UN Women Programme Manager

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.

To this end UN Women Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS), in 2015, initiated the programme “Men and Women for Gender equality” to understand how best to tackle these root causes and address them through a bottom-up approach. This programme, unique to the region, focused on engaging men and boys to achieve gender equality in partnership with women and girls, while also promoting the rights of women in the family by providing alternative interpretations of religious texts. Research and programme implementation during the last four years demonstrates that the region is still in need of: the continuation of effective development approaches to address the root causes of gender equality, the creation of new, innovative ones, and continued support of social movements that tackle inequalities and unfavourable social and gender norms.

As such, in partnership with the Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA), ROAS has launched the second phase of this regional programme. This three-years regional programme aims to create favourable realities where men and women in the Arab societies will be able to exercise their rights and opportunities equally through communities’ engagement, advocacy efforts, and legislative reform processes. Building on the outcomes of the first phase of the regional programme, UN Women will replicate and scale up the most innovative and effective community-based practices on engaging men and boys in gender equality based on evidence. Furthermore, a regional fatherhood campaign will raise awareness on the critical roles of fathers in child care, violence prevention and gender equality. Research, programme materials and tools produced by the programme will be introduced to and used by key institutions key institutions – including faith-based organizations, media, academia and Governments - to promote gender equality.  The countries of programme implementation- Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine- will be expanded with two new additions, Jordan and Tunisia, where the International Men and Gender Equality Survey will be implemented. 

Under the supervision of the Deputy Regional Director, the programme manager is responsible for overseeing the management, development, implementation, monitoring and reporting of programmes for the regional programme ‘Men and Women for Gender Equality’. This includes providing technical support to the MCO and COs engaged in the regional programme, overseeing the monitoring of progress against  mutually agreed results frameworks and performance indicators, monitoring Country Office/ Multi Country/ Programme Presence, programme financial situation to ensure adherence to delivery rates and utilization of resources to meet agreed upon targets and results, reviewing and developing partnerships and resource mobilization strategies; and leading knowledge management efforts.

In addition, the Programme Manager will establish partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies for the regional programme and will lead inter-agency coordination to achieve a coherent and aligned presence for engaging men and women on gender equality in the Arab States region. Advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts will be also key components under the responsibility of the Programme Manager to ensure the successful implementation of the programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.  Oversee the programmatic development for Country Offices/ Multi Country Office and Programme Presence countries, based on the Strategic Note

• Advise and guide the development of Country Office/ Multi Country Office/ Programme Presence countries programmes, including design and formulation programme/ project initiatives;
• Review and provide feedback to ongoing projects/ programmes on related strategies and documents, workplans, case studies, and related knowledge products and publications;
• Provide strategic and specialized technical advice on the development of systems, processes and mechanisms to support programme planning, implementation, monitoring and progress reporting;
• Review and evaluate proposals and oversee the preparation of donor proposals and reports;
• Finalize policy documents, briefs and other strategic papers/ materials for the use in the development and presentation of policy and programmatic positions.

2.  Provide technical support to the implementation of the Country Office/ Multi Country Office and Programme Presence countries’ programmes

• Assess Country Office/ Multi Country Office/ Programme Presence countries annual work plans and provide recommendations to assure compliance with programme goals and results-based indicators;
• Analyze and ensure alignment of project budgets with logical framework matrices and work plans;
• Oversee programme quality control and identification of potential challenges;
• Ensure all country offices/multi country offices/ programme presence countries have aligned programme plans with operations plan.

3.  Oversee monitoring and reporting for Country Offices/ Multi Country Office and Programme Presence Offices

• Review and recommend programme monitoring standards, criteria, and other indicators for measuring and assessing progress/results;
• Oversee the monitoring of progress against mutually agreed results frameworks and performance indicators;
• Gather information and prepare reports on progress of programme implementation for MCO/CO/ Programme Presence Countries and donors; prepare technical reports;
• Provide technical support in the preparation of audits and follow up on the implementation of audit recommendations; 
• Develop, coordinate and provide training on results-based management to CO/MCO/Programme Presence countries.

4.  Review budget management for Country Office/ Multi Country/ Programme Presence countries programmes and manage people

• Lead a team, perform staff performance reviews, ensure capacity development of staff members by suggesting development opportunities;
• Monitor Country Office/ Multi Country/ Programme Presence programme financial situation to ensure adherence to delivery rates and utilization of resources to meet agreed upon targets and results;
• Ensure effective information flow, communication and coordination between offices, programmes and projects.

5.  Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

• Review and develop partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Finalize relevant documentation on donors and develop potential opportunities for resource mobilization;
• Analyze and research information on donors, prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost sharing;
• Determine programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, country needs and donors’ priorities and develop the relevant partnerships.

6.  Lead knowledge building and sharing efforts

• Lead the process of identifying and synthesizing of best practices and lessons learned that are directly linked to the implementation of the programme and contribute to their global dissemination.

7.  Perform other job-related duties as requested by supervisor from time to time

Key Performance Indicator

• Programme is implemented in line with Strategic Notes and Annual Work plans;
• Programme teams adhere to UN Women’s Rules, Regulations, policies and procedures, using a results-based management approach;
• Programme is implemented in a timely manner, in line with budgets;
• Regular monitoring of programmes, addressing issues in a timely manner
• Timely and quality reporting;
• Regular dissemination and sharing of information; country offices are sharing best practices/ lessons learned on programme management.

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 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 knowledge of gender equity and women’s empowerment issues
• Excellent knowledge of UN system and understanding of inter-agency coordination processes
• Excellent knowledge of results based programme planning and management
• Excellent analytical skills

• Ability to promote and monitor inclusion of gender-specific objectives, indicators, targets and activities in the UN agencies programmes
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, or a related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage

Experience: 

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• Experience in working in a gender related area is an asset; with a focus on engaging men and boys in gender equality; and masculinities;
• Experience in setting priorities, budgets, work plans, participating in programme development and programme writing;
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is an asset;
• Proven experience in leading teams effectively;
• Experience working in the UN system is an asset.

Languages:

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

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.