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.

UN Women Multi-Country Office -Caribbean established a Country Programme in Jamaica in 2014. Initially, the programme was developed around support to the government, the UN system and civil society partners on issues related to violence against women and women’s political participation. It grew to include women’s economic empowerment and actions on climate change resilience. However, within the context of UN Reform it is critical that gender equality is integral to the United Nations Country Team’s (UNCT) efforts to support sustainable development initiatives in Jamaica.

Reporting to the MCO Caribbean Representative , the Programme Manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of the country programme in Jamaica and the Northern Caribbean and other MCO programmes of the  Caribbean Multi Country Office, including EU funded Spotlight initiative. The incumbent is responsible for substantially contributing to the design, implementation, management and oversight of the country programmes and to  effective cooperation with the operations team to ensure effective and efficient delivery of results as planned in UN Women’s Strategic Plan and the CO plans and in line with the Integrated Strategic Framework for the United Nations System in the Caribbean.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide advisory and substantive support on the strategic direction of the office, with a focus on EVAW:

• Advise and guide the Multi Country Representative on strategic areas;
• Develop policy documents, briefs and other strategic papers/materials to  develop and present policy and programmatic positions;
• Serve as a senior member of the management team and serve as officer-in-charge in the absence of the Representative;
• Oversee programme quality control and identification of potential challenges.

Manage the day-to-day work of the programme team, with a focus on EVAW:

• Manage the day-to-day work of the programme team, including finalizing annual and quarterly workplans;
• Manage the conceptualization, planning, implementation and monitoring of the programmes; assess annual workplans and provide recommendations to assure compliance with programmes goals and results based indicators;
• Manage programme materials and financial resources, in line with UN Women policies, rules and procedures;
• Manage the effective application of results-based management tools and monitor progress on agreed results frameworks and performance indicators in line with internal benchmarks and external commitments;
• Review and provide feedback to ongoing prpgrammes on related strategies and documents, workplans, case studies and related knowledge products;
• Organize periodic coordination meetings with UN,  national and international partners;
• Identify areas and make recommendations for UN Women Representative’s actions and/or decision with regards to programme support;
• Contribute to the development and the implementation of the Office security strategy and its business continuity plan, as required.

Manage and oversee monitoring, evaluation and reporting:

• Manage the monitoring and evaluation of programmes;
• Review and finalize quarterly and annual reports and monthly briefs;
• Lead the preparation of  programme  implementation progress reports and evaluations.

Manage personnel under supervision:

• Manage the performance of programme personnel under supervision;
• Provide performance feedback and coaching to personnel under supervision, ensure performance assessment are implemented on time and ensure personnel are fully aware of UN Women accountability  frameworks and  workplace relations policies; contribute to an enabling work environment.

Represent UN Women in UN system coordination, with a focus on programming and EVAW:

• Represent UN Women in the UN Country Team (UNCT) to strengthen UN system on interagency coherence, collaboration, cooperation, resource mobilization, advocacy, common services, and operations, as delegated by the UN Women Representative;
• Ensure UN Women’s participation in UN system thematic and other working groups to advance UN Women’s mandate as needed.

Provide technical support in creation of strategic partnerships, resource mobilization and advocacy strategies:

• Provide technical support in  partnership development with government, partners, stakeholders and donors for effective advocacy and partnerships;
• Provide substantive research and inputs in the formulation and implementation of the resource mobilization strategy;
• Represent and advocate for UN Women in organizational, regional, global, public information/ relations events and key meetings, as delegated;
• Advocate UN Women’s mandate with government counterparts, donor communities and other partners through programme implementation.

Facilitate knowledge management, innovation and capacity building:

• Manage the process of collecting and sharing lessons learned on gender equality and women’s empowerment to build knowledge and capacity of partners and stakeholders;
• Oversee the design and implementation of capacity building training activities to enhance skills and knowledge;
• Oversee cutting-edge research and knowledge generation to inform and advise national development priorities;
• Lead the design, implementation and monitoring of the programme communication plan.

Key Performance Indicators: 

• Timely and quality delivery of the programme teams, with focus on EVAW;
• Quality strategic support provided;
• Programmes delivered on time on scope and on budget, in line with Results Based management tools;
• Timely programme, projects and donors reporting;
• Effective collaboration between programmes;
• Quality of inputs provided in formulation and implementation of resource mobilization strategy;
• Quality and number of knowledge management communication and advocacy initiatives undertaken;
• UN Women is seen as a reliable and trustworthy partner, providing substantial inputs to progress UN women’s mandate.

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 Values and Competencies Framework: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent program formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them;
• Strong leadership skills, ability to create enabling work environment;
• Ability to provide policy advice and support to partners;
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Excellent knowledge of Results Based Management;
• Strong knowledge of the UN system;
• Strong knowledge of fragile or crisis country context;
• Strong negotiation skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: 

• Master’s degree in international development, public administration, public policy or other relevant social science fields 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/program management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience: 

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience that combines strategic, technical  and managerial leadership in development programs with a strong focus in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment at the international level, in developing and crisis countries within the UN system, Agencies, Funds or Programs;
• Field based experience working with multi-cultural teams;
• Experience in leading teams;
• Experience in managing development program and project implementation;
• Experience in resource mobilization and management of donor relations;
• Experience in working on IT platforms;
• Experience in operational management is an asset;
• Experience in UN coordination, Delivering as One and joint programming is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of another UN working language will be an asset.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558. 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.