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.

The Policy Division develops and implements the UN Women programme of work on analysis, research and knowledge management that provides the evidence base for the advice and guidance UN Women provides to the intergovernmental process, the UN system, and to UN Women staff working at country and regional level. It identifies emerging issues and trends, and develops and proposes new strategies for achieving the agreed goals through innovative approaches and lessons learned about what works in practice.

The Policy Division undertakes issues-based research; analyzes data on country, regional or global trends; builds a knowledge base on policy commitments and their implementation; proposes evidence-based options for global policy, norms and standards and for UN Women’s flagship programmes; and contributes substantive inputs to policy advocacy and technical cooperation programmes.

Under the European Union’s Partnership Instrument, UN Women is co-creating an innovative project on women’s economic empowerment in G7 countries that will be implemented over a period of three years. The project’s guiding platform are the Women’s Empowerment Principles, established by the UN Global Compact and UN Women. The project has two main objectives: (1) Facilitate dialogues and exchanges among G7 countries' public and private sector; and (2) Further engage with the private sector in the elimination of gender inequality faced by women in the world of work.

Under the direct supervision of the Chief of Economic Empowerment, the Policy Advisor –Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP) - is responsible for providing advice on normative and policy components and leading overall project implementation, including advocacy efforts, multi-stakeholder policy dialogues, partnership building, capacity-building, and knowledge creation and learning on women’s economic empowerment. S/he will develop the project work plan and budget, and oversee day-to-day management of project activities. The Policy Advisor will also be responsible for managing the policy team working on this initiative.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide substantive policy advice on women’s economic empowerment and the Women’s Empowerment Principles

• Lead policy development on the Women’s Empowerment Principles;

• Develop policy strategies in line with the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs);

• Develop tools, guidelines and manuals for the WEPs;

• Provide thematic inputs and guidance to corporate strategic planning and positioning;

   

Manage advocacy on internationally agreed principles and guidelines

• Research, develop and/or present policy papers, practice notes/concepts and other knowledge based-tools for discussion in global and regional forums to help influence/advance policy dialogue Develop and update partner country fact sheets on women’s economic empowerment;

• Develop and spearhead global advocacy campaigns on women’s economic empowerment.

   

Lead multi-stakeholder policy dialogues

• Provide technical and policy leadership when UN Women participates in, convenes, or leads interagency group on women’s economic empowerment policy-related areas;

• Lead the development of policy advice for the multi-stakeholder policy dialogues;

• Establish and lead advisory groups of thought leaders in business, government, parliament, academia and civil society in various sectors and industries;

• Organize action-driven dialogues during key national and global summits;

• Build a knowledge base for the effective work of the project’s advisory groups;

   

Lead initiatives and campaigns related to Capacity building of companies on WEPs

• Manage the WEPs secretariat function within the project team;

• Lead the organization of the annual WEPs event in the margins of the Commission on the Status of Women;

• Develop a comprehensive communication toolkit for the WEPs;

• Carry out WEPs training and capacity building for companies;

• Incentivize companies to publicly report on progress against WEPs implementation;

• Manage the group of companies reporting publicly on an online platform;

   

Provide policy advice on women’s rights and access to economic opportunities

• Build capacity of women to claim their economic rights;

• Manage UN Women’s virtual skills school and create a pipeline of qualified women and link them with quality jobs and corporate value chains;

• Establish linkages between and promote EU and G7 women’s business associations and networks;

   

Lead partnership building initiatives

• Mobilize resources from private sector partners and other donors;

• Collaborate with relevant UN Women teams, such as Regional Offices and project managers of other EU Partnership Instrument funded projects and programmes, including in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Asia, and with UN Women National Committees in the project countries;

• Develop extensive networks of stakeholders for women’s economic empowerment, including with private sector, government, parliament, academia, research institutions, civil society and experts to expand and share knowledge, exchange views on latest findings, incorporate cutting-edge thinking into the project implementation;

   

Represent UN Women in forums

• Represents the UN Women at policy making multi-stakeholder, inter-agency, inter-governmental and international technical and advocacy fora;

• Participates in international, regional or national meetings and provides programmatic/substantive expertise on an issue, or hold programmatic/substantive and organizational discussions with representatives of other institutions.

   

Lead Knowledge and learning initiatives

• Contribute substantively to the knowledge management and development of capacity building of UN Women Programme staff in the Sustainable Development area of focus;

• Develop and maintain rosters of gender experts who can support the project with technical advice.

• Establish and lead global and sectoral communities of practice that promote collaboration, peer support, consultation and innovation, replication of good practices.

   

Manage the Women’s Empowerment Principles Team

• Manage the performance of staff and ensure compliance to the performance management process;

• Promote teamwork and establish a working environment that is conducive to delivering results;

• Manage financial resources and take responsibility for the integrity of financial systems and consistent application of the internal control framework and/or UN Women/UN rules and regulations;

• Identify and integrate efficiency gains and cost reductions in all operations;

• Build staff capacity through planned training, learning programs, mentoring and coaching;

• Support strategic evaluations and that learning from evaluations

• Oversee security requirements for team

• Develop annual workplan and budget for the programme. Monitor progress on activities and expenditure.

• Finalize reports
   

Key Performance Indicators
The successful performance of the Policy Advisor of the key functions directly result in effective and strategic development, implementation and management of a high quality programme and achievement of high quality results which in turn directly impact on the credibility and image of UN Women as an effective and efficient partner and as the leading knowledge-based technical and advocacy organization for gender equality and the empowerment of women.

• Timely and quality implementation of the policy advocacy campaigns and multistakeholder dialogues;
• UN Women is considered a reliable and trustworthy partner, providing substantial inputs to progress UN women’s mandate;
• Timely and quality donor reporting;
• Delivery of quality knowledge products;
• Performance of staff.

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: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Substantive knowledge related to current policies and practices in the area of women’s economic empowerment and the WEPs;
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision from the spectrum of development experience;
• Strong oral and written communications skills, with proven expertise in writing cogent and convincing policy and programme documents;
• Proven analytical and problem-solving skills;
• Ability to leverage information technology, executive information systems, management techniques and tools for optimal office performance;
• Excellent planning, goal-setting and prioritization skills;
• Demonstrated effectiveness in establishing and fostering good relations with representatives of government, corporations, academia, UN entities, donors, and civil society;

Proven track record of excellent management and technical leadership skills and ability to delegate appropriate responsibility

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master's degree (or equivalent) in Economics or related field.

Experience:

• 10 years of extensive development experience that combines intellectual, strategic and managerial leadership in policy analysis, dialogue and advocacy, capacity-building and knowledge management on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment;
• Familiarity with the WEPs is an advantage.

Language Requirements:

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