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.

The Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) leads the development of the strategies and work programme in the three key areas namely Intergovernmental Support, UN Coordination, Strategic Partnerships, Advocacy, Civil Society, Communications, Resource Mobilization , provides leadership and management guidance and oversight to the staff of the pillar in implementing the approved strategies and work programme. The ASG ensures that the work of the pillar is fully aligned with the vision of the ED, UN Women’s strategic framework and strategic plan, and that staff work to get his/ her closely across UN Women’s organizational units.

Summary of key functions

The Special Assistant to the ASG for Intergovernmental Support UN Women, will provide timely analytical information, coherent policy advice and will have a proven ability to work and act under pressure and with discretion in a sensitive and challenging environment. He/She has to have excellent communication and organization skills to manage the substantive and normative agenda.

Within the relevant delegated authority, the Special Assistant will be responsible for the following duties:

• Support the ASG for Inter-Governmental support and partnerships in the performance of his/her functions, including by the provision of sound policy inputs on issues as appropriate, to facilitate his/her representation with UN Women staff;
• Provide assistant to the ASG in the strategic management of the Bureau, liasing closely with in-house sections as well as key partners and stakeholders;
• Support the ASG for Inter-Governmental support and partnerships in his/ her interactions with other UN entities by working closely with liaison staff of senior officials of those entities;
• Manage the ASG’s  agenda; evaluating and keeping track of important events, meetings and advising his/ her of priorities and critical meetings requiring his/ her presence and making necessary arrangements for his/ her participation including the preparation of briefing documents, statements, papers, policies, etc.;
• Prepare outline and finalize  draft papers, speeches and talking points for the ASG. Prepare briefing folders and research for all background paper, that are necessary for ASG meetings. Provide editorial assistance by drafting, clearing and editing speeches, reports and correspondence;
• Participate with the ASG in public official engagements such as signatures/ ceremonies and those in the UN Common System ensuring that liaison has been maintainedwithin all the different sections in UN Women, determine if adequate representation is present and ensure all protocol arrangements are in place;
• Assist in the follow-up to meetings, including the preparation of relevant notes and briefing to staff, as appropriate;
• Research programmed and policy issues to assist ASG’s decisions related to Intergovernmental Support, UN Coordination and Partnerships;
• Assist in meeting deadlines related to organizational reports;
• Provide support to meetings and retreats, including preparation of agenda and minutes, ensuring the timely submission and circulation of relevant background documents and reports;
• Ensure the timely follow-up to the ASG’s directives, including the effective dissemination of pertinent information to senior management and other relevant staff at Headquarters and in other offices;
• Maintain close contacts with the Executive Director Office, the Policy and Programme Bureau and the Division of Management and Administration and bring to the attention of the ASG all matters requiring his/ her personal attention. Formulate options as to how those matters might be best handled and followed-up, as directed;
• Liaise with Division’s Directors and other managers within the bureau to ensure the smooth of timely flow of information and follow-up;
• Manage the planning and organization of the ASG’s official travel through coordination with relevant actors at Headquarters and UN Women country and regional offices. This includes the timely preparation of official travel files and background documents by the relevant divisions and units as well as prepare or ensure the preparation of official travel reports;
• Perform other official duties and special assignments which may be requested by the Executive Director.

Impact of results

The Key Results have an impact on the overall efficiency and success of Office of the Executive ASG for Intergovernmental Support and Partnerships , UN Women.   In particular, the key results will ensure overall coordination and will have an impact on the delivery of services. Results will contribute to ensure a coherent team, timely and effective delivery of UN Women activities.

Core values / Guiding principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity: 

• Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring:

• Self-development, initiative-taking.

Working in Teams:

• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

• Creating synergies through self-control.

Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements:

• Managing conflict.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of other.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

• Good planning, goal-setting and prioritization and organizational skills;
• Strong communication skills, both written and oral. excellent drafting skills with the ability to edit and clear reports, speeches and correspondences;
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills;
• Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all level of the organization;
• Demonstrate sensitivity, tact and diplomacy, comfortable with handling external relationships at all level;
• Work in a highly pressured environment;
• Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability.

Education:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in one of the following disciplines: social sciences, political science, international relations, business administration or management, public administration, or other related fields.

Experience:

• Seven years of progressively varied responsible experience with international organizations;
• Experience in the United Nations system will be an advantage;
• Experience of working on gender equality, women's rights and international development cooperation will be an asset;
• Previous experience in supporting head office management and coordination functions an asset.

Language:

• Written and oral proficiency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN working language is desirable.

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, please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document . 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.