Consultancy: Planning and Systems Strengthening, Gender and Rights Section, PD - NYHQ, Requisition #513796

The Gender Section is seeking a consultant to support greater systemization of its planning processes and facilitation of collaborative team work, hiring, and completion of deliverables. The consultant will also support the planning and organization of key meetings and events aimed at advancing GAP results. Concurrently, s/he will also support the Planning Specialist in overall staffing and consultancy management.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

BACKGROUND & RATIONALE:

UNICEF is implementing its Gender Action Plan 2018-2021, which is an ambitious effort at catalysing field level programming and institutional results that advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in key areas of UNICEF's work. The GAP programmatic framework defines a twin-track approach: 1) integration of select gender-equitable outcomes focused on improving the lives marginalized girls and boys, women and the care ecosystem for children and 2) specification of five “targeted gender priorities” focused on empowering adolescent girls, which includes maximizing the coherence, overlap, and efficiency in related interventions and resources. Together, these approaches strengthen UNICEF’s gender results which are prominent in all five Goals of the Strategic Plan. A key effort in the 2018 - 2021 period is to advance concrete programming efforts to empower adolescent girls along the five targeted priorities by maximizing the coherence, overlap, and efficiency in related interventions and resources.

For the effective implementation of the GAP and a strengthened Section, it is important to enhance the planning and collaborative systems of the Section.

Purpose

The Gender Section is seeking a consultant to support greater systemization of its planning processes and facilitation of collaborative team work, hiring, and completion of deliverables. The consultant will also support the planning and organization of key meetings and events aimed at advancing GAP results. Concurrently, s/he will also support the Planning Specialist in overall staffing and consultancy management.

EXPECTED RESULTS: (MEASURABLE RESULTS)

1. Support the enhancement, efficiency and routinization of key planning and administrative processes in the section.
   1. Review existing Gender Section SOP’s and templates to examine and undertake the required revision, streamlining, finalization.
   2. Consult with the admin and planning staff to review the templates and SOPs from PD or other divisions that are most often used for Gender Section purposes, and support in communicating portions that need to be communicated with staff.
   3. Support the ongoing system for regularly communicating with section staff (via email, teamsite, through section meetings, one on ones, Senior team meetings, etc) and other SOPs and decisions so that they are well understood and followed.
2. Support the organization and flow of staff and consultant recruitment for the section to make it more expeditious and efficient.
   1. Support the regular updating and management of recruitment tracking system so that they are more streamlined, and can be more easily updated and reviewed by the admin staff and hiring managers on a regular basis.
   2. Create and regularly populate with the relevant analysis a simple staffing and consultant and related cost status update on a monthly basis.
   3. Support hiring managers in drafting, reviewing and expediting the posting of Terms of Reference so that they meet organizational standards and are successful in attracting a strong pool of candidates
   4. Manage a database of recruitment sites where Gender Section jobs and consultancies can routinely be advertised, and review them for head-hunting purposes as required.
   5. Support hiring managers in expeditiously reviewing candidate credentials, testing, shortlisting, interviewing, candidates and getting recommendations completed.
3. Support the preparation for and follow on to key section planning processes, meetings and multilateral events
   1. Support the planning specialist in facilitating the Mid Term Review of the workplan and submission to PDDO.
   2. Support the planning specialist in the development of agendas, pre-read materials, and meetings notes/action points for the key meetings under her jurisdiction.
   3. Support the consolidation, response, tracking and review of OED requests sent to the section.
   4. Support the consolidation, response, tracking and review of 2018 UNGA events relevant to the section.
   5. Support the planning aspects of the IDG and support the IDG team in any logistics of the Day.
   6. Support the section’s communication with internal and external partners, event sponsors and gender staff and senior management.

Duty Station: NYC

Time Frame: 4 Months; 80 Days

Start Date: 9 July 2018    
End Date: 31 October 2018

DELIVERABLES:

 Key competences, technical background, and experience required

• An Advanced Univeraity Degree (Master's) in social sciences or business management.
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience;
• Demonstrated skills in and knowledge of project planning and management;
• High level of facility and ease with word, excel, other software/apps that support project management and budgetary analysis.
• Proven skills in organization, research and analysis to address different systems related demands
• Highly organized and efficient work style and attention to detail
• Responsiveness to deadlines and deliverables, and ability to work independently and flexibly;
• Ability to organize information in multiple forms suitable to the audience in question.
• Excellent communication and writing skills.
• Strong team player able to work effectively within large and diverse teams
• Familiarity or experience with multilateral systems, bilateral and other partners an asset;
• Fluency in English required; knowledge of another UN language an asset.

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable). Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

Remarks

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.