Expert on Women’s Economic Empowerment in the European Union

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 UN Women’s work on analysis, research and knowledge management that provides the evidence base for the advice and guidance UN Women provides to the intergovernmental process, the UN system, and to UN Women staff working at country and regional level. It undertakes issues-based research; analyzes data on country, regional or global trends; builds a knowledge base on policy commitments and their implementation; proposes evidence-based options for global policy, norms and standards and for UN Women’s flagship programmes; and contributes substantive inputs to policy advocacy and technical cooperation programmes.

UN Women—in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the European Union (EU)—implements the EU-funded programmes: WE EMPOWER G7 (“Women’s economic empowerment at work through responsible business conduct in G7 countries”), Win-Win (“Win-Win: Gender Equality Means Good Business”) and WE EMPOWER Asia (Promoting Economic Empowerment of Women at Work in Asia) which are operational in Canada, Japan and the USA; Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Uruguay; and China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, respectively. The overall objective of these programmes is to contribute to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.

Targeting women-led enterprises and networks, multinational corporations and other relevant stakeholders in the 20 programme countries and the European Union, the programmes will promote gender-responsive business conduct through fostering business links, joint ventures and innovation, while supporting inter-regional dialogues and exchange of good practices.

To bring a strong EU perspective and ensure collaboration with EU partners, including companies, women entrepreneurs and their business networks, in these three programmes, the joint WE EMPOWER G7 –Win-Win Steering Committee has decided to recruit an EU expert to support the three programme managers and teams.

The EU expert will be responsible for enhancing and coordinating the three Programmes’ EU component with the view to further improve the integration of EU interests into the programmes’ implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Competencies

Core values and Guiding principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff.
• Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.

Conflict Management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

• Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competences:

• In-depth understanding of legislation, public and private sector policies on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment within the European Union.
• Experience researching gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, preferably in the European Union context.
• Experience with creating and managing databases.
• Knowledge of networks within the private sector, women-led businesses and women entrepreneurs from Europe.
• Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities.
• Capable of handling large volumes of work under time constraints.
• Experience establishing, building and sustaining effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in international or European affairs, social sciences, economics, communications, political science, or related fields.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in the field of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment research and building networks of stakeholders, particularly the private sector. This experience must be in Europe or with projects/programmes focused on Europe.
• Experience working with building and managing large databases.
• Knowledge of policies, practices and laws in the private and public sector on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in the European Union context.
• Knowledge of companies, networks, and experts working on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in the European Union context.
• Experience in working in a multicultural and web-based environment.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of another EU language is an asset.

*** Requirement: Candidates must have the legal right to live and work in EU countries.