UN WOMEN Jobs - 68338- Joint Programme Coordinator

Joint Programme Coordinator

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Harare, ZIMBABWE

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

13-Sep-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SB-5

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.

The Zimbabwe United Nations Development Assistance Framework (ZUNDAF 2016-2020) articulates the strategic orientation and collective assistance provided by the United Nations to Zimbabwe. In order to deliver more effectively on ZUNDAF Results Area 2 on Gender Equality, the UN in Zimbabwe has developed a Joint Programme for Gender Equality (JPGE) which is being jointly implemented by four Participating UN Organisations: ILO, UNDP, and UN Women. The duration of the joint programme is three years, with a scheduled end-date of March 2017.

The JPGE brings together government departments, UN Agencies, development partners, CSOs and a number of different gender equality advocates to support the Government of Zimbabwe in attaining its development goals (of which SDG 5 on Gender Equality is one). Throughout its interventions, the JPGE engages in capacity-strengthening at macro, meso and micro levels and in advocacy at the highest levels to lobby for integration and ownership of gender issues into policy and legislative development.

The JPGE is addressing three programme pillars:

Women’s political participation and influence;
Women’s economic empowerment and working conditions;
National accountability on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The JPGE is coordinated by UN Women as the Managing Agency and Administrative Agent, through the JPGE Coordination Unit, staffed by a Programme Analyst and a Programme Assistant, under the overall supervision of the UN Women Country Representative. The mandate of the Coordination Unit is to ensure coordination in the planning, implementation and reporting of the Participating UN Organisations, as well as joint communications. The Coordination Unit also functions as the Secretariat for the JPGE Steering Committee.

UN Women is currently looking for a qualified candidate to lead and supervise the Coordination Unit, to ensure that the routine and emerging tasks as per the programme document, donor agreement, the JPGE M&E Plan, and instructions of the Steering Committee and Co-chairs are implemented and achieved to ensure the fulfilment of the JPGE Coordination Unit mandate. The Coordinator will be expected to implement the recommendations coming out of the recently conducted JPGE Mid-Term Review throughout the remainder of the programme. This includes increased coordination, strategic focusing of programme implementation, and potential extension of the programme. The JPGE Coordinator will drive the implementation of these changes to the programme, through the JPGE Coordination Unit thus ensuring the effective functioning of the Coordination Unit. In order to ensure that crosscutting issues, synergies and effective collaboration are taken into consideration, the Coordinator will also work in close collaboration with other on-going UN programmes, the Resident Coordinator Office and respective line ministries.

The JPGE Coordinator will be reporting directly to the UN Women Representative.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the authority of the Managing Agency, UN Women, and the general guidance of the Joint Programme Steering Committee, the Joint Programme Coordinator provides:

Leadership, strategic direction and overall coordination of the implementation of the JPGE:

Provides advice to UN Women as the Managing Agency and the Government of Zimbabwe, the JPGE Steering Committee and Participating UN Organisations on the vision and overall strategic direction of the JPGE in line with the programme document and planned results, and more specifically with the JPGE Mid-Term Review recommendations;
In close collaboration with Participating UN Organisations and UN Women Management as the Managing Agency, provides technical support to the development of relevant advocacy and policy documents to ensure that they are aligned to the planned outputs of the JPGE Performance Monitoring Framework;
Manages the implementation, coordination and tracking of the JPGE Mid-Term Review recommendations, and the Management Response Matrix and ensures that the programme remains relevant, and is in line with relevant elements of the programme document including the programme strategies and coordination arrangements;
Ensures that the JPGE Performance Monitoring Framework corresponds to the Mid-Term Review recommendations;
In collaboration with Government, UN and other partners, strengthens and implements systems for project planning, implementation, and monitoring as per the Mid-Term Review recommendations;
Supervises and manages a small team of professional and administrative staff.

Strengthened coordination of the Joint Programme and adherence to its standards:

Facilitates the achievement of the joint programme results by timely monitoring of the progress of programme implementation and advising the Participating UN Organisations in line with the Mid-Term Review Recommendations, Steering Committee decisions, and the JPGE Programme Document standards;
Coordinates the production and dissemination of consolidated quality results reports of the joint programme based on progress reports prepared by Participating UN Organisations, ensuring adherence to the quality standards of UN Women;
Monitors the fulfilment of the tasks assigned to the Administrative Agent and Managing Agency, in accordance with the Mid-Term Review recommendations, the joint programme document; the Standard Administrative Agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding between the Administrative Agent and the funding partner and Participating UN Organisations respectively;
Reviews and updates the Programme’s M&E plan as required and strengthen the monitoring of individual PUNO activities in line with Steering Committee recommendations to ensure that adequate data and evidence is collected to support the results reported;
Updates and reports on risks and the risks management matrix;
Supervises the JPGE Coordination Unit’s role of Secretariat of the Joint Programme Steering Committee (JPSC), to ensure close coordination with the JPSC chairs the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development (MWAGCD) – preparing the agenda and inputs for JPSC meetings, assumes responsibility for follow up; supports the Joint Steering Committee actively in its strategic role;
Manages the JPGE Coordination Unit’s budget in close collaboration with UN Women financial officers.

Strengthened partnership building and support resource mobilization for the JPGE:

Coordinates with and ensures linkages and synergies with other Joint Programmes, particularly with regard to capacity building of relevant authorities/institutions, and within the framework of the ZUNDAF Results Groups and in particular the Gender Results Group;
Consults with external partners including CSOs engaged in similar/complementary activities to enhance coordination and partnership among stakeholders working in the area;
Takes an active role in supporting UN Women as the Managing Agency in its efforts to mobilise resources for an extension of the Joint Programme in collaboration with the Participating UN Organisation and Government;
Takes an active advocacy role in approaching donors on behalf of the Joint Programme, under the authority of the Managing Agency.

Knowledge generation and management focusing on achieving the following results:

Synthesises best practices and lessons learned from the JPGE Mid-Term Review for sharing between programme participants as well as external partners, including through social media platforms as appropriate;
Develops briefs on programme achievements and documents, including lessons learned;
Performs other tasks as assigned by the JPSC and the Managing Agency.

Impact of Results:

JPGE Mid-Term Review recommendations implemented;
Improved leadership, strategic direction and overall management of the Joint Programme;
Improved coordination of the Joint Programme in line with the Mid-Term Review, and in adherence with the expected Joint Programme standards;
Strengthen focus of the programmatic results as per the Mid-Term Review recommendations;
Improved evidence supported results based reporting to the donor and other stakeholders on the joint programme as per the Mid-Term Review recommendations;
Enhanced best practices and lessons learned documentation and sharing within the Joint programme;
Enhanced team work among the participating agencies of the joint programme.

Competencies

Core Values/Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

Demonstrating 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/ Respect for Diversity:

Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences 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:

Job knowledge and technical expertise in the area;
Results-based programme development and management;
Strong monitoring and evaluation skills;
Demonstrated capacity and experience in coordinating different UN agencies/organisations;
Administrative and coordination expertise of joint or inter-agency programmes;
Ability to lead strategic planning, change management processes, and resource based management;
Previous experience in working with senior government officials, donor representatives and civil society;
Results oriented, flexible and problem-solving skills;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Skills in managing multicultural contexts with sensitivity to differences;
Excellent coordination and facilitation skills;
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
Fluency in relevant computer applications/MS office applications.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A master’s degree in development related disciplines, international relations, development studies, gender studies or other social science fields.

Experience:

At least 5 years of progressively responsible development experience that combines programme coordination and strategic planning in the area of gender equality and women’s rights at the international level;
Experience in administration, programme management; planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting;
Strong monitoring and evaluation experience will be an asset;
Experience of working in developing countries, preferably in Africa.

Language:

Written and oral proficiency in English is required;
Knowledge of one of the other UN working languages is highly desirable.

Application process:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment.