation of policy tools and trainings on care and macroeconomics;
• Provide advice, technical assistance and backstopping to the Senior Policy Advisor on Gender and Macroeconomics for the improvement of the joint programme knowledge products and management;
• Proactively engage in the organization and delivery of substantive trainings/learning sessions for the implementing countries;
• Provide temporary support and backstopping to the Senior Policy Advisor on Gender and Macroeconomics and the Programme Manager on other relevant programmatic tasks key to the joint programme implementation.

Conduct policy research and analysis:

• Conduct research and analysis on care economy priority areas at global and regional/country level;
• Provide substantive inputs to the development of publications related to the care economy;
• Source and carry out research on articles, books, case studies etc. to produce useful data and material to assist in producing papers, speeches, and related policy products;
• Provide technical support the Senior Policy Advisor on Gender and Macroeconomics and the “3R Programme in Rwanda and Senegal” to roll-out existing policy tools on the care economy and macroeconomics at country and regional level;
• Establish and nurture relationship with academia, research institutes, civil society, and experts to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on latest findings and incorporate cutting-edge thinking on the care economy in UN Women work;
• Keep up to date on latest developments in all relevant thematic areas and maintain a ‘watching brief’ of the current debates related to feminist economics, macroeconomics, and the care economy.

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely delivery of knowledge management strategy and implementation, including guidance to country and regional offices;
• Quality and timely technical contributions to thematic, regional, and country programmes as requested and as per workplan;
• Quality development of knowledge products and inputs to written publications;
• Quality and timely reporting;
• Timely and quality dissemination and uptake of best practices, learning and evidence;
• Strong relations with partners and stakeholders.

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:

• Proven substantive expertise in gender and the care economy
• Ability to undertake policy research and prepare policy publications
• Excellent writing and presentational skills
• Ability to draft knowledge management and dissemination strategies and plans
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively to different audiences
• Ability to draft policy papers, speeches, briefings etc.
• Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities
• Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints
• Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships with country offices, partners and donors

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, International economics, International Development, Sociology, gender/women's studies, or a related field 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. 

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience in women’s economic empowerment policy advocacy at the international level, with specific thematic knowledge and experience in the care economy.
• Experience in providing technical advisory support to country and regional offices on women’s economic empowerment on the care economy.
• Experience in actively managing a community of practice on the relevant policy area.
• Experience in identifying, analysing and disseminating policy lessons and good practices and writing reports/publications to influence policy and practice.
• Experience in collaborating with different countries, departments, and donors/partners.
• Work experience in the UN system and working knowledge of the principal UN initiatives on women’s economic empowerment and the care economy.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of another UN official working language is an asset.

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.)