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 Programme Associate works with and provides support to the members of the UN Women Jamaica Programme Team in the development and implementation of the following projects and programmes, ensuring consistency with UN Women rules and regulations:
- Projects funded from the Human Security Trust Fund and the European Union;
- UN Women’s portfolio on combating gender-based violence (GBV); strengthening women’s economic empowerment; access to justice; disaster risk reduction and strengthening institutional mechanisms in support of national commitments to advancing gender equality;
- UN Women’s HIV&AIDS portfolio in the Caribbean and in Jamaica; and
- Supporting UN Women’s role within the UN Country Team.
The Programme Associate contributes to research, financial management, and programme implementation including providing necessary operational, administrative and programmatic support. S/he works in close collaboration with the operations, programme and project staff in the UN Women Jamaica Programme Office, the MCO in Barbados, the Regional Office in Panama and UN Women Headquarters in New York as required for resolving complex finance-related issues and exchange of information.
The Programme Associate’s time is to be divided with 50% of time supporting the Jamaica National Programme Coordinator’s area of work; and 50% of the time supporting the Regional Gender and HIV&AIDS Project Officer.
Duties and Responsibilities
1. 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 and execution arrangements;
- Assemble briefing materials and prepare presentations for the programme unit, as required; and
- Identify sources, and gather and compile data and information for the preparation of documents, guidelines, speeches and position papers.
2. Programme Management and Monitoring Support
- Support the Programme Team in the implementation of the control mechanisms for development of programmes/projects through monitoring of budget preparation and modifications;
- Support Programme Team in monitoring progress towards programme delivery targets;
- Prepare required project budget revisions, determination of unutilized funds and operational and financial closure of a project;
- Support the Programme Team in the financial management of Programmes and related programme partnerships, including partnership agreements with Government, regional mechanisms, non-governmental organizations and international development partners and follow up on timely financial and narrative reporting;
- 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; and
- Support the Programme team in the tracking and reporting on mobilized resources.
3. Administrative and Financial Management Support to the Programme Unit
- Review of Financial Reports and UN Women FACE Forms used for monitoring project expenditures;
- Create requisitions in Atlas for development projects and ensure goods/services are receipted in ATLAS ((PeopleSoft ERP system) and ensure budget checks are completed;
- Prepare cost sharing agreements, partner and government agreements and follow up on contributions within the MCO resource mobilization efforts; and
- Provide support to other thematic portfolios when required.
4. 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; and
- Support organization of training for the office staff and partners on programme and operations related issues.
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:
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 required; and
- University degree or equivalent in Business or Public Administration is an asset.
Experience:
- A minimum of 6 years of project administrative experience preferably in a large or international corporation or organization; and
- Demonstrated experience in working in a computer environment using multiple office software packages, including Excel, Word and PowerPoint is required. Experience in ATLAS (PeopleSoft ERP system) is an advantage but not required.
Language Requirements:
- Fluency in English is required.
Duty Station:
- The position will be based in Jamaica.
Applications:
- This position is open to Nationals of Jamaica, Residents of Jamaica, and CARICOM Nationals who can legally work in Jamaica;
- 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; Please group all documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows the upload of one document.
Note:
In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.
UN Women 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.