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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 role of the Regional Office (RO) is threefold: (a) to empower and support country level capacity and processes to deliver on the UN Women mandate; (b) to oversee country and regional based mandate delivery across normative, policy, advocacy and UN Coordination roles; and (c) to deliver on the UN Women mandate at the regional level by leveraging regional coordination mechanisms and liaising closely with other regional bodies.

The UN Women Regional Office for West and Central Africa is leading and supporting strategic programme development and policy advice; oversight, programme and operational support; intergovernmental support; UN inter-agency coordination for gender equality; representation and advocacy and the maintenance of strategic partnerships.

Reporting to the Deputy Executive Directors, the Regional Director is responsible for leading and managing the RO and for providing leadership and managerial oversight in the region on the direction, strategic design and planning of UN Women regional initiatives as well as contribution to and integration of UN Women interventions in the broader UN development framework and reform. The Regional Director is also responsible for providing managerial support, guidance and oversight of the RO, Multi-Country Offices (MCO) and Country Offices (CO) programme implementation and operations (financial, human resources and administrative), and for political, advocacy, strategic partnership, resource mobilization and representation activities to promote UN Women goals, competencies, interests and objectives.

Manage the strategic direction of the Regional Office and the region:

• Develop and manage the implementation of UN Women’s regional vision and strategy;
• Identify programme opportunities, approaches, and modalities; make recommendations on regional programme strategies;
• Provide direction in the formulation of high quality and relevant regional and country programmes and projects;
• Lead the establishment of the regional annual work plans in collaboration and discussion with the regional team;
• Lead the RO senior management team; contribute to UN Women’s senior management meetings in strategic planning and formulation of regional and global policy and strategies;
• Coordinate and provide strategic leadership to the CO/MCO Representatives on the organization’s response in countries facing major new, on-going armed or post-conflict settings and/or natural humanitarian emergencies, facilitating linkages between humanitarian and development programming for enhanced and sustainable impact;
• Provide strategic support to the CO/MCO Representatives in the preparation, implementation and monitoring of a coherent and comprehensive humanitarian needs overview and work plan for the broader humanitarian response.

Oversee programme management and monitoring of the projects/programmes in the Region:

• Oversee the overall management of the programmes in Region;
• Lead the regional programme and project planning and review processes to ensure that financial resource allocations, organizational structure and staff planning are in line with programme needs;
• Lead and oversee the appraisal and approval of UN Women programmes;
• Lead and guide the RO’s consolidated and coordinated programme, policy and normative support and technical advisory services to country offices in the region;
• Monitor and ensure the appropriate utilization of resources of regional programmes and projects that are managed by the Regional Office.

Lead the management of human and financial resources of the Regional Office:

• Provide managerial direction, guidance and leadership. Ensure effective workforce planning and timely recruitments; Manage the performance of personnel under their supervision; provide ongoing performance and career development feedback, timely completion of performance assessments and coaching;
• Ensure that personnel are familiar with and follow UN Women’s regulations and rules, policies and procedures in the Policy, Procedures and Guidance Framework (PPG); Ensure personnel are aware in particular or of UN Women’s standards of conduct including but not limited to policies and procedures on preventing, reporting and addressing misconduct, Fraud and Corruption, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) Harassment, Sexual Harassment, Discrimination and abuse of authority, Protection from retaliation, and ensure mechanisms are in place to support personnel in this regard;
• Promote teamwork to ensure harmonization, linkages, collaboration and synergy; Ensure a respectful, inclusive safe and healthy work environment for personnel;
• Lead and manage the regional budget preparation and submission process to ensure budget proposals are correctly presented and submitted;
• Establish and oversee the Regional Office security strategy, plan, and measures to ensure the protection and security of UN Women’s staff, eligible dependents, property and operations;
• Oversee the implementation of the Security Mainstreaming & Compliance and Business Continuity Management and Organizational Resilience requirements;
• Ensure all personnel are made fully aware of safety and security procedures and policies and undertake mandatory training.

Advocate for UN Women’s mandate and lead UN Inter-Agency coordination and intergovernmental support:

• Consult and/or engage senior partners in the UN Regional Collaborative Platform /UN system, and Regional Development Team (RDT), in programming, policy discussions, agenda setting and to actively promote gender equality and women's empowerment issues and its integration in UN programming processes;
• Coordinate and oversee the preparation of reports for presentation to inter-governmental bodies such as the Commission on the Status of Women, Economic and Social Council, the General Assembly and other policy-making organs;
• Review and endorse reports prior to submission to the Deputy Executive Director;
• Represent, lead, coordinate and contribute to strategic and policy discussion on gender equality, and women empowerment issues within the UN system, intergovernmental, international, regional and national conferences and meetings and advocate for UN Women's policy and initiatives;
• Represent UN Women with governments, UN agencies, NGOs, academia, media and the private sector to raise awareness and stimulate action to advance gender equality and women's rights.

Lead strategic partnership building and oversee resource mobilization strategies:

• Maximize partnership opportunities to mobilize resources for UN Women programmes and initiatives;
• Oversee the development and management of regional resource mobilization strategies, plans and efforts in the region;
• Provide strategic direction, advice and guidance to Country Representatives in mobilizing resources for their COs;
• Oversee CO’s partnership agreements including cost sharing agreements in line with the corporate Delegation of Authority; Provide COs with donor intelligence;
• Finalize donor reports from COs for quality assurance and compliance.

Participate in knowledge management and capacity building efforts:

• Ensure regular assessments of regional and country strategic and implementation plans;
• Lead the design, collection, and dissemination of knowledge products and promote knowledge sharing and building.

Key Performance Indicators: 

• Timely and quality development and guidance of clear regional strategy.
• Timely achievement of programme results across the region in line with the UN Women Strategic Plan.
• Regional Office performs against set plans and standards; performance of staff.
• Quality and timely advice and direction to Country Representatives.
• Increased awareness and incorporation of UN Women’s mandate into government and UN system programming/initiatives.
• Timely and quality reporting, knowledge products and donor proposals.
• Timely and quality recommendations and strategic insight to HQ on region.
• Funds mobilized for the region.

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to envision and lead the strategic direction for UN Women in the region;
• Demonstrated knowledge and ability to lead teams and adapt to rapidly changing humanitarian and emergency contexts, as well as protracted crises;
• Excellent programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Excellent knowledge of Results Based Management principles and approaches;
• Ability to lead fund raising strategies and activities and proactively engage with the multilateral and bilateral donor community;
• Demonstrated political acumen and technical capacity in representing the organization effectively in national and international fora to advocate and to promote organizational priorities, initiatives;
• Strong knowledge of the Region;
• Strong knowledge of UN system.

Education: 

• Master's degree (or equivalent) in a development-related area, including economics, public policy or other social science 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.
• A project/programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience: 

• At least 15 years of progressively responsible development experience that combines intellectual, strategic and managerial leadership in development programmes some of which should be in the area of gender equality, preferably in developing countries within the UN system, Agencies, Funds, Programmes, or UN Mission;
• Experience with managing, supporting and overseeing development policy-making, programme and operations management, resource mobilization and partnership creation;
• Experience with leading a team;
• Leadership experience in humanitarian and/or armed conflict settings.

Languages: 

• Fluency in English is required;
• Fluence in French is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language 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/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc 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.

Notes:

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.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)