UN WOMEN Jobs - 67829- Programme Associate

Programme Associate

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Nairobi, KENYA

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

17-Aug-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SB-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

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.

In Kenya, the UN WOMEN Country Programme contributes to the development objectives of Kenya’s blue print, the Vision 2030 and is aligned to the United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAF) of 2009-2014 and the upcoming UNDAF of 2014-2018, as well as UN WOMEN Global Strategic Plan. The Kenya Country Programme - “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Gains Consolidated' - aims to achieve the following results: (i) increased women’s leadership and participation in governance; (ii) strengthened women’s economic empowerment; (iii) increased protection of women & access to justice for women; and (iv) strengthened women’s leadership in peace building and humanitarian response.

UN Women Kenya’s programme on women, peace and security aims to support Kenya implement its National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 and address the low implementation and weak accountability of the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council on Women, Peace and Security (1325, 1820, 1888 and 1889). The implementation gap can be measured by the low number of women participating in peace processes, increase incidence of sexual and gender based violence and lack of financing for women needs in post conflict and the absence of monitoring mechanisms/instruments to access implementation and achievements.

UN Women aims at supporting the Government of Kenya and none-state in understanding and applying instruments on women, peace and security such as the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325 (2000) towards the full realization of women’s human rights in Kenya. The programme will aim to support women to participate in and influence reconciliation and peace-building initiatives at the community and national level to ensure women’s perspectives are realized and women are viewed as proactive agents of transformative change.

In relation to women peace and security, the programme will strive to:

Support the implementation of the Kenya National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 and the SGs Seven Point Action Plan;
Enhance government and civil society understanding of the principles of normative instruments such as UNSCR 1325 and other relevant regional and international normative frameworks and instruments that realize women’s human rights;
Build women’s capacity to engage in violence reduction and peace building initiatives at the community level (i.e. mediation forums, County Peace Committees);
Strengthen stakeholder’s participation, implementation, tracking and reporting of UNSCR 1325.

It is in this context that UN Women in Kenya is seeking to recruit a Programme Associate to support members of the Programme Team in the development and implementation of effective programmes consistent with UN Women rules and regulations. S/he contributes to research, financial management, and programme implementation including providing necessary operational, administrative and programmatic support. The Programme Associate works in close collaboration with the operations, programme and projects’ staff in the Country Office, Regional Office and UN Women HQs as required for resolving complex finance-related issues and exchange of information.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

Support in the formulation of Programme Strategies;
Programme Management Support;
Administrative and Financial Management Support to the Programme Unit;
Facilitation of Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing.

Support in the formulation of Programme Strategies:

Collect and present background information for the preparation of effective application of RBM tools;
Provide programme and administrative support in the preparation of programme work plans, budgets, and proposals on programme implementation arrangements;
Assemble briefing materials and prepare power-point and other presentations for the programme unit;
Identify sources, and gather and compile data and information for the preparation of documents, guidelines, speeches and position papers.

Programme Management Support:

Support the Programme Team in the implementation of the control mechanisms for development projects through monitoring of budget preparation and modifications;
Create projects in Atlas, prepare required budget revisions, revision of project award and project status, determination of unutilized funds, operational and financial close of a project;
Support the Programme Team in the financial management of Programmes;
Provide guidance to the executing agencies on routine implementation of projects, tracking use of financial resources;
Provide necessary information for the audit of programmes/projects and support implementation of audit recommendations;
Organize, compile and process information from donors, Regional Office, and programme team, as inputs to various databases and documents;
Support the Programme team in the tracking and reporting on mobilized resources.

Administrative and Financial Management Support to the Programme Unit:

Review of Financial Reports; preparation of non-PO vouchers for development projects;

Ensure maintenance of the internal expenditures control system which ensures that vouchers processed are matched and completed; transactions are correctly recorded and posted in Atlas;
Take timely corrective actions on un-posted vouchers, including the vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions, unapproved vouchers;
Create requisitions in Atlas for development projects registers of goods receipt in Atlas.
Make budget check for requisitions, POs and vouchers;
Prepare cost sharing, and trust fund agreements, follow up on contributions within the CO resource mobilization efforts;
Assist in the preparation of cost-recovery bills in Atlas by elaboration and implementation of the income tracking system and follow up on cost recovery.

Facilitation of Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing:

Support synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices related to programme management;
Support synthesis of lessons learned and best practices in programme finance;
Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
Support organization of training for the office staff and partners on programme and operations related issues.

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.

Respect for 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 perform a broad range of specialized activities aimed at effective and efficient functioning of the Programme unit including logistical support;
Ability to provide input to business process re-engineering, elaboration and implementation of new data management systems;
Creates, edits and presents information in clear and presentable formats, using appropriate IT functionality;
Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints;
Ability to establish, build and sustain effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client's perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly;
Ability to administer and execute financial processes and transactions;
Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Completion of secondary education is required;
University degree or equivalent in International Development, Political Science, Gender, Conflict Management, Business or Public Administration is an asset.

Experience:

6 years of progressively responsible experience with programme support and administrative tasks at national and international level;
Gender experience is an asset;
Experience in working in a computer environment using multiple office software packages, and experience in ATLAS an advantage.

Language:

Fluency in English is required;
Working knowledge of another UN official language is an asset.