Senior Specialist, Inter-aency alliances for gender equality

Organizational Context


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.

Under the supervision of Country Office Representative, the Senior Specialist will provide support to the Country Representative in strategic programme planning and inter-agency coordination, as well to the Country Office (CO) colleagues in incorporating monitoring and reporting into programme formulation and tracking against Strategic Plan targets and the reporting of results to internal and external audiences.

Functions

Provide technical support to the Country Representative and Country Office on inter-agency coordination

• Provide analysis and advice to Resident Coordinator (RC) and the UN Country Team (UNCT) on the gender dynamics and opportunities to support inclusive engagement of women in the development assistance provided by the UNCT;
• Participate in and provide support to joint inter-agency UN planning processes and similar exercises;
• Prepare briefing materials for the CO on issues to be discussed in the UN and other events and meetings;
• Prepare inputs to Common Country Assessment (CCA)/ UNDAF and other documents;
• Provide technical support to UNCT in monitoring and reporting and prepare analytical and regular progress reports on UN Women’s programme experiences;
• Lead the design and implementation of the five-year Strategic Work Plan of G13 Gender Working Group.
• Contribute to products generation under the responsibility of the G13 Gender Working Group and inter-agency thematic groups related to UNDAF.
• Provide substantive support and representation at conferences and meetings, joint programme development, joint advocacy and research in collaboration with the Country Representative.

Provide support to the Country Representative in strategic planning for the Country Office

• Develop country programming processes and products, including strategic note, programme/project documents, annual workplan, preparation of United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and other UN system joint programming documents;
• Prepare concept notes for UN Women's intervention areas; as well as the office’s strategic note;
• Follow up on required action/outstanding issues and report on outcome/ result. Alert the Country Representative/CO on critical issues to be addressed.  
• Follow up on Annual Work Plan (AWP) implementation including effectiveness on monitor, reporting and expenditure.

Provide guidance to the CO in incorporating monitoring and reporting into programme formulation

• Provide quality assurance of program documents through review of results frameworks in order to meet SMART criteria;
• Manage the development of monitoring indicators, monitoring calendars, and field monitoring plans and quality assurance processes; ensure use of relevant evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations are incorporated to programme formulation;
• Coordinate annual work plan monitoring, reviews and reporting;
• Ensure linkage of Annual Work Plans (AWPs) and corresponding Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MER) Plans with the UN Women Strategic Plan;
• Provide strategic guidance to partners and CO in developing Performance Monitoring Frameworks (PMFs) and Baseline Surveys;
• Provide advice to country offices in the clearance of donor agreements and Programme Cooperation Agreements;
• Ensure sufficient funds for monitoring, evaluation and reporting at country/ regional level.

 
Oversee reporting of results to internal (Senior Management) and external (Executive Board, Donors) audiences

• Coordinate and provide technical guidance to the country office in meeting internal and external reporting requirements and deadlines, including annual reporting process;
• Finalize donor and programme reports (both narrative and financial);
• Ensure use of relevant evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations are incorporated into programme reporting;
• Review progress reports submitted by partners and provide feedback to improve quality and timeliness of reporting;
• Ensure the availability (including collecting and maintaining) of data for country, regional and global corporate reports, mid-term reviews, and final evaluations.

Provide technical support to the Country Office in the implementation the UN Women Evaluation Policy

• Provide technical support to the implementation of UN Women’s Evaluation plan at the country level;
• Provide guidance to CO programme staff on evaluations;
• Ensure communication between the CO and RO regarding Evaluations;
• Represent the country offices in monitoring and evaluation working groups in the context of United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF).

Strengthen knowledge building and capacity building

• Identify and disseminate good practices, lessons and knowledge; as identified through programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation activities;
• Develop capacity development tools, including training materials and packages;
• Manage capacity building opportunities of staff and partners in the region/country in the areas of Results Based Management (RBM), Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E);
• Promote the awareness and understanding of the shared responsibility of M&E among all staff members through communication, training, learning and development activities.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality contribution to the UNCT and other working groups and other coordination meetings;
• Quality inputs and technical support provided to UN agencies;
• Timely and quality programme design and inputs to Strategic Note;
• Timely and quality technical support to the programme team and partners in line with work plan;
• Quality and timely systems for tracking/monitoring developed and implemented;
• Timely and quality monitoring and evaluation of programmes;
• Timely synthesis and submission of quality and accurate reports;
• Quality knowledge management tools;
• Regular communication with other agencies and partners.

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

Functional Competencies:

• Strong knowledge of gender equity and women’s empowerment issues
• Strong knowledge of programme formulation and implementation and Results Based Management
• Strong knowledge of monitoring and evaluation, evaluation design, data collection and analysis, and reporting
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports
• Strong analytical and report writing skills
• Good knowledge of UN programme management systems

Recruitment Qualifications


Education and certification:    

• Master’s degree in Political or Social Science, Economics, International Development Studies or related field,  or equivalent to Bachelor's degree plus 7 years relevant experience
• Gender/Women's Studies is required.

Experience:    

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in monitoring and reporting of development projects/ programmes;
• Experience in the development, planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of programmes;
• Experience working in gender equality and women’s rights at the international level is an asset;
• Experience working in developing countries within the UN system, Agencies, Funds or Program is an asset;
• Substantive experience in one of the six priority areas of UN Women, will be an asset;
• Field experience is an asset.

Language Requirements:    

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

UNWOMEN is committed to achieving diversity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified applicants, irrespective of gender, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation, culture, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.