Programme Specialist, Women’s Economic Empowerment

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.

UN Women Country Office in Georgia has been implementing its Strategic Note (2016-2020), under which one of the priority areas is women’s economic empowerment, with specific focus on women living in rural areas and marginalized women with multiple disadvantages. With financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Austrian Development Agency, and in close cooperation with UN Women ECA Regional Office, UNCTs in Armenia and Azerbaijan, governmental and civil society partners in all three countries, UN Women will implement a multi-year project (initial duration 2017-2020) “Partnership for Women’s Economic Empowerment in South Caucasus”. The project goal is to increase economic security and improve access to livelihood and development opportunities for women, particularly the poorest and most excluded in the South Caucasus countries. The project outputs are informed by relevant international commitments to women’s empowerment, and directly linked to the existing agreements between UN Systems and the governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The project goals aim at contributing to national priorities and various national plans, that underline the importance of gender mainstreaming in development.

Reporting to UN Women Country Representative, the Programme Specialist (based in the UN Women Country Office in Tbilisi, Georgia) will exercise overall responsibility for planning, implementing, and managing UN Women interventions under the above-mentioned project and WEE portfolio in all three countries. She/he works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team in Georgia, Responsible Parties in Armenia and Azerbaijan and relevant UN Women staff in the Regional Office (Istanbul) and HQ (New York), Government officials, representatives of the project’s donors, other multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society in target countries ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation and achievement of planned results.   

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide programme development advisory services related to women’s economic empowerment (WEE):

• Oversee and manage the design and formulation of programme proposals and initiatives; Identify programmatic areas for support and interventions within the WEE;
• Finalize country strategy documents, programme/ project proposals, briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to WEE;
• Organize periodic consultations with key stakeholders, women leaders, human rights experts and UN partners to gather inputs on programme design, as necessary.

Manage the implementation of the WEE programme portfolio:

• Finalize the annual workplan and budget and manage their implementation;
• Provide programme advisory support to the Country Representative in Georgia within the WEE portfolio;
• Manage the technical implementation of the programme/ project; provide technical advice; ensure synergies with other teams;
• Review the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports as required;
• Provide guidance to staff and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators;
• Lead Project Steering Committee, project review and/or evaluation meetings.

Oversee technical assistance and capacity development to partners working in area of WEE:

• Provide technical advice to partners;
• Build, manage, and expand relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the WEE programme; respond to any potential problems;
• Serve as an expert resource to partners on WEE;
• Implement and oversee capacity development opportunities and initiatives;
• Provide partners with advanced technical assistance, training and capacity development initiatives.

Manage the monitoring and reporting of the programme:

• Manage the process of monitoring the programme/ project implementation of activities and finances using results based management tools;
• Finalize quarterly reports and donor reports, focusing on results, output and outcomes;
• Write office donor and UN Women reports.

Manage the people and financial resources of the WEE programme:

• Manage the project budget and finalize financial reports;
• Manage Programme Analyst as well as the Advocacy and Communications Specialist and Assistants; mentor and coach staff and conduct performance assessments;
• Oversee recruitment processes, as necessary.

Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies:

• Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Finalize relevant documentation on donors and develop potential opportunities for resource mobilization;
• Analyze and research information on donors, finalize substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost sharing.

Manage inter-agency coordination to achieve a coherent and aligned implementation of WEE activities among all project partners in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan:

• Provide substantive technical support to the Country Representative in Georgia on inter-agency coordination related activities by attending meetings, events, and participating in groups and committees;
• Coordinate with other UN agencies, government departments, donors and NGOs to ensure the projects’ capacity development programme is harmonized and aligned with the partners’ efforts (all three countries);
• Take part in country level Comprehensive Country Assessment (CCA)/ United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) processes and similar exercises related to the RC system (in Georgia only);
• Prepare substantive inputs to CCA/ UNDAF and other documents, as necessary (in Georgia only).

Lead advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts

• Represent UN Women in meetings and policy dialogues on issues related to WEE;
• Manage advocacy strategies and their implementation;
• Identify best practices and lessons learned to guide programme improvement and strategy planning;
• Lead the development of knowledge management strategies and methodologies and products on WEE.

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely and quality programme strategies and contributions to Strategic Note
• Timely and quality of programme delivery in line with budget, workplans and the Strategic Note
• Strong and clear leadership/ supervision of team
• Partners and other stakeholder provide positive feedback on advisory and technical services
• Quality reports and timely submission
• Quality of advocacy, communication and knowledge management initiatives
• Resources mobilized
• Strong relationships with donors, partners and other stakeholders

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

• Excellent programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them
• Excellent knowledge of Results Based Management
• Strong writing skills and ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong organization skills and ability to pay close attention to detail;
• Strong policy analysis experience and knowledge of WEE;
• Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation
• Strong networking skills
• Ability to negotiate and interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in economy, finance, social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, or a related field is required.

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• Strong technical experience in Women’s Economic Empowerment area;
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is an asset;
• Experience in leading/managing a team;
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required
• Knowledge of Georgian and /or Russian 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.