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 UN Women China office works closely with government institutions, civil society, private sector companies, academic institutions, and other actors to promote gender equality in the world’s most populous country.  Our portfolio of programmes addresses two main areas of work: women’s economic empowerment (WEE) and ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG). Within WEE, we work on poverty alleviation targeting rural farming women, promoting gender equality within corporate social responsibility, advancing women’s equal employment, empowering women entrepreneurs, and promoting the digital transformation of women.  Within EVAWG, we work closely with the government on implementation of the newly-enacted national law on domestic violence, as well as on the prevention of violence and promotion of healthy relationships among youth. Our longest running programme is the China Gender Fund (CGF), an innovative, multi-donor programme that gives out grants to Chinese institutions to address a wide variety of emerging gender issues. The China office also addresses issues related to gender and HIV/AIDS, and gender and the media.  In addition, the China office is increasingly promoting the incorporation of gender concerns into the Chinese government’s South-South collaboration agenda.  Finally, UN Women serves as Chair of the UN Theme Group on Gender in China, coordinating the UN agencies and other development stakeholders to advance the overall gender equality agenda in China.

Reporting to the Regional Director, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), the Head of Office is responsible for leading and managing the China Country Office (CO) portfolio and for translating the UN Women's Strategic Plan (SP) in line with regional and national priorities, into development initiatives and results by developing, implementing and managing programmes and projects for China; and developing effective partnerships with Government counterparts, UN system agencies and organizations, civil society organizations, and with bilateral and non-traditional donors in order to promote inter-agency partnerships, support for UN reform, and mobilization of visibility and resources to advance gender equality and women's empowerment.

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead the strategic planning and development of the country programme:

  • Develop and implement the strategic direction of the Country Office (CO);
  • Lead the design, planning, formulation, preparation and development of the Country Strategic Note;
  • Provide substantive advice to the Executive Director, Regional Director and Senior Management on the strategy, direction and planning of programmes and projects;
  • Manage and ensure the quality of results-based and rights-based programming for the CO; Finalize the annual work plan and budget;
  • Monitor the use of results-based management approaches to programme planning and design.

Manage the China Country Office:

  • Lead the office in the delivery of operational goals; oversee the implementation of the annual work plan, including by providing direction, guidance and technical support;
  • Oversee and approve programme work plans and monitor the overall progress and compliance of the China CO;
  • Manage the preparation of UN Women mandated country reports;
  • Manage the audit review process and timely response to audit reports;
  • Maintain and update country office security strategy, plan, and measures to ensure full compliance with UN security policies, procedures and requirements;
  • Manage the performance of staff under his/her supervision; provide managerial direction, guidance and leadership to staff and provide performance feedback and coaching to staff under supervision;
  • Maintain and update CO security strategy, plan, and measures to ensure full compliance with UN security policies, procedures and requirements.

 Manage UN system coordination:

 Manage UN Women and lead advocacy strategies:

  • Participate in inter-governmental forums, public information/relations events and key meetings, policy dialogue; discuss policy initiatives, report on progress achieved and/or present policy papers/ideas;
  • Build relations and partnerships with high-level and senior government officials as well as multi-lateral, bi-lateral agencies, NGOs and the private sector; and participate in regional, country and other critical meetings and events;
  • Lead and support advocacy for gender equality and women’s empowerment to ensure that UN support towards realization of the national plans and priorities are done in a gender responsive manner, and within agreed international frameworks that promote and protect gender equality;
  • Advocate UN Women’s contributions to gender equality globally, to increase the visibility of UN Women among potential donors in China.

Create and maintain strategic partnerships and manage resource mobilization strategies:

  • Lead the development, and manage implementation, of resource mobilization strategies, plans, and efforts for China CO;
  • Provide expert advice and timely guidance as well as substantive technical support to UN Women HQs, ROs and COs in developing strategic proposals for fundraising from Chinese donors as well as in creating strategic partnerships in China;
  • Identify resources mobilization opportunities and communicate Chinese donors’ priorities and expectations to UN Women HQs, RO and COs;
  • Establish and maintain relationships with government, partners, stakeholders, donors and private sector entities to achieve active collaboration, cooperation and alliances on programme development and implementation and resource mobilization;
  • Finalize donor reports, and negotiate and/or approve cost-sharing agreements with donors; Establish reporting accountability framework to ensure that donors are duly informed on a timely basis.

Knowledge management, innovation and capacity building:

  • Manage the development and implementation on CO communications and knowledge management plans, based on UN Women’s communications and knowledge management strategies;
  • Approve the implementation of innovation and best practices in the CO;
  • Promote learning and development by providing opportunities for training and capacity building to enhance the competencies/productivity of staff members;
  • Lead the production of knowledge products.

Key Performance Indicators:

Performance of staff, security plans are in place and up to date, office produces quality knowledge products.

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:

  • Excellent programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
  • Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them;
  • Ability to advocate and provide policy advice and interact with high level decision makers;
  • Excellent knowledge of gender equality and women's empowerment in country;
  • Strong knowledge of UN system;
  • Ability to envision and lead the strategic direction for UN Women in the country;
  • Excellent networking skills;

Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and develop strategies.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master's degree or equivalent in development related disciplines, economics or public policy or other social science fields is required.
  • A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

  • At least 10 years of progressively responsible development experience that combines strategic and managerial leadership in aid development cooperation, some of which is in gender and women’s issues programming, at the international level, preferably in developing countries within the UN system, Agencies, Funds or Programmes or UN Mission;
  • Field based experience working with multi-cultural teams;
  • Experience in leading a team;
  • Work experience in the Asia and the Pacific region is required, work experience in China is an advantage;

Languages:

  • Fluency in English and at least working- knowledge in Chinese is required;
  • Working knowledge of another UN official language will be an asset.

Application:

  • 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 Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

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.