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.

The UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) addresses gender equality and women’s empowerment challenges in the Asia-Pacific region, including deeply embedded discriminatory social norms and practices that perpetuate inequalities based on gender and other intersectional identities (e.g. ethnicity, class, region, age, disability, migratory status, and sexual orientation and gender identity, among others). The Regional Office works across the following areas: Governance and Inter-governmental support (including on Gender Statistics); Women’s Economic Empowerment (including Migration, Ending Violence Against Women; Women, Peace and Security; Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction and Humanitarian Action. Covering 42 countries within Asia and the Pacific, it exercises its triple mandate and functions i.e. Normative, Coordination and high-quality programming at a regional level and in support of UN Women’s offices and UN Country Teams in 24 countries across the region. The UN Women Asia Pacific Regional Office also oversees and manages programming in programme presences.

Reporting to Deputy Regional Director, the Knowledge Management Specialist contributes to the development and implementation of knowledge management strategy and plan, both for the Regional Office and in support of the Country Offices, production and dissemination of reports and knowledge products. The Knowledge Management Specialist will work in close collaboration with thematic advisors, programme teams in regional office, including Center of Excellence for Gender Equality,  and country offices, and HQ.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Develop and implement knowledge management strategy and plan in the Asia and the Pacific Region

  • Define and implement a knowledge management approach for the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) aimed at enhancing knowledge sharing and delivering of planned results; building on the following: 1) contributing to the development of the corporate strategy and leading the development regional workplan plan including. conducting a needs assessment; 2) mining and distilling "knowledge"; 3) packaging and making knowledge products; and 4) dissemination and management of knowledge products.
  • Promote knowledge capturing and sharing within ROAP, including identification and documentation of good practices, cross-country and cross thematic knowledge sharing through networks and communities of practice;
  • Keep up to date on latest developments in all relevant thematic areas and take advantage of all mechanisms for contextualizing and sharing that knowledge;
  • Promote and support new corporate knowledge sharing mechanisms, including cross regional knowledge sharing initiatives;
  • Initiate and manage internal messaging and support public advocacy on knowledge sharing developments and achievements, by ensuring that content on websites and other communication material is creative and current, in coordination with Communication team, advocacy focal person and thematic leads;
  • Address impediments to sharing information and the flow of knowledge and facilitate demand and supply of knowledge;
  • Provide strategic input into development of corporate policies on knowledge building, sharing and networking, in collaboration with the Knowledge Management Team in Headquarters;
  • Liaise with KM team in HQ and report KM work from the region to feed into the global KM strategy and knowledge sharing/learning.

2.  Develop and implement knowledge management technology and platform.

  • Ensure editorial management and content scheduling of all online/web spaces (internet, intranet, extranet, etc) for ROAP in close coordination with the Communications Team;
  • Contribute to the creation and execution of knowledge platform and services for targeted specific audiences, including UN Women staff, international agencies, non-governmental organizations, institutions, and the private sector;
  • Develop online tools, surveys and other pilot projects, including those oriented toward collaboration and learning;
  • Innovate and engage on new technology (multi-media) opportunities to receive, capture and share knowledge;

3.  Provide capacity building on knowledge management to clients and stakeholders.

  • Provide guidance to the AP Region on how to integrate knowledge management in country level work. Facilitate the cross-regional exchange and learning with Country Offices in the AP Region;
  • Provide advice, technical support and backstopping for the improvement of knowledge management across the AP Region, other agencies and with external partners;
  • Provide knowledge management training to ROAP staff members;
  • Proactively engage with UN Women clients and partners in developing innovative knowledge-based services, build capacity of clients to interact with new knowledge-sharing systems and lead knowledge exchanges;

4. Lead the production of reports, documentation, and other external knowledge products.

  • Support Monitoring and Reporting Unit to contribute to  the preparation of UN Women’s Annual Report, including all aspects of production, drafting inputs, outreach and dissemination.
  • Liaise with External Relations Unit on the development of visual assets, templates, and other resources for ongoing strategic communications for Regional Office;
  • Support other Programme Managers in planning, production, dissemination and evaluation, including coordination of promotion and targeting  of knowledge products, in alignment with the Section’s knowledge management strategy and global KM strategy;
  • Provide inputs to reports and production of knowledge products.
  • Implement quality assurance standards for developing knowledge products, documentation of programme challenges, good practices, lessons learnt, CoP, etc.

5.  Lead the coordination and communication related to knowledge products:

  • Provide coordination support to communications and media outreach for launch and outreach events related to knowledge products;
  • Lead the coordination of visibility, communications and outreach activities in relation to critical events on the annual calendar (CSW, Gender Equality, etc.), events and activities in partnership with key stakeholders and donors, as well as milestones;
  • Contribute to the development and implementation of knowledge management strategy for Country Offices and Regional Office, through a knowledge management board to support CO/RO.
  • Promote and communicate new corporate knowledge sharing mechanisms, and actively manage the existing community of practice.
  • Collaborate with the ROAP Communication Team to enhance, update, and provide supportin the external dissemination of the programme results/events.

Key Performance Indicators:

  • Quality development of publications.
  • Timely and quality coordination and dissemination of lessons and best practices.
  • Quality and timely reporting.
  • Strong relations with partners and stakeholders.
  • Regular and timely monitoring of activities.

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

Functional Competencies

  • Strong written and verbal communication skills in English, with an excellent understanding of structure and form of official UN documentation;
  • Excellent organizational skills and proven ability to deliver projects within assigned deadlines;
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and objectivity;
  • Experience working collaboratively in a team structure in a multicultural environment.
  • In-depth substantive knowledge of Knowledge Management and Development Policy issues, particularly in the area of gender equality and empowerment of women;
  • Solid familiarity with current Knowledge Management technologies, including social media-based systems;
  • Demonstrated capacity to strongly promote knowledge sharing and knowledge products and systems;
  • Ability to provide advocacy, outreach and capacity development on knowledge management;
  • Good knowledge of gender issues and women’s empowerment issues;
  • Ability to communicate clearly and effectively to different audiences.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in Knowledge Management, Management, Communication, International Development, 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 progressive experience in international development work, preferably focused on or strongly involving gender equality at national, regional and international levels;
  • Experience in knowledge management and in leading/managing knowledge product development and dissemination;
  • Experience in collaborating with different countries, departments, and donors/partners.
  • Experience in actively managing communities of practice on different policy areas would be an advantage.
  • Experience in writing, research and analysis.
  • Work Experience with/in the UN system would be an advantage.

Language Requirements:

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

Application:

Inclusion Statement:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits employ, 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).