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 Multi-Country Office (MCO) is based in Almaty, Kazakhstan and covers 4 countries in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan). MCO programming includes support to Governments and civil society organizations in the development and implementation of innovative approaches aimed at achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment, specifically targeting increasing women’s political participation and leadership, securing women’s economic rights, strengthening women's involvement in peace building, ending violence against women and making government budgets and policies more responsive to women's needs.

Under the overall guidance and direction of the UN Women Representative, the Programme Specialist exercises overall responsibility for planning, implementing, and managing UN Women interventions under his/her portfolio.  She/he works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team, UN Women HQ staff, Government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under portfolio.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

  • Provision of top quality advisory and programme development services;
  • Management of the MCO programme and supervision of the Programme team;
  • Inter-agency Coordination Support;
  • Strategic partnerships and resource mobilization Support;
  • Advocacy support and Knowledge building and management.

Provision of top quality advisory and programme development services:

  • Thorough analysis and research of the political, social and economic situation in the countries covered by MCO related to the thematic/sectorial areas assigned and preparation of substantive inputs to the UNW MCO programme planning in those areas;
  • Constant monitoring and analysis of the programme environment, timely readjustment of programme interventions;
  • Identification of areas for support and interventions within the thematic/sectorial areas assigned;
  • Design and formulation of programme initiatives within the area of responsibility, translating UNW’s priorities into local interventions;
  • Provision of programme advisory support to the Office Management within the thematic area/portfolio assigned.

Management of the MCO Programme and supervision of the Programme team:

  • Under the guidance and oversight of the supervisor, exercise overall responsibility for planning, implementation, management, and coordination aspects of the programmes/projects under his/her responsibility;
  • Ensure effective application of RBM tools and monitoring achievement of results;
  • Manage the portfolio of on-going programmes/projects through technical monitoring and administrative and financial supervision ensuring the proper application of a monitoring system to track progress on program results and indicators;
  • Lead programmes/projects appraisal and evaluation according to results-based management requirements;
  • Coordinate and supervise the activities of programme staff, projects staff, experts and consultants working as part of the technical assistance team;
  • Responsible for the timely preparation and quality control of all substantive technical reports, briefs and required documents;
  • Ensure timely production and submission of all partial and/or progress reports by all members of the project team, contractors and project partners;
  • Conduct field visits to supervise, coordinate and monitor field level activities of portfolio.

Inter-Agency Coordination Support:

  • Provide substantive support to the Representative on inter-agency coordination related activities;
  • Take part in country level Comprehensive Country Assessment (CCA)/UNDAF processes and similar exercises related to the RC system ensuring that gender concerns are clearly reflected and mainstreamed in process;
  • Prepare substantive inputs to CCA/ UNDAF and other documents thoroughly analyzing and researching the political, social and economic situation in the region;
  • Prepare analytical and regular progress reports on UN Women’s programme experiences in support of UN women inter-agency coordination role.

Strategic partnerships building and resource mobilization Support:

  • Implement the Office partnerships and resources mobilization strategies to achieve programme outcomes within the areas assigned;
  • Create and coordinate partnerships with the relevant UN Agencies, government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society, etc.;
  • Determine programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, country needs and donors’ priorities;
  • Analysis and research of information on donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost-sharing;
  • Follow up on resource on mobilization activities for fund raising for new projects in coordination with the UN Women Representative.

Advocacy support and facilitation of knowledge building and management:

  • Support the establishment of advocacy networks at national level and linkages to international networks related to the sectorial/thematic areas assigned;
  • Proactively and substantively support and implement relevant, high-impact advocacy activities and campaigns with key partners;
  • Identify and synthesis best practices and lessons learnt directly linked to programme country policy goals in the sectorial/thematic areas assigned;
  • Proactively contribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

The post has an impact on the overall effectiveness and success of UN Women interventions and activities in the assigned sectorial/thematic areas, which impact in turn on the overall effectiveness of the UN Women programme in the MCO.  By helping ensure effective design, planning, implementation, and M&E of assigned sectorial/thematic areas, and building networks and helping mobilize resources for these areas, the incumbent enhances the organization’s capacity and credibility in implementation of highly effective programmes with strong impact.

Competencies

 

Core Values/Guiding Principles

Integrity:

  • Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

  • Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

  • Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
  • Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core competencies

Ethics and Values:

  • Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

  • Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

  • Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

  • Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

  • Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

  • Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.

Conflict Management:

  • Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

  • Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

  • Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional competencies:

  • Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects;
  • Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
  • Ability to formulate and manage budgets, manage contributions and investments, manage transactions, conduct financial analysis, reporting and cost-recovery;
  • Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioral/ attitudinal change;
  • Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
  • Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
  • Lead teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
  • Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
  • Focuses on impact and result for the partners and responds positively to feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master’s Degree in, International Development, Gender, Human Rights, Political Science or in other related Social Sciences.

Experience:

  • Minimum 5 years relevant experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects and establishing inter-relationships among international organization and national governments, preferably in the field of gender and human rights of women;
  • Prior experience in the UN System and the Region will be an asset.

Language Requirements:

  • Fluency in English and Russian is required.

Application process:

All online applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/~/media/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/P_11_form_UNwomen%20doc.doc

Note:

The system will only allow one attachment, hence all supporting document e.g. P11, CV and Cover letter must be scanned as one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. Only qualified, shortlisted candidates will be contacted for test and interview.