UN Women: Research Specialist

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 corporate programme of work on analysis, research and knowledge management that provides the evidence base for the advice and guidance UN Women provides to development practitioners, the intergovernmental process, the UN system, and to UN Women staff working at country and regional level on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Division identifies emerging issues and trends, including gaps and challenges, and develops and proposes new strategies for achieving the agreed goals through innovative approaches and lessons learned about what works in practice. It also designs and oversees the training and capacity development programs of UN Women, through the training facility in Santo Domingo.

The Research and Data Section in the Policy Division is responsible for leading UN Women’s research and data agenda. Among others, it produces research including UN Women flagship publications including Progress of the World’s Women, The Global Monitoring Report on Gender Equality and the SDGs, and The Survey of the Role of Women in Development.

The Research Specialist will work with the team to complete high quality research and analysis for the reports. The role will primarily focus on Progress of the World’s Women, but will contribute to all of the section’s work. This role entails in-house research and writing to feed directly into the report, as well as commissioning researchers from our global network to compile background papers, case studies and data analysis. The Specialist will also lead on other policy-relevant research projects and contribute to the section’s broader work, including the other flagships and our Policy Briefing series.

The Research Specialist will have a background in one or more areas of gender equality policy, for example related to feminist political economy or social policy, violence against women, governance and politics, rural livelihoods and agriculture, human rights or women, peace and security. In-depth knowledge of one or more developing regions would also be a strong asset.

Duties and Responsibilities

Carry out extensive policy-relevant research (including quantitative) on the themes of Progress and the other flagship reports to input into the reports and keep up-to-date with the literature and global gender equality policy debates in one or more areas:

• Keep up-to-date with the literature and policy debates, conduct background research, and analyse policy changes for their impact on gender equality;
• Access and analyse relevant statistics and data sources (especially global and regional ones) on gender equality policies and their outcomes for women’s well-being and autonomy;
• Compile research, data and case studies relevant to the different chapters of Research and Data reports to substantiate the reports’ themes and findings, as well as other Research & Data outputs.

Commission and manage background papers, case studies and statistical analysis, selecting countries and issues in ways that would allow comparative cross-country policy lessons to be drawn from the commissioned studies:

• Identify country studies and researchers to conduct the work, as well as authors of background papers and other research materials for the analytical parts of the report using comparative methodologies that would allow robust policy lessons to be drawn;
• Commission authors to carry out research and write background papers, coordinate their work and provide comments on draft papers.

Contribute substantively to the framing and writing of Progress, the other flagship reports and other Research and Data publications (such as Policy Briefings), as well as to editing and fact-checking. Work with the team to contribute to the production and outreach for the two reports and other research outputs:

• Participate in brainstorming meetings and in-house discussions on various aspects of the reports, including honing of the theme and structure of the reports;
• Interact and support members of the reports’ advisory groups, in order to facilitate their expert inputs;
• Contribute to proof-reading, data-checking and providing comments on draft chapters and sections of the report as required, including, if possible, proof-reading of translated text in languages other than English;
• Provide support for outreach and other events to gather information for the report and build interest in its findings.

Contribute to the broader work of the Research and Data section and the broader Policy Division where appropriate, including by advising colleagues in the policy and programme sections on areas of specialism. Provide timely and high quality inputs to briefing notes and speeches, as requested.

Key Performance Indicators: 

• Timely and quality technical advice and support;
• Leadership in area of expertise;
• Quality reports and other strategic documents drafted and submitted in a timely manner;
• Strong relationships with various partners and stakeholders;
• UN Women is well represented in important meetings on topics related to expertise;
• Contributions to resource mobilization;
• Timely and quality knowledge products.

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:

• Proven excellent research skills, preferably shown by publications in relevant peer-reviewed journals
• Strong analytical and statistical skills, including the ability to carry out quantitative analysis and familiarity with global databases on gender statistics;
• Excellent understanding of gender equality and its policy implications, with expertise in at least one of the following areas: feminist political economy or social policy, violence against women, governance and politics, rural livelihoods and agriculture, human rights, women, peace and security;
• In-depth knowledge of one or more developing region a strong asset;
• Proven capacity to do comparative research across countries, with strong gender content;
• Capacity to self-organize research work and to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks on time.  Ability to set priorities; work under pressure with colleagues at all levels;
• Ample knowledge and use of computer office tools (word, database, spreadsheets, web content production, filing).

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, social policy, sociology, human rights, international relations or other social science fields, with a strong gender component is required.

Experience: 

• At least 5 years of relevant work experience on substantive issues of gender equality involving research and policy analysis;
• Previous experience working on major institutional reports;
• Substantive research outputs and publications, such as PhD research and/or high quality peer reviewed publications on gender issues a strong asset. 

Languages:

• Written and oral proficiency in English is required. Fluency in one additional UN language is highly desirable.

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.