UN WOMEN Jobs - 11323- Country Programme Manager

Country Programme Manager

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Abuja, NIGERIA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

01-Sep-2009

Application Deadline :

31-Jul-09 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4 (Fixed Term Appointment)

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 Year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

1 Year (renewable)

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNIFEM is the women's fund at the United Nations with the objective of providing financial and technical assistance to innovative programs and strategies that promote women's human rights, political participation and economic security. Within the UN system, UNIFEM promotes gender equality and links women's issues and concerns to national, regional and global agendas by fostering collaboration and providing technical expertise on gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment strategies.

UNIFEM established its presence in the Sierra Leone in 2001. The main focus of its interventions has been a substantive support and partnership with all key stakeholders to promote gender equality through addressing feminized poverty and exclusion, violence against women, economic empowerment for the marginalized women, gender equality in democratic governance as well as in HIV/AIDS responses.

UNIFEM will capitalize on its position and successful experience to strengthen the partnerships with key national stakeholders and donors to ensure the realization of women rights in Nigeria.

The goal of UNIFEM presence in Nigeria (2008-2011) is to ensure that gender equality and women's empowerment are achieved and women's human rights and human development are achieved. As such, the following areas have been identified as strategic areas for UNIFEM's supports:

Violence against women (VAW)
HIV/AIDS
Women Economic Empowerment
Conflict Management and Peace-building
Women in decision-making

In order to strengthen its Office in Nigeria, UNIFEM seeks to recruit a program manager with proven expertise in program development, project management; human and financial management, partnership building and resource mobilization to oversee UNIFEM work in Nigeria.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Regional Program Director (RPD) the Program Manager will work in close collaboration with the National team in ensuring the effective execution of UNIFEM's mandate and responsibility for the advancement of the Human rights of women in Nigeria. As such the Program Manager will be responsible for the following:-

Strategic Policy coordination , Partnerships and Representation

He/she will monitor trends and issues affecting women in Nigeria and develop strategic responses to opportunities and challenges including The formulation and implementation of plan, strategies and activities in line with UNIFEM strategic plan 2008-2011;
He/She will enhance UNIFEM's participation in inter-agency and inter-governmental process. As such he/she will participate in heads of agency meetings as well as in consultation meetings with donors to ensure that the principles of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment are integrated in the UN and donors' programs in Nigeria and resourced;
He/She will ensure a better coordination and collaboration of UN country Team on Gender Equality;
He/She will support synergies between actors working on same issues at national levels building on each one's comparative advantage;
He/She will position UNIFEM as the leader agency on Gender equality in Nigeria;
He/she will provide leadership and quality oversight over the efforts to strengthen Government's institutions, especially the Ministry of women to implement national development strategies;
He/she will also work in developing strong partnerships with a wide range of constituencies, including NGOs and the Women Movement.

Donor relation and Communications

To strengthen donors' confidence in UNIFEM in Nigeria, the Program Manager will lead UNIFEM's efforts to ensure ongoing and substantive communication with current and potential donors.
He/She will be working in close partnership with donors agencies based in Nigeria to ensure synergy or efforts in line with the Paris declaration Principles

Programme Management

He/she will provide close guidance and direction to ensure strategic focus, result orientation and effectiveness and efficiency in all aspects of UNIFEM's operations and programs.
He/she will monitor ongoing projects both substantively and financially to ensure efficient and timely delivery and realization of results;
Provide guidance and advice to the RPD on UNIFEM priorities in Nigeria;
Work closely with government and national partners to ensure ownership and delivery of programs;
Manage , coordinate and provide guidance for reporting to ensure efficient implementation and compliance with UNIFEM and donor requirements;
Develop effective and innovative strategies for resource mobilization , network with other UN agencies, donors and international organizations working in and outside Nigeria;
He/ she will support the documentation of UNIFEM's experience in Nigeria to inform the organization learning challenges.

Financial and Human Resources Management

He/She will work closely with the National team in the management of the office operations including financial and Human resources management;
He/she will ensure effective management of programme resources using appropriate financial information system and procedures to track project budgets and expenditures;
He/she will be responsible for oversights of financial resources management and administrative processes in line with UNDP/UNIFEM;
Any other duties that support and strengthen UNIFEM's role in Nigeria as assigned by the Regional Program Director.

Competencies

Strong planning, goal setting and prioritization skills;
Experience in results based management and in delivering required outputs in accordance with time and budget;
Ability to lead and inspire staff and partners toward shared goals;
Good inter-personal and diplomacy skills;
Capacity to write clearly and concisely;
Ability to make decisions under pressure and to deal with matters that are politically and culturally sensitive;
Ability to work in a multi-cultural context and build partnerships to ensure achievement of results in a post conflict environment;
Proven analytical and problem solving skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Background:

Advanced university degree in social sciences, political or international affairs with emphasis on gender related issues.

Technical Expertise:

Gender analysis and mainstreaming in programming and implementation, knowledge of legal and policy framework on women's right/roles and analytical skills particularly in post conflict environment and peace building. Knowledge of Nigeria country reality including challenges to gender equality and women empowerment that country.

Work experience:

At least seven years work experience in any of the following fields: Human rights, humanitarian issues, rehabilitation, gender and development, Economic security, strategic planning with a specific focus on gender, working in countries in post-conflict contexts;
Experience of having managed an organization in the relevant field an advantage;
Experience working with UN joint programming frameworks and result-based management systems is a particular advantage;
Experience with international organizations, the UN system and civil society are particularly desirable.

Language:

Fluency in English. Knowledge of French is an added advantage