UN WOMEN Jobs - 57724- International Consultant: RBM Quality Assessment o

International Consultant: RBM Quality Assessment of Strategic Notes and Annual Reports

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Home-Based (no travel requested)

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

28-Jul-2015

Application Deadline :

07-Jul-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

45 days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

30 days

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

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) was established by General Assembly resolution 64/289 of 2 July 2010 on system-wide coherence with the mandate to assist Member States and the United Nations system to progress more effectively and efficiently toward the goal of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women. The 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, sets out the organisation’s vision, mission and priorities in supporting Member States and the United Nations system.

To ensure the implementation of its 2014-2017 Strategic Plan UN Women has committed to strengthening capacity in results-based management and building a culture of effective and efficient programme management. The Strategic Plan itself commits the organisation to institutionalising a strong culture of results-based management, reporting, knowledge management and evaluation, under the auspices of the United Nations Development Group programming principles of results-based management. Across the UN development system there is a wider effort to strengthen results-based management to ensure sufficient focus on managing for results. This is exemplified by the QCPR which calls for more investments in developing capacities and competencies for results-based management to intensify efforts in strengthening and institutionalising this topic across the system, with the objective of improving development results as well as organisational effectiveness. Donor partners are also demanding more results-focused partnerships as they need to be certain their investments are effective.

UN Women has invested in results-based management since its establishment, as a prerequisite for managing for results and as part of a broader results focus. Steps have included the development of results-based plans at the country level and a results-tracking system. An extensive organisation wide planning exercise in late 2013 also identified a high demand (above 60%) for results-based management capacity development.

UN Women will look to develop RBM capacity by promoting a results culture based primarily on quality standards rather than processes. Clearly defining standards and then aligning systems, functions and incentives behind them, will enable the organisation to invest resources in areas of RBM that are most critical for the organisation’s continued growth and effectiveness. It will also allow UN Women to have an RBM approach that is more amendable to changes and advances emerging from interagency and intergovernmental processes.

To define and capture the necessary initiatives to be taken, UN Women has developed a ten-step strategy for strengthening RBM in the organisation, and one of those steps is to undertake a quality assessment of UN Women country plans (Strategic Notes) and annual results reports dating back to the inception of the organisation. In 2014, a scoring methodology for such quality assessments was developed and tested on a selection of plans and reports. To ensure a more complete picture of the quality in our offices’ Strategic Notes and annual results reports are we now looking at conducting a quality assessment of the 2014 annual results reports and the 2015 Strategic Notes applying the scoring methodology developed in 2014.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective is for UN Women to have quantitative data, supported by examples, related to RBM capacity and practices, as this will allow the organisation to chart progress in strengthening RBM capacity in the organisation over the coming years.

Output and process: The consultant will undertake the quality assessment, based on the already developed scoring methodology, of the 2014 country annual results reports (approx. 58 reports) and 2015 country Strategic Notes (approx. 20 notes). The assessment will result in a scoring matrix supported by a report summarising the key findings according to strength and weaknesses identified in the assessment. Suggested process is to firstly provide an assessment of a sample of 5 reports and 5 plans for PPGU’s review, to give room for necessary adjustments in the application of the methodology, and then continue with the assessment of the remaining reports and plans before finalising the scoring matrix and the report.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise:

Strong background in results based management;
Demonstrated proficiency at quality assuring plans and reports based on quality criteria;
Knowledge of programme and project management approaches and tools;
Ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor own work plan;
Proven ability to work under pressure and produce output that is accurate, timely and of high quality;
Ability to manage conflicting priorities a good sense of when to act independently versus when to seek advice.

Communications:

Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, including the ability to set out a coherent argument in presentations and group interactions.

Teamwork:

Good interpersonal skills;
Ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations with people in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced University Degree in social development, economics, business, philosophy, cognitive science or other related field.

Experience:

Minimum 5 years progressively responsible professional experience in results based management;
Experience in working on strengthening RBM capacity in a decentralised organisation;
Experience in working on capacity assessments of RBM and/or programming capacity;
Experience in working with results systems'
Previous work experience with UN or other development agencies is highly desirable.

Language:

Fluency in oral/written English.