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.

Japan has become one of UN Women’s top donors and has strengthened its focus on gender equality over the past few years. Recognizing the importance of Japan in development assistance, a UN Women Japan Liaison Office (JLO) was established in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo in 2015. A UN Women presence in Japan provides a strategic entry point and an opportunity to liaise with the Government of Japan, parliamentarians and key decision makers, the UN Women National Committee in Japan, the private sector, the media, academic and civil society. It is also an opportunity to work closely with other UN entities based in Tokyo.  The work of the UN Women Japan Liaison Office is shaped to contribute to UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2014-2017.

The strategic focus is on resource mobilization and partnership development in the area of public and political advocacy with, and substantive support to, Japan on issues pertaining to UN Women’s mandate to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment and rights.

Under the supervision of the Director of the Japan Liaison Office (JLO), the Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Specialist will provide technical support to the development and coordination of JLO’s strategic partnerships with its all stake holders, in particular with the public sector, as well as enhance the cooperation with Bunkyo-ku with a view to increasing the visibility of the partnership. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Develop and coordinate UN Women’s strategic partnerships in Japan:

  • Assist and coordinate relationships with key partners, in particular with the public sector; provide technical inputs to senior management’s efforts to develop new and innovative partnerships;
  • Set and monitor annual priorities, goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for the JLO’s partnerships;
  • Provide strategic advice to the senior management on building and maintaining partnerships and positioning with potential donors in Japan;
  • Assist to design and implement of effective advocacy strategies and methods for proactive and strategic targeting of partners and donors in Japan.

Coordinate and facilitate the implementation of, resource mobilization strategies and initiatives related to Japan:

  • Manage the development and implementation of differentiated, donor fund-raising strategies, aligned and coordinated with country-level activities initiatives and outreach activities;
  • Develop targeted products and initiatives to mobilize programmatic resources and attract additional Japanese donors’ funding,
  • Gather information on project/programmes pipelines and corresponding resource needs through close collaboration with Headquarters, Regional and Country Office counterparts;
  • Provide technical support to the development of project proposals in line with the UN Women’s strategy and the interest of the Japanese donors;
  • Undertake ad-hoc donor studies, research, and other activities to identify funding opportunities; update the resources mobilization strategy as needs emerge.

Build trust and maintain effective relationships with donors:

  • Provide technical support to the Director of JLO and other senior managers in the preparation of missions, meetings and other consultations with donors, including the preparation of notes, briefs and other materials;
  • Act as a direct entry point for potential and existing donors including Bunkyo-ku, building institutional relationships;
  • Provide regular updates on donor profiles, databases (e.g. contacts management) and donor intelligence;
  • Identify opportunities to secure additional non-core resources;
  • Provide technical support the drafting and review of partner-specific Framework Arrangements and Cost Sharing Agreements; and the preparation of brief funding proposals and concept notes, where appropriate.

Coordinate the submission of high quality and timely reports to Donors:

  • Liaise with and provide technical support to the managers of the Japanese funded programmes in Headquarters, Regional and Country Offices;
  • Lead the preparation of the donor report on non-core resources received by JLO.

Provides advice and support to strengthen internal resource mobilization capacity:

  • Support UN Women offices on resource mobilization procedures and guidelines as well as funding modalities for potential doors from Japan;
  • Help developing JLO’s communication products, packages and positions.

Participate in knowledge building and sharing and advocacy efforts:

  • Contribute to the development of knowledge products and mechanisms to effectively position UN Women in Japan wherever possible;
  • Share knowledge and enhance organizational learning among UN Women Headquarters, regional and country offices through the development and use of on-line tools, templates, tips, mechanisms and guidelines;
  • Monitor emerging issues in Japan that could affect partnerships and resource mobilization at the national or regional and global levels (risk management).

Key Performance Indicators:

  • Timely attention and response to UN Women’s partners and donors;
  • Quality inputs to resource mobilization strategy and timely support to Country Offices, the Regional Office and Headquarter;
  • Timely targeting of funding opportunities and timely tracking of donor intelligence;
  • Quality communication and advocacy products which result in increased resources and a strong investment case for UN Women;
  • Quality monitoring and reporting mechanism to ensure quality of data and limit redundancy in efforts;
  • Manage UN women JLO intranet and social media outlets, websites.

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:

  • Strong knowledge of gender equality and women's rights issues;
  • Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with government representatives of Member States (donor and programme);
  • Proven networking skills, and ability to mobilize support on behalf of UN Women;
  • Strong negotiating skills;
  • Knowledge and understanding of UN system and familiarity with inter-governmental processes;
  • Strong IT skills, including databases, extranet and office software packages;
  • Strong analytical and interpersonal skills;
  • Familiarity with funding mechanisms and system of assigned donor government is an important asset;
  • Interest in continuing building their career in international organizations.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, business management, social sciences, public administration, international relations, communications, women's studies, or a related field is required.

Experience:

  • At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in resource mobilization, communications/ advocacy, and/or business development;
  • Experience in gender equality and women's empowerment;
  • Experience working with civil society organizations, international institutions and donors;
  • Experience working in the UN system is an asset.

Languages:

  • Fluency in English and Japanese in written and verbal 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 http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment 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.

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.