Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women will work 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 centre of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The overall objective of the Office of the Focal Point for Women in the UN System is to further UN Women’s mandate to “lead, coordinate and promote the accountability of the United Nations System in its work on gender equality and the empowerment of women” at global, regional and country level. Enhancing gender parity within the UN System, as per Beijing Platform for Action (1995) and several UN General Assembly resolutions, is the key pillar of the Office’s mandate and work. The Office is responsible for leading, promoting and monitoring gender parity efforts within the UN system, including the network of UN Gender Focal Points.

The UN Secretary-General has brough the attainment of gender parity to the forefront of the UN’s priorities through his System-wide Strategy on Gender Parity, launched in 2017, calling for the UN System to meet parity targets at all levels by 2028. The Strategy, together with action and advocacy provided by UN Women, has accelerated efforts and work across the entire UN System.

The Office is responsible for leading, coordinating and supporting the network of nearly 400 Gender Focal Points (ST/SGB/2008/12) across the UN (pls see: https://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/gender-parity-in-the-united-nations/focal-points-for-women). This occurs amongst others by providing strategic leadership and advocacy to strengthen the UN System’s gender parity efforts through substantive guidance and capacity-building; by promoting greater awareness of gender parity and a gender-sensitive work environment; monitoring progress towards the achievement of gender parity; contributing to the development and realization of gender targets, policies and programmes; advising and supporting initiatives on gender sensitivity, work/life balance and career path strategies; and advising women staff on issues affecting their career development.

The Office also represents the Gender Focal Points and actively participates in several different UN configurations, as necessary, including in the High-Level Task Force to Address Sexual Harassment within the Organizations of the UN System, and the Secretary-General’s Working Group on Emergency Measures to Achieve Gender Parity in the field.

The Administrative Associate reports to the Senior Advisor/Focal Point for Women in the UN System for general guidance and supervision. The Administrative Associate is responsible for providing support to the Senior Advisor through the administration and execution of a variety of activities and transactions to ensure efficient flow of information and communication as well as to facilitate timely action and decision-making.

The Administrative Associate is also responsible for timely processing of payments, procurement proposals and other budgetary/administrative documents; travel arrangements for the Office; organization and coordination of meetings and events (administrative and coordination support in planning and implementation of activities, including informal briefings, side events, capacity building workshops etc.); collection, verification and organization of information, materials and documentation (incl. data and presentations) for the Senior Advisor’s easy use and support. 

Provide administrative support:

• Provide administrative and coordination support in planning, organization and implementation of diverse range of activities such as webinars, annual meetings, expert group meetings, workshops, town hall meetings and conferences, also involving extensive liaison with internal and external stakeholders, such as UN Member States and civil society representatives;
• Manage the Senior Advisor’s calendar of activities, events and travels. Prioritize and schedule requests for meetings. Follow appropriate protocol procedures in scheduling meetings and events;
• Arrange travel, hotel accommodations and other logistics for the Senior Advisor and gender parity team, as well as parity event related travel and logistics, such as for external participants;
• Collect, review and organize briefing materials for the Senior Advisor’s meetings, official missions and other activities, as requested.
• Preparation of official letters and similar communications materials, as requested, according to appropriate protocol procedures.

Provide administrative support on the financial and operational activities:

• Provide administrative and coordination support in the recruitment of gender parity and equality related consultants and processing contracts and timely payments for consultants, vendors and other service providers;
• In this regard, review and verify accuracy of supporting documents for payments. Submit systematic and regular financial report to the Senior Advisor for management monitoring and/or action;
• Review the Office’s operating budget to monitor expenditures for timely use as allocated and ensure compliance, completeness and accuracy of transactions according to rules, regulations, allocations and objectives. Keep the Senior Advisor informed for timely intervention and/or action;
• Maintain internal expenditures control system to ensure vouchers processed are matched and completed, as requested by the supervisor;
• Prepare and/or recommend budget revisions to the Senior Advisor’s budget.

Provide research, analysis and reporting support:

• Support research, data collection and evaluation of documents, summarize material, and support with analysis. Prepare background materials for assessment papers, studies, briefs, policies, legislation and reports related to gender parity, organizational culture, enabling environment initiatives and grievance resolution procedures/policies and the status of women in the UN system;
• Support work related to statistical data analysis on gender parity across the UN system and research on policies, rules and regulations, including collection of relevant statistics and data across the UN system, as needed. Support to ensure accuracy, clarity and validity.
• Provide support in the preparation of a variety of periodic and ad hoc reports, and other communications products related to the responsibilities of the Senior Advisor and Focal Point for Women in the UN System.

Provide information management and communication support:

• Provide administrative and coordination support in the communication, outreach and information dissemination to ensure that UN Women and other outside institutions benefit from good practices and lessons learned in addressing gender issues in the workplace;
• Populate and maintain an updated list of all Focal Points for Women and Gender Focal Points of the UN System;
• Maintain and update crucial databases related to gender parity, including data collection platforms and internet pages, as requested. Maintain and regularly check Focal Point email correspondence.
• Coordinate review and clearance process of publications with editors, designers, translation services, etc. on finalization and publication of reports in multiple languages, as requested;
• Review, prioritize and promptly route correspondence to and from the Senior Advisor. Take proactive follow-up action and keep the Senior Advisor and internal/external clients and stakeholders informed of status of the events and issues concerned. Respond and/or direct queries to the appropriate office or staff member for timely action and/or response. Type and/or design presentation materials and other documents for the Senior Advisor’s meetings and events, draft routine correspondence.
• Review and verify completeness of required documentation and/or clearances prior to submission for the Senior Advisor’s approval/signature, if necessary;
• Maintain and organize up to date hard and electronic files for easy access and retrieval. Ensure safekeeping of confidential materials;
• Recommend and/or establish systems and streamline procedures to enhance the flow of information/communication to and from the Senior Advisor;
• Follow up on deadlines, commitments made and actions taken. Coordinate the collection, verification, organization and/or submission of reports to and other briefing materials for the Senior Advisor.

Provide other support as requested by supervisor.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Administrative, budgetary and coordination support provided on time, on scope and on budget;
• Timely management of office systems such as calendars, procurement processes, HR, and finance.
• Timely and accurate support, planning and organization of events, webinars, workshops, and missions/travel;
• Events, webinars and meetings with few to no logistical or operational issues;
• Well managed lists and databases for easy and quick retrieval of information;
• Quality presentations, communications, and reports;
• Full compliance of administrative activities with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and procedures.

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 Values and Competencies Framework: 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:

• Strong organizational skills. Ability to perform a broad range of specialized activities aimed at effective and efficient functioning of the Office, including schedule/calendar management, maintenance of protocol, information flow and organization of events and webinars;
• Ability to process budgetary, travel and procurement related information and requested processes in a timely and accurate manner;
• Ability to organize a wide range of materials and information in a manner that is user-friendly; Ability to create, edit and present information in clear and presentable formats, using appropriate IT functionality;
• Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities and demonstrating flexibility, particularly in light of last minute requests;
• Ability to handle a large volume of work under time constraints;
• Accuracy and attention to detail in the analysis and presentation of data, policies and other information.
• Ability to work well in a team;
• Ability to provide input to business process re-engineering, elaboration and implementation of new data management systems;
• Accepts constructive feedback in a positive manner and is able to cope with setbacks. Maintains a proactive and positive attitude;
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and discretion. 

Education:

• Completion of secondary education is required; a university level degree is desirable, but not a requirement;
• Candidates who do not have a university degree or an accredited certification in the related field will be required to complete the Global General Service Test (GGST) or UN Administrative Support Assessment Test (ASAT) – formerly known as the UN Clerical Test.

Experience:

• A minimum of 6 years of administrative support and office management as well as progressive responsibility in the processing, analysis and presentation of data and information;
• Proven experience with budgetary and procurement processes; quantitative and qualitative analysis as well as proven written ability to draft reports and memoranda or alike;
• Background in international relations, and/or quantitative analysis is an advantage, but not required;
• Communications, graphic design, data visualization, and/or web experience would be desirable, but not required.
• Previous gender related work experience is desirable;

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Proficiency in another UN working language is desirable, but not required.

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.

GS fixed-term appointment (FTA) and temporary appointment (TA) positions located in New York are open to candidates who are either US Permanent Residents, US Citizens or holders of a valid G4 visa at the time of their application and whose G4 visa has been acquired on account of their employment in the UN Systems based in New York.

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.