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. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. 

Through its programmes and projects, UN Women is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental) in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, it facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life. According to its mandate, UN Women works in five thematic areas, such as leadership and participation, women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women, women peace and security and governance and national planning fully reflect accountability for gender equality commitments. UN Women is also the lead Agency in coordinating the UN Country Team on gender equality and is chairing the UN Group on gender equality.

Rural women in Albania face many challenges to their economic security, such as: lack of financial support, a weak access to secure land rights, a limited understanding of which businesses are profitable, limited availability to enter the labour force due to disproportionate engagement in unpaid activities and, high dependence from family members. Women’s contribution to agriculture in Albania is vital, with 54 percent of employed women working in this sector. However, such contribution often remains invisible because of the high levels of informality, which often leaves them without protection or social benefits.

To address some of these challenges UN Women, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and with the support of the Government of Italy, will implement the Gender Rural Equality and Tourism (GREAT) project, a three-year initiative that will contribute to rural women’s empowerment in Albania and will strengthen women’s roles and contribution to rural development. The project will be implemented primarily in the Regions of Shkoder, Vlore and Gjirokaster, contributing to sustainable economic development of rural women and their communities by increasing their income and ability to obtain work.

The project will aim to develop the capacities of rural women to develop their own business, to self-organize and register as local groups and to improve their access to finance. Simultaneously, GREAT will support targeted municipalities to prioritize and promote rural women’s businesses, rural tourism and value chain development. The project will promote a policy and legislative environment to strengthen women’s economic empowerment and their access to and control over productive assets.

The project GREAT was developed based on the needs identified by UN Women and FAO in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, following recommendations of different studies and country assessments undertaken these entities. Its main goals are aligned with the priorities of the Government and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS Tirana), in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its core principle of leaving no-one behind. UN Women is the implementing agency for this project with FAO as the main responsible party that will implement specific components. UN Women will engage relevant staff and expertise to ensure overall coordination, quality assurance, monitoring, reporting and evaluation of the project.

To support implementation of the project UN Women Country Office Albania is seeking to hire a National Project Manager. The Project Manager will support UN Women in the overall planning, implementation, coordination, reporting and evaluation of the interventions related to the above project.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women CO Albania Representative and the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist/Head of Programme Unit, the Project Manager will perform the below key functions.

• Provide substantive technical support to the implementation and management of the project;
• Manage capacity and financial resources of the project  
• Provide technical inputs to the monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the project;
• Provide substantive inputs to advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts for the project;
• Build Strategic Partnerships and contribute to Resource Mobilization Strategies for the continuation of project

1. Provide substantive technical support to the implementation and management of the project

• Lead implementation of ‘Gender Rural Equality and Tourism’ (GREAT) project in collaboration with the national partners, FAO, donors and other development actors, in accordance with UN Women rules and regulations and donor requirements;
• Formulation of project annual workplans as well as contribution to the Country Office Annual Work Plans within the area of responsibility, translating UN Women, GREAT project, and GoA priorities into national and local interventions;
• Assesses and coordinates appropriate implementation strategy in the execution of activities and engagement of project responsible parties; 
• Design, oversee, and coordinate the implementation of relevant project activities with partners and UN Women programme team;
• Provides technical support to UN Women implementing partners (FAO, government and NGOs) as well as consultants and collaborators, towards the achievement of intended results;
• Flags in a timely way issues of strategic concern and seeks advice from Programme Specialist in finding appropriate solutions;
• Contributes to the regular preparation of aggregate reports on activities, outputs and outcomes including preparation of donor reports.
• Provides technical advice and coordinates the project technical working group as well as the Steering Committee meetings;
• Contributes to the development of technical documents for the project, and clear action plans for the project activities;
• Leads the coordination of the call/request for proposals and selection process of partners, including formulation of TORs for responsible parties and other contractors,  capacity assessment of partners ; , submission for review to the local programme appraisal committee; partner agreements and letters of agreement with government and non-governmental partners as needed;
• Prepares specific thematic gender inputs, recommendations and briefs to decision makers in priority reform areas as needed;
• Provides programmatic and technical support to UN Women in Albania as deemed necessary; 

2. Manage capacity and financial resources of the project

• Manage the projects’ financial resources in accordance with UN Women rules and regulations and donor’s requirements;
• Monitor closely the procurement plans and the milestones for each procurement activity related to the project
• Mobilize competent national and international experts that are needed for the project activities. Draft Terms of reference for consultants and supervise and evaluate their performance in delivering required deliverables at the expected quality;
• Monitor project budget regularly and make budget re-alignments/ revisions, as necessary;
• Coordinate financial reporting to the donor as specified in the donor agreement and provide inputs and clarifications related to financial reports;
• Supervise the Project Assistant and coordinate with the rest the team contributing to the project;
• Manage programme files and support information collection and dissemination: ensure project documentation (filing) & communication is properly done, tracking system is in place for effective project closure.

3. Provide technical inputs to the monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the project

• Application of RBM tools in establishing management targets and monitoring achievement of results;
• Financial and substantive monitoring and evaluation of project activities, identification of operational and financial problems, development of solutions;
• Undertake regular monitoring missions to ensure timely delivery and quality of result and prepare reports on monitoring missions;
• Provide substantive inputs to the preparation of donor and UN Women reports; Preparation of donor reports as per donors’ requirements (Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (“AICS”) and inputs to audit reporting as needed;
• Provide the inputs to the office Quarterly Monitoring Reports (progress against planned activities and outputs);
• Ensure that progress reports from responsible parties are properly monitored in line with project outputs and timeline before approving;
• Provide inputs to the UN Programme of Cooperation for Sustainable Development mid-year and annual reviews and reports;
• Coordinate and organize the project mid-term review and contribute to the final project evaluation.

4. Provide substantive inputs to advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts for the project

• Develop background documents, project summaries, conference papers, briefing notes and presentations related to the project;
• Coordinate and organize advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products in cooperation with Communications, Programme and Operations Units;
• Work with the communication officer at the Country Office to ensure public information on project implementation;
• Coordinate the development of knowledge products planned under the project and more broadly on women’s economic empowerment;
• Provide inputs to programme related products, including updates to various stakeholders and donor as requested;
• Provide other team members with updated information and knowledge on GREAT project.

5. Builds Strategic Partnerships and contribute to Resource Mobilization Strategies for the continuation of project

• Creates strategic partnerships with stakeholders on national and local level and other partners; Liaises with governmental officials, civil society, academia, media, UN Agencies and the donors to meet their information needs, to enhance collaboration, resource mobilization and policy agenda setting in support for the project;
• Seeks and incorporates synergies with similar initiatives on country level;
• Provide substantive inputs to the Country Office resource mobilization strategies for the continuation of the project or new similar projects: draft concept notes and follow-up on resource mobilization efforts at the country level in coordination with the Programme Specialist and the Country Representative;
• Make linkages between the SDG priority targets and the implementation of GREAT project;
• Coordinate with FAO and other UN Agencies and participate in UN results groups, other working groups as well as in meetings and activities on behalf of UN Women, as needed;
• Participate and contribute in meetings with stakeholders and project partners, as well as in donor coordination meetings and public information events, as delegated;
• Promote and advocate for the project in the media as agreed with the National Programme Specialist, in relevant national seminars, meetings of working groups and panels;

Any other tasks and responsibilities as assigned.

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: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

• Demonstrated development/programming skills particularly those that are pertinent to UN Women strategic priorities on gender issues and women’s rights;
• Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects;
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them for development results;
• Good knowledge on women’s economic empowerment including as applied to rural and agricultural development; Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings and recommendations;
• Good knowledge of Results Based Management and results reporting; 
• Ability to establish and maintain broad strategic networks and partnerships with UN agencies and other international partners to promote partnership and build alliances to advance organizational interests and competencies;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy and technical advice;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (both oral and written);
• Strong organizational and time management skills;
• Strong analytical skills and team building skills;
• Ability to handle conflict and sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner; and 
• Capacity to work under pressure and to meet strict deadlines;

Required Skills and Experience

Education/Academic requirements:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in sustainable development areas, rural economic development, public administration, gender, social studies or related fields;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in in development programme/project implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting and capacity building; (A minimum of 7 years’ experience if education is Bachelor’s degree);
• Experience in the area of women’s economic empowerment, gender-sensitive work in rural development and tourism related contexts; ·
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is an asset.
• Experience in the use of computers and office software packages and handling of web-based management systems.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Albanian.

Application Procedure:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via the Jobs website: http://www.al.undp.org/content/albania/en/home/operations/jobs.html  Applications should contain:

• Cover letter stating your interest in and qualifications for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the online application.
• Completed and signed UN Women Personal History Form - http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment

Please make sure you have provided all requested documents.

How to Submit the Application:

To submit your application online, please follow the following steps:

• Download and complete the UN Personal History Form (P11);
• Merge your UN Personal History Form (P11) and cover letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
• Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click “Submit Application;”
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system

Special consideration  

As this position is under Service Contract modality, only citizens of Albania and those holding valid working permit in Albania will be considered for the vacancy.

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.