Background
UNDP is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP has a longstanding commitment to mainstreaming gender equality and promoting women’s empowerment in its work. As the UN’s lead development agency, with extensive field presence, UNDP has facilitated the integration of gender equality in the work of Country Offices through core and non-core fund investments and has initiated and implemented numerous innovative initiatives, some of them in partnership with UNWomen, that support both government and civil society work on gender issues.- Provision of policy advisory, programme development and technical support services to UNDP country offices;
- Implementation of regional programmes;
- Building of partnerships and the promotion of regional capacity development initiatives.
The Gender Practice Area of the UNDP Regional Center was set up in 2009 with the aim of promoting technical, political and cultural changes to gender equality in Latin America and the Caribbean. To achieve this goal the Area should strengthen national capacities for gender mainstreaming, support country offices to address these key priorities and support the implementation of the Gender Equality Strategy in the region.
Duties and Responsibilities
The incumbent will be expected to have specific results in the following areas:
- Leadership, Coordination and practice management;
- Implementation of regional projects, oversight and support;
- Provision of top quality policy advocacy and advisory services to the regional and national organizations, country offices and national partners;
- Coordination of the Communication and Knowledge strategy.
Leadership, coordination and practice management
- Establishing and mainstreaming a strategic understanding of, and engagement with the substantive technical issues, institutions and processes within the region, including the regional Community of Practice, establishing contact with COs, and through COs developing strategic partnership with other agencies, donors, NGOs, the private sector, academia and the like;
- Prepare annual work plan to mainstream gender into the RSC overall integrated work plan;
- Identify regional and sub-regional development and integration opportunities and translates them into capacity development initiatives to address cross border issues;
- Coordinate and inform cross-practice collaboration in the RSC and capitalize on the approaches and tools in other practices,
- Support the Gender Team Leader to provide substantive and managerial coordination of the regional gender team and coordination for all personnel engaged in related operational activities in the RSC;
- Support and oversee regional gender programme activities and gender mainstreaming in the regional programme;
- At the UNDP CO´s and UNDLAC request, promote the integration of Gender into the CCA and UNDAF process and in its portafolio;
- Support the Gender Team Leader in establishing new partnerships with national and regional institutions, organizations, networks and agencies, especially UN agencies;
- Contribute to the development and formulation of global and regional policies, norms and standards in UNDP;
Implementation of regional projects, oversight and support
- Provide effective support for the overall day to day management of all aspects of the gender LAC projects portfolio on Democratic Governance, Gender Mainstreaming and for America Latina Genera- Gestión del Conocimiento para la Igualdad de Género and for timely feedback and reporting on implementation of programmes in support of the gender architecture;
- Ensure effective management of the projects through effective application and quality control of RBM tools, Atlas management, monitoring achievement of results, coordination of the mandatory and budget re-phasing exercises, closure of projects through review, participates in recruitment processes for Project;
- Prepare the gender work plan to integrate into the RSC overall work plan;
- Prepare global and regional reports about gender activities and projects;
- Contribute to the formulation of regional and CO programmes drawing upon lessons from programmes and other initiatives in the region and from global experiences;
- Oversee support to country offices on gender issues and liaise with country offices to support the inclusion of gender dimensions at the planning and programming stages of country and regional programmes;
- Support resource mobilization for gender in the region and develop multi-partner proposals; assists in the analysis and research of information on donors, preparation of briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for initiation of new Project;
- Coordinate the Gender Associate Experts Network of the RSC.
Provision of top quality policy advocacy and advisory services to the regional and national organizations, country offices and national partners
- Provide Quality Assurance to ensure alignment with global development policies, norms and standards;
- Co-ordinate with the Gender Practice Leader delivery of demand-driven service delivery to country offices and regional programmes ensuring professionalism in support – e.g. timelines, responsiveness, quality in deliverables, etc;
- Ensure cross-practice approach and cross-regional collaboration;
- Development of country-oriented support tools addressing specific country request and challenges;
- Strengthen internal CO capacity on the use of UNDP corporate practice development frameworks; providing substantive advice and support and organizing capacity development activities;
- Promote partnership building with regional and local institutions and consultancies.
- Provide Quality Assurance to ensure alignment with global development policies, norms and standards;
- Mobilizing the Gender Community of Practice at the regional level, by providing training and networking opportunities;
- Identification of sources of information related to policy-driven issues. Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learnt directly linked to country policy goals;
- Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
- Ensure that all activities and projects are systematized and shared with the rest of the region through knowledge management;
- Ensure regular systematization of product as well as their translation into other languages;
- Support the implementation of a communication strategy and oversee the performance and actualization of the Regional Services Center and Gender web sites;
- Ensure the systematization, publication, translation and dissemination of all activities;
- Reflect the region-wide lessons learnt, best practices and knowledge into UNDP’s strategies in the region;
The key results have an impact on the efficiency of the Area as the incumbent will assume several initiatives included in Annual Gender Practice Area Work Plan and also he/she will contribute with research, analysis, technical assistance to improve services for Country Office focal points, internal and external clients and facilitate subsequent action by the supervisor. Incumbent’s own initiative is decisive in results of work and timely finalization. The key results have an impact on the success of the projects within specific area of Gender. In particular, the key results have an impact on the design, operation and programming of activities and creation of strategic partnerships. The Gender Specialist´s role will impact the strengthening of the practice gender architecture of UNDP, the quality and relevance of programme and project services and the results of UNDP’s programmes in the region in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Competencies
Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
- Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
Functional Competencies:
- Knowledge Management and Learning;
- Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;
- In-depth knowledge on development issues;
- Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
- Demonstrated substantive leadership and ability to integrate knowledge with broader strategic, policy and operational objectives;
- Ability to strongly promote and build knowledge products;
- Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.
Development and Operational Effectiveness
- Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
- Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects;
- Good knowledge of the Results Management Guide and Toolkit;
- Strong IT skills.
Management and Leadership
- Strong managerial/leadership experience and decision-making skills;
- Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
- Strong ability to manage teams; creating an enabling environment, mentoring and developing staff;
- Leads teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
- Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
- Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
- Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
- Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
- Ability to develop good inter-personal relationships and encourage team-building;
- Strong resource mobilization and partnering skill.
Required Skills and Experience
- Master’s Degree or equivalent in Gender and Development, Social Sciences, Economics and/or Development Studies or related field.
Experience:
- A minimum of 7 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in gender and development
Experience in working with UN-UNDP CO; - Work experience from a developing country or the LAC region highly desirable;
- Experience in leading/managing knowledge product development and dissemination;
- Demonstrated ability in coordination projects in gender and knowledge management;
Experience in advisory on gender mainstreaming; - Substantial experience in working with governments and international organizations on gender development issues;
- Ability to synthesize and analyze scientific, technical and policy documents;
- Experience with UNDP project cycle and general procedures;
- Knowledge on gender public policies and/or gender mainstreaming is a must;
- Knowledge on Communication will be desirable.
Language requirements:
- Fluency in Spanish and English is essential;
- Excellent written and verbal communication required;
- Working knowledge in Portuguese or French will be an asset.
Please note that only short-listed candidates will be notified. The electronic version of a UN Personal History Form (P.11) can be downloaded from the UNDP RSC website: http://www.regionalcentrelac-undp.org/en/p11forms.