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.

In Nepal, UN Women focuses on strengthening women’s voice, agency and leadership across sectors to advance women’s rights, provide space for women’s meaningful participation, and contribute to tangible differences in their lives. Under the overarching Nepal Country Office’s Strategic Note (SN) for the period 2018-2022, UN Women focuses on two programmatic areas, inclusive governance and women’s economic empowerment.

In prioritizing gender responsive and inclusive governance, UN Women Nepal seeks to advance women’s political empowerment and leadership and enhance women’s access to justice in Nepal’s federal structure. Towards this goal, UN Women will work with elected officials, civil servants and citizens at all levels. The approach will extend beyond policy and law reform, to implementation and monitoring of policies, supporting the development of plans and budgets, enhancing the capacity of key government officials, and promoting gender equality and social inclusion in local governance. In addition, UN Women will work together with excluded groups to support their active participation and enable their voices to be heard. UN Women also seeks to advance women’s economic empowerment by promoting increased income security, better jobs and economic independence of women and girls, especially those from vulnerable and excluded groups. For this purpose, UN Women will foster an enabling environment at home and in the community to address discriminatory social and economic norms and structural barriers, to ensure gender-responsiveness in the development and implementation of macroeconomic and sectoral policies, and to leverage women’s income generation capacity for advancing their empowerment and leadership. By adopting a substantive equality approach to women’s economic empowerment, UN Women aims to deepen its support beyond enhancing the skills and economic competency of women, to also addressing the social dimensions of their challenges and inequalities.

Throughout its work, UN Women seeks to contribute to transforming discriminatory social norms and eliminating harmful practices and behaviours, including violence against women. All of the above contribute to fulfilling Nepal's obligations to international treaties and commitments, including regular reporting on progress related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Beijing Platform for Action (BpFA) and to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The Programme Specialist will play a key strategic leadership and management role in an expanding area of UN Women’s work in Nepal with an estimated financial portfolio of approximately USD 4-5 million annually. The scope of work requires experience and in-depth understanding of gender equality and women's empowerment with thematic expertise on inclusive governance and women’s economic empowerment to translate UN Women's Strategic Note 2018-2022 into effective programmes and results.

Reporting to the Deputy Representative, the Programme Specialist exercises overall responsibility for planning, implementing, and managing UN Women interventions under his/her portfolio.  She/he works in close collaboration with operations team, UN Women HQ staff, Government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under portfolio.   

Duties and Responsibilities

1.  Provide programme development advisory services and develop programmes in the area of inclusive governance and women’s economic empowerment

• Oversee and manage the design and formulation of programme proposals and initiatives; Identify programmatic areas for support and interventions within the thematic/sectorial areas using a feminist and LNOB (leaving no one behind) lens;
• Manage the implementation and monitoring of the NCO strategy on inclusive and gender responsive governance (GRIG) and women’s economic empowerment in the federal governance context
• Finalize country strategy documents, programme/ project proposals, briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to ;
• Organize periodic consultations with key stakeholders, women leaders, human rights experts and UN partners to gather inputs on programme design, as necessary.

2.  Manage the implementation and management of programmes on inclusive governance and women’s economic empowerment

• Finalize the annual workplan and budget and manage their implementation;
• Provide programme advisory support to the Office Management within the thematic area/portfolio assigned;
• Manage the technical implementation of the programme/ project; provide technical advice; ensure synergies with other teams;
• Review the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports as required;
• Provide guidance to staff and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators;
• Lead Project Steering Committee, project review and/or evaluation meetings.

3. Oversee technical assistance and capacity development to project/programme partners

• Oversee partner selection, provide technical advice to partners; and provision of technical guidance by the team
• Build, manage, and expand relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the inclusive governance and women’s economic empowerment programme; respond to any potential problems;
• Serve as an expert resource to partners on women’s empowerment and gender equality;
• Implement and oversee capacity building opportunities and initiatives;
• Provide partners with advanced technical assistance, training and capacity development initiatives.

4.  Manage the monitoring and reporting of the programme/ project

• Manage the process of monitoring the programme/ project implementation of activities and finances using results-based management tools;
• Finalize quarterly reports and donor reports, focusing on results, output and outcomes;
• Write office donor and UN Women reports.

5.  Manage the people and financial resources of the programme unit

• Manage the programme budget and finalize financial reports;
• Manage Programme Analyst and Technical Specialists; mentor and coach staff and conduct performance assessments;
• Oversee recruitment processes, as necessary.

6.  Build partnerships and support in advancing resource mobilization strategies

• Advance and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Finalize relevant documentation on donors and develop potential opportunities for resource mobilization;
• Analyze and research information on donors, finalize substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost sharing.

7.  Manage inter-agency coordination to achieve a coherent and aligned presence for the UNDAF 2018 -2022 implementation

• Provide substantive technical support to the Representative and Deputy Representative on inter-agency coordination related activities by attending meetings, events, and participating in groups and committees;
• Coordinate with other UN agencies, government departments, donors and NGOs to ensure the projects’ capacity development programme is harmonized and aligned with other in-country efforts;
• Take part in country level Common Country Assessment (CCA)/ United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) processes and similar exercises related to the RC system;
• Prepare substantive inputs to CCA/ UNDAF and other documents, as necessary.

8.  Lead advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts

• Represent UN Women in meetings and policy dialogues on issues related to inclusive governance and women’s economic empowerment ;
• Manage advocacy strategies and their implementation;
• Identify best practices and lessons learned to guide programme improvement and strategy planning;
• Lead the development of knowledge management strategies and methodologies and products on inclusive governance and women’s economic empowerment.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality programme strategies and contributions to Strategic Note
• Timely and quality of programme delivery in line with budget, workplans and the Strategic Note
• Strong and clear leadership/ supervision of team
• Partners and other stakeholder provide positive feedback on advisory and technical services
• Quality reports and timely submission
• Quality of advocacy, communication and knowledge management initiatives
• Resources mobilized
• Strong relationships with donors, partners and other stakeholders

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

Functional Competencies

• Excellent programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them
• Excellent knowledge of human rights-based approach to programming and results-based management
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Excellent knowledge in thematic area inclusive governance and women’s economic empowerment
• Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation
• Strong networking skills
• Ability to negotiate and interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, economics, international development, or a related field 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.
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage

Work Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• Technical experience on inclusive governance and women’s economic empowerment
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is an asset;
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset;
• Experience in leading/managing a team is an asset:
• Experience working in developing countries and federal contexts is an asset.

Language Requirement:

• Fluency in English is required
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset;
• Knowledge of Nepali is an asset.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558. 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.