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.

UN Women’s presence in the Republic of Moldova has evolved from being a project-based office in 2007 to a Country Office (CO) with full delegated authority as of 2015. Currently, UN Women Moldova Country Office is implementing its Strategic Note (SN) for 2018-2022, which is aligned with the Republic of Moldova–United Nations Partnership Framework for Sustainable Development 2018–2022 and the Global Strategic Plan of UN Women. Under its SN, UN Women cooperates closely with the government, civil society, academia, private sector and the media to advance social, economic and political rights and opportunities for women and girls, placing special focus on those from marginalized, excluded and under-represented groups. These include rural women, Romani women, women with disabilities, women living with or affected by HIV, women survivors of violence, women migrants, elderly women and others. UN Women’s operation in Moldova focuses on bringing about concrete change in the lives of women and the society towards the long-term impact of achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the country. Specifically, the SN2018-2022 and the Annual Work Plan for 2018 will advance progress under the following three Impact Areas (IA): IA1: More women from diverse groups fully participate and lead in governance processes and institutions, IA2: Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy, IA3: Public authorities, institutions and communities prevent violence against women and girls and deliver quality essential services. Towards these Impact Areas, UN Women works with variety of national and international partners to challenge gender-based stereotypes and towards the creation of an environment, whereby women act as key agents of change towards greater equality and development, in partnership with men and boys. Apart from development/operational work in the three above mentioned areas, UN Women is an active member of UN Country Team and plays important role in coordinating development partners in the area of gender equality and women’s rights.

During this period, the office has heavily invested in the human resources capacity creation and development. Currently, UN Women Moldova Office composes of 20 staff and key consultants: Country Representative (Int’l), Programme Specialist, Operations Manager, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Communications Specialist, Programme Coordinator on EVAW, Programme Coordinator on Women Political Participation, Project Officer, Finance Associate, Administrative Assistant, Procurement Associate, Communications associate, 2 Admin clerk/drivers, 4 Programme Associates, a National Consultant on Donor’s Gender Aid Coordination and a National Consultant on EVAW and multidisciplinary teams.

UN Women Moldova Country Office is committed to staff capacity development and as part of the Learning and Development Plan it aims to develop leadership and managerial skills among its senior managers through Effective Leadership training and Executive Coaching. The purpose of conducting Effective Leadership training program is to give managers the building blocks to recognize the traits and styles of effective leaders, sharpen existing leadership skills, and master new strengths with the main focus directed on strengthening leadership and change agent qualities, building on participants’ strengths to overcome weaknesses, improving communication and influencing skills for effective communication at all levels, building a winning team by becoming an effective team leader etc.

This training is then followed by Executive Coaching Programme that would support Senior Managers in a) managing time, priorities, and work; b) clarifying and applying professional development and career planning c) assessing leadership strengths, improvement areas and performance opportunities d) building effective teams etc.

UN Women Moldova is looking for an international consultant (professional coach) that could provide the required executive coaching services tailored to specific needs of the office. Such executive coaching services shall be rendered over a ten-months period between March 2019 and December 2019.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Office, the international consultant (professional coach) is expected to:

1) Develop and implement Effective Leadership training and Executive Coaching Programme tailored to UN Women Moldova needs;

2) Using variety of learning techniques conduct 3 days Effective Leadership face-to-face training for the Moldova team:

• Provide a Programme outline and reference material to participants;
• Assist participants to develop their own individual action plans with specific outcomes and timelines, for results-orientated service delivery.

3) As part of developing leadership and managerial skills among its Senior Managers identify and prioritize developmental issues and goals with an action plan through Executive Coaching Programme:

• In coordination with Senior Management identify one or two measurable results and areas for coaching for each participant;
• Use existing assessment tools and design a questionnaire to identify gaps in management area if needed;
• Provide each coachee (8 in total) with up to 17 one-on-one hourly coaching sessions spread over a period of 8 months (of which up to 9 hours – in person and up to 8 hours – virtual coaching sessions);
• Develop personal goals aligned with the increased level of responsibility and a clear plan to achieve these goals;
• Provide tools and techniques to improve prioritization of responsibilities, tasks and strategic focus;
• Develop team leader skills, including through advising on successful practices to manage and coordinate effective teams;
• Stress management and improved work/life balance;
• Development of long-term career objectives;
• Provide detailed feedback to coachees on the result of the Executive Coaching and follow-up recommendations as appropriate;
• Provide overall report and feedback on the Programme as well on the results of the coaching.

Make recommendations as appropriate for coachees who still require development in further areas. 

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

1. Effective Leadership training and Executive Coaching Programme tailored to UN Women Moldova needs developed and implemented;
2. A plan of actions for coaching up to 8 (eight) staff members during an eight-months period developed and implemented;
3. Final report on the broad themes and areas of interventions, prioritized in coaching sessions maintaining client confidentiality, including patterns and trends.

DURATION:

The total duration of this assignment is tentatively planned for up to 10 months starting with March 2019 with task being accomplished by end of December 2019, with an estimated number of working days not to exceed 35, of which up to 18 days – mission to Moldova and up to 17 days – home-based.

MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS

Organizational Setting: The International Consultant will work under overall guidance and supervision of the UN Women Moldova Head of Office.

Contributions: UN Women will put at the disposal of selected international consultant all available materials and necessary information for tasks achievement and will facilitate the meetings, as needed. 

TRAVEL

During assignment’s related missions, UN Women Moldova office will cover travel cost for international consultant for the agreed upon routing and in conformity with UN Women applicable rules and regulations. Daily subsistence allowance will be paid to the international consultant at the applicable rate:

• Flight costs will be covered at economy class rate as per UN Women policies;
• DSA applicable for nights spent in Moldova at UN standard rates.

Throughout the assignment, the International Consultant is expected to conduct up to 4 missions to Moldova, tentatively in April, June, September and November.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

International Consultant’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS

Payments will be disbursed to the international consultant in quarterly installments, upon submission of timesheets and approval of deliverables set forth in Section “Expected Outputs and Deliverables” above and certification by the UN Women Moldova Head of Office that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

Competencies

Core Values:

• 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;
• Cultural sensitivity and respect for diversity - Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Additionally, the individual should have an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Communication - Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication;
• Planning & Organizing – Develops clear goals in line with agreed strategies, identifies priorities, foresees risks and makes allowances accordingly;
• Organizational Awareness - Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
• Teamwork - Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Accountability – Takes ownership of all responsibilities and delivers outputs in accordance with agreed time, cost and quality standards.

Functional Competencies:

• Proven networking skills, demonstrating ability to build Strategic Partnerships by maintaining a network of contacts for general information sharing and being up-to-date on partnership-related issues;
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with UN Staff members;
• Strong negotiating skills.

Behavioral Competencies:

• Strong analytical and interpersonal skills;
• Strong initiative-taker;
• Focuses on impact and results for client;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Advanced degree in social sciences or relevant area.

Experience

• At least 10 years’ expertise in designing and facilitating Executive Coaching to national and international coaches;
• Substantive international experience in facilitating workshops on leadership skills and organizational development;
• Well-developed skills and demonstrated experience in facilitation, consensus-building, multi-stakeholder dialogue processes, mediation, negotiation;
• Experience of conducting Executive Coaching for International Development Sector Organizations;
• Experience of working with UN Women is an asset.

Specific requirements are:

• Coaching Methodology: Columbia University model of coaching or similar taking account of a client's strategic context and environment, the success factors and expectations for the client, and how to support the client to translate aspirations and goals into reality;
• Coaching tools: Evidence from multiple perspectives from 360-degree feedback and other available data (for example, interviews, performance reports); evidence from diagnostic tools suc3h as personality preferences (for example, FIRO-B, Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation - Behavior).

Language:

• Fluency in spoken and written English required.

Application Process and submission package

Interested candidates are invited to submit their online applications by 12 March2019 with the following documents.

• Letter of Intent to include a brief overview about which of your previous experiences makes you the most suitable candidate for the advertised position;
• Duly filled Personal History Form P11 and the CV, including records on past experience in similar projects/ assignments and specific outputs obtained; P11 can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Financial proposal – specifying a total lump sum amount for the task specified in Terms of References. The Financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (daily rate).  Please see ANNEX I and ANNEX II following this link http://sc.undp.md/jobdetails/1797/  .