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 work of UN Women in the Republic of Moldova is guided by its Strategic Note for Moldova 2023-2027 (UN Women SN), aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023-2027 (UNSDCF), the Global Strategic Plan of UN Women for 2022-2025, the Programme on promoting and ensuring gender equality in the Republic of Moldova 2023-2027 (Gender Equality Programme), and aims to contribute to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  

The UN Women SN focuses on three main areas where gender equality gaps are still present: 1) strengthening women’s participation in politics and decision making, 2) advancing the economic empowerment of women and 3) preventing and combating violence against women and girls. To achieve progress under these areas, UN Women works with variety of national and international partners and as part of different national and regional initiatives, contributing to the implementation.

Since the ratification in 1994 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and following the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the Republic of Moldova took concrete measures in building the national institutional mechanism on gender equality, with the aim to reduce the persistent gender inequalities in all  political, economic, social, health and  cultural  public sphere, as well as in private sphere in aspects of care and domestic work.

Guided by its SN, UN Women provides extensive support to relevant national and local stakeholders to ensure promotion of women’s leadership, political participation, and economic empowerment, as well development of gender sensitive policies and strengthen capacity of the civil servants, at central and local level.

In 2021 UN Women expanded the cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MFAEI) by supporting the advancement and institutionalization of gender equality within the ministry. As part of these efforts, UN Women supported the awareness raising and capacity development of women and men diplomats, through their participation in a series of knowledge building sessions on gender equality issues, gender sensitive policy making, gender sensitive language, etc.

In the frame of MFAEI Gender Action Plan and its related commitment to staff capacity development, but as well in line with the Gender Equality Programme (Objective 5 Promoting women, including women from under-represented groups, in leadership and decision-making at central and local level), UN Women is planning to support the MFAEI and other Government authorities, in conducting leadership and executive coaching sessions for mid to senior managers, in order to give managers the building blocks to recognize the traits and styles of effective leaders, sharpen existing leadership skills, negotiation skills, and master new strengths with the focus on bolstering leadership, building on participants’ strengths to overcome weaknesses, improving communication and influencing skills for effective communication at all levels, building a winning team by becoming an effective team leader etc.  

For this purpose, UN Women seeks to hire a professional executive coach (international consultant) with previous experience in coaching, preferably with experience of conducting executive coaching for the diplomatic service.

The proposed activities would support managers in a) managing time, priorities, and work; b) clarifying and applying professional development and career planning c) assessing leadership/negotiation strengths, improvement areas and performance opportunities d) building effective teams etc.  

Duties and Responsibilities

The International Consultant will be responsible for conducting 14 virtual executive leadership coaching sessions for mid to senior level manager from MFAEI (women and men), and 6 sessions to other Government officials (primarily women) - to be identified by UN Women.

The Consultant is expected to use tested models and tools appropriate for the delivery of tailored coaching to senior and middle executives, including in the public/governmental sector and diplomacy - taking into account the strategic context, the expected success factors for the client and how to support the client to translate aspirations and goals into reality.

Expected Deliverables

  1. Up to 2 executive coaching sessions (to be held in sessions of 30 min or 1 h each) conducted for up to 7 managers from MFAEI, from October to mid-December 2023. Total – 14 sessions.
  2. An additional 6 session (to be held in sessions of 30 min or 1 h each) conducted for other mid to senior level Government officials, primarily women, from October to mid-December.
  3. Final report on the support provided.  

Management Arrangements 

Organizational Setting: The international consultant will be working under the supervision of the UN Women Programme Specialist, and in close collaboration with the MFAEI leadership.

Contributions: UN Women and MFAEI will put at the disposal of selected international consultant all available materials and necessary information for tasks achievement and will facilitate the meetings, as needed.   

Travel and other logistic arrangements 

Current assignment does not require travel to Moldova.  

Performance evaluation:

Consultant’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

Financial arrangements:  

Payment will be disbursed in one installment upon submission of timesheets and approval of a report on carried out activities, and certification by the UN Women Programme Specialist and MFAEI that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

 

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

  • Familiar with human rights terminology
  • IT literacy
  • Flexibility

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

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications Education:

  • Advanced University Degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in psychology, sociology, or related fields.

Experience:

  • At least 7 years’ expertise in designing and facilitating Executive Coaching to senior managers.
  • Experience of conducting Executive Coaching for ministries of foreign affairs. affairs/diplomatic services, senior government officials will be an asset.
  • Excellent analytical, facilitation and communications skills and ability to negotiate amongst a wide range of stakeholders (in P11 include any examples in the previous roles where respective skills were applied).
  • Sound knowledge and understanding of international best practices, tools and methodologies on executive coaching (in the previous work experience related to the assignment, listed in P11, to be mentioned tools and methodologies applied)
  • Advanced understanding of gender equality and women’s human rights;

Languages and other skills:

  • Fluent in English; knowledge of Romanian is an asset.
  • Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email

 

APPLICATION PROCESS AND SUBMISSION PACKAGE 

Interested candidates are invited to submit applications with the following documents.