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.

Part of the Strategic Partnerships Division (SPD), the Private Sector Partnerships Section (PSP) leads UN Women’s engagement with the private sector to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. Bringing together key partnership portfolios—including corporate and foundation engagement, HeForShe, Individual, Digital and Public Giving, the Unstereotype Alliance, and the Women’s Empowerment Principles—PSP works to ensure a coherent, integrated approach across partnership modalities. This work is guided by UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2026-2029 which emphasizes diversification of funding, strengthened public-private collaboration, and more strategic, risk-informed engagement with partners.

Within this context, PSP plays a central role in aligning UN Women’s partnerships with evolving global and organizational priorities, including constrained official development assistance, increasing demand for accountability and impact, and the need for innovative financing and partnerships. By fostering cohesion across partnership vehicles and strengthening due diligence practices, PSP supports UN Women in building credible, high-impact partnerships that safeguard the organization’s integrity while enabling effective collaboration with private sector actors.

Under the direct supervision of the Partnerships Engagement and Special Initiatives Advisor, the Due Diligence Consultant is responsible for supporting the Due Diligence review and analysis of prospective private sector partners across UN Women HQ, Regional Offices and Country Offices, to ensure that engagements with current and prospective private sector partners are in alignment with the principles guiding UN Women and the UN System – by protecting UN Women’s integrity and credibility and by enabling effective and creative collaboration while managing risk. This will include providing targeted and critical analysis of Due Diligence data and trends to inform progress updates and/or reporting, maintaining the full Due Diligence records for institutional memory and contributing to capacity-building for UN Women business units to implement the Private Sector Engagement Policy and Procedure.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

1.Service daily requests for Due Diligence assessments, supporting all UN Women business units engaging with private sector

  • Process Due Diligence requests through the use of third party ESG providers to benchmark the suggested level of risk against UN Women’s standardized risk tolerance boundaries for private sector engagement;
  • Coordinate due diligence data collection, review and analysis to determine the risk profile of the specific private sector entity;
  • Guide requesting offices on next steps to developing engagements with the private sector according to the Private Sector Engagement Procedure;
  • Monitor risk for specific private sector partners through third party incident alert systems and liaise with partnerships managers and SPRED accordingly to proactively mitigate risk.

2.  Provide advice and support across PSP and UN Women to help build, maintain and coordinate holistic private sector partnerships including through high-quality Due Diligence

  • Support identification and management of private sector accounts, including the use of centralized ESG research tools to inform prospecting strategies and relationships;
  • Provide guidance and support on UN Women corporate due diligence guidelines and norms;
  • Coordinate internal connections between relevant offices/units/sections/divisions of UN Women to inform due diligence reviews and ensure exchange of information on due diligence to inform outreach and partnership engagement;
  • Provide targeted and critical analysis of Due Diligence data and trends to inform progress updates and/or reporting, as well as to contribute to the communication of results and impact of PSP ’s and UN Women’s work.
  • Improve PSP’s coordination of private sector prospecting & engagement activities with UN Women HQ, Regional, Country and Liaison Offices;
  • Maintain roster of assessed partners and prospects to support annual reporting needs and to strengthen partner intelligence with historical and new information.

3. Coordinate and provide technical support to build capacity of UN Women teams for developing engagements with the private sector

  • Assist in the global implementation of the Private Sector Engagement Policy and Procedure, including providing inputs and recommendations to the Policy and Procedure Guidance revision process as needed
  • Contribute to updates to key due diligence resources and tools to strengthen corporate due diligence, including trainings and workshops on due diligence practices;
  • Provide technical input to knowledge sharing and organizational learning through the development and use of all relevant on-line tools, templates, and guidelines 
  • Support internal consultations with relevant offices/units/sections/divisions of UN Women with relevant due diligence and risk analysis to inform outreach and partnership engagement according to UN Women’s risk appetite and risk tolerance
  • Contribute to knowledge sharing and enhance organizational learning among UN Women teams through knowledge products on risk-informed private sector engagement
  • Strengthen coordination and institutional memory of UN Women’s due diligence and private sector engagement through managing due diligence records and central library
  • Ensure that all activities are conducted in compliance with relevant standards and methods of work, including for protection and safe handling of information
  • Perform other tasks as assigned by supervisor.

4. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a New York HQ based consultancy. / This is an office-based consultancy. 

Competencies :

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: 

Functional Competencies:

  • Excellent research & analysis skills with experience synthesizing and summarizing;
  • Strong knowledge of gender equality and women's rights issues;
  • Familiarity with corporate engagement dimensions and framework within the UN;
  • Strong multi-tasking skills;
  • Strong analytical and interpersonal skills
  • Strong initiative-taker;
  • Strong written and oral communication skills;
  • Strong IT literacy in standard applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint,etc)
  • Participates effectively in team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

  • Advanced higher degree (Master’s or equivalent), preferably in research, public policy, or business management, or related field.
  • A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

  • At least 2 years of  experience in risk management, knowledge management and policy analysis with private sector partners, preferably related to gender equality, is required
  • Experience conducting Due Diligence assessments for partners and prospects, including high-risk/high-value is required
  • Experience using and evaluating database research and benchmarking reports is required
  • Experience in coordinating capacity-building webinars and meetings is desirable

Languages:

  • Fluency in English is required.
  • Knowledge of another UN language (Russian, French, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic) is desirable.

Statements :

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.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.

At Impactpool we do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.
Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify. Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.