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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women (UNW) is implementing a project on economically empowering and addressing violence against vulnerable women and youth in host communities in Lebanon. The project seeks to:

1. Empower economically vulnerable women and youth through income generation activities to enable them support their livelihoods;
2. Address violence against women and youth and support women’s meaningful participation in community decision making processes.

The project will be implemented in Lebanon. In this respect, the Project Officer (PO), to be based in Beirut, will be responsible, under the direct supervision of the Programme Manager, based in Beirut, for project implementation and achievement of project results. More specifically, the PO will have the following responsibilities:

• Ensure direction of project activities and achievement of project targets and results;
• Ensure day-to-day follow-ups on project implementation including financial monitoring & reporting.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

1. Provide management oversight and ensure daily quality monitoring of project activities focusing on achievement of projects results as described in the project document;
2. Monitoring the use of financial resources in accordance with UN Women rules and regulations;
3. Assist in drafting progress and result oriented reporting;
4. Strategic partnerships building and resource mobilization support;
5. Advocacy support and facilitation of knowledge building and management. 

Provide management oversight and ensures daily quality monitoring of project activities focusing on achievement of projects results as described in the project document;

• Under the supervision of the Programme Manager, provide strategic guidance for planning, implementation, management, monitoring and coordination aspects of the project operations;
• Ensure UN women guidelines are applied in all operational activities by project staff, experts and consultants;
• Revise and clear all substantive technical reports, briefs and required documents;
• Support timely production and submission of all partial and/or progress reports by all members of the project team, contractors and project partners;
• Ensure effective application of RBM tools and monitoring achievement of results;
• Participate in project review and/or evaluation meetings;
• Conduct field visits to supervise, coordinate and monitor field level activities of the project.

Monitoring the use of financial resources in accordance with UN Women rules and regulations;

• Monitor all financial aspects of the project as per the project document;
• Revise and clear project financial transaction as per approved work plans and UN Women guidelines;
• Advice and report on any financial deviation in close coordination with the Regional Programme Manager;
• Provide support and guidance on budget revision as per agreed schedule and UN Women rules and regulations.

Assist in drafting progress and results oriented reporting;

• Provide support and staff training on result based reporting;
• Collect and analyse field data as per identifies indicators, baseline data and targets;
• Draft progress reports on project activities;
• Assist in drafting mid and final project result oriented reporting; 

Strategic partnerships building and resource mobilization support;

• Supports strategic partnerships and resource mobilization efforts by researching relevant documentation, and participating in donor meetings and public information events.
• Maintains information and databases on donors and developing database of project profiles for presentation to donors
• Ensure good partnerships with the UN Agencies, government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society etc.
• Researches information on donors and drafts briefs on possible areas of cooperation.

Advocacy support and facilitation of knowledge building and management;

• Under the guidance of the supervisor, supports the establishment of advocacy networks at national level;
• Supports relevant, high-impact advocacy activities and campaigns with key partners;
• Collects knowledge on current and emerging trends by gathering relevant information on programme, projects, strategies, approaches and ongoing experience for lessons learned, best practices;
• Contributes to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

The key results have an impact on the corporate image of the Lebanon office and the success of project initiatives. In particular, they will have an impact on the design, operation and programming of activities, creation of strategic partnerships with donors as well as reaching resource mobilization targets.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

Advocacy/Advancing A Policy-Oriented Agenda:

Preparing information for advocacy

• Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating UNW’s mandate

Results-Based Programme Development and Management:

Contributes into results through primary research and analysis

• Assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work;
• Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration;
• Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation;
• Analyzes country situation to identify opportunities for project development;
• Participates in the formulation of project proposals and ensures substantive rigor in the design and application of proven successful approaches and drafts proposals accordingly.

Building Strategic Partnerships:

Maintaining a network of contacts

• Maintains an established network of contacts for general information sharing and to remain up-to-date on partnership related issues;
• Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders;

Innovation and Marketing New Approaches:

Enhancing processes or products

• Generates new ideas and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things;
• Documents and analyses innovative strategies/best practices/new approaches.

Resource Mobilization:

Providing inputs to resource mobilization strategies

• Analyzes information/databases on potential and actual donors;
• Develops a database of project profiles.  Identifies opportunities for project proposals for presentation to donors.

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Basic research and analysis

• Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things;
• Documents and analyses innovative strategies and new approaches.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise:

Fundamental knowledge of own discipline

• Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position;
• Possesses basic knowledge of organizational policies and procedures relating to the position and applies them consistently in work tasks;
• Strives to keep job knowledge up-to-date through self-directed study and other means of learning;
• Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
• Demonstrates in-depth understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments.

Client Orientation:

Establishing effective client relationships

• Researches potential solutions to internal and external client needs and reports back in a timely, succinct and appropriate fashion;
• Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines;
• Anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly. 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, economics, law, public or business administration and related subjects.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in the area of livelihoods and/or Women’s Economic Empowerment. Specific experience in gender-related initiatives is an asset. Prior working experience in the UN system and/or in the EU or other international organizations is required. Familiarity with the various donor project cycles is an added bonus.

Language Requirements:

• Fluent oral and written English as well as Arabic is required.