UN Women: Knowledge Management Specialist, Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action

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 the UN Women program of 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 on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The Peace and Security Section of the Policy Division supports UN Women to fulfill its triple mandate (normative, coordination and operational) in the area of peace and security. The Section promotes improved implementation, and monitoring and reporting of global commitments on women and peace and security, including as set out in the Beijing Platform for Action,  ten Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019), and 2493 (2019), linked thematic and country specific resolutions, such as on youth, peace and security and sustaining peace, relevant Statements by the President of the Security Council, and as well as related accountability frameworks established by the UN system. From October 2020, this will also include activities related to the Compact on Women, Peace, Security and Humanitarian action as part of the Generation Equality campaign. It supports UN Women’s role as a leading knowledge provider in this area.

Under the supervision of the Deputy Chief (P5), the Knowledge Management Specialist, Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action will take a lead role in the coordination, substantive preparations, visibility and outreach around UN Women’s thought leadership on women, peace and security and humanitarian action. Based on UN Women’s new knowledge-management strategy, the Policy Specialist will design a thematic strategy, and support knowledge production and dissemination, visibility, communication and outreach efforts, and internal capacity building through the coordination of the UN Women Community of Practice on Women Peace and Security  and Humanitarian Action. The Specialist will work to develop and institute a section-wide knowledge and information management strategy, and support the work of the UN Women including coordination, capacity building and strategic partnerships, and learning and knowledge production and management. She or he will act as an important channel to build linkages between country and regional offices through the Community of Practice, and global outreach and strategic communications. The Policy Specialist will also contribute to the broader work of the Peace, Security and Humanitarian Section and help strengthen interagency collaboration on the WPS agenda.

Duties and Responsibilities

Coordinate implementation of the Peace, Security and Humanitarian Section’s  knowledge management strategy

• Coordinate the Peace and Security Section’s efforts to improve and implement knowledge management and information management strategies and systems;
• Support documentation of processes, good practice and lessons learned through drafting and coordination of technical inputs from team members;
• Serve as focal point for knowledge management with organizational KM task force;
• Establish strategic partnerships for knowledge and outreach on WPS, including support in drafting terms of reference, guidelines and criteria for partnerships, and organization of collaborative events and activities.

Maintain and further strengthen UN Women Community of Practice on Peace, Security and Humanitarian

• Liaise with and engage focal points in regional, country and multi-country offices to assess needs, monitor and evaluate learning tools development and usage;
• Map skills, expertise and learning needs across UN Women regional and country offices, including through surveys and other methods;
• Share needs-based and responsive interactive content with UN Women Country and Regional Offices;
• Research and coordinate the provision of  multi-lingual capacity-building opportunities for CoP members;
• Facilitate learning, strategic planning, knowledge-sharing and peer-to-peer exchange through multi-channel media, including webinars, online regional and thematic meetings, etc;
• Identify opportunities for and facilitate face-to-face engagement in conjunction with key events;
• Track user participation and implement responsive activities to build engagement and communication;
• Liaise with knowledge management leads within UN Women’s Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division to ensure internal knowledge and good practice exchange and sharing.
• Map skills and expertise across CoP participants, including through surveys and other methods for information capture and analysis;
• Develop and populate CoP with needs-based and responsive interactive content.

Coordinate and support the Peace, Security and Humanitarian  Section in the production of reports and other documentation, policy briefs, communication and outreach tools and other external knowledge products.

• Coordinate the preparation of UN Women’s Peace and Security Annual Report, including all aspects of production, drafting inputs, outreach and dissemination.
• Liaise with Communications and Advocacy Section on the development of visual assets, templates, and other resources for ongoing strategic communications related to the anniversaries;
• Support other Policy Specialists in planning, production, dissemination and evaluation of knowledge products, in alignment with the Section’s knowledge management strategy;
• Provide inputs to donor reports and support production of knowledge products.

Serve as lead focal-point for visibility, communications and awareness-raising activities in support of UN Women’s work on women, peace, security and humanitarian action.

• Provide coordination support to communications and media outreach for launch and outreach events related to knowledge products;
• Lead on coordination of visibility, communications and outreach activities in relation to critical events on the annual calendar (CSW, Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, etc.), events and activities in partnership with key stakeholders and donors, as well as milestones (anniversary commemorations, etc.);
• Contribute to the development and implementation of a communications strategy for the Compact on Women, Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action, under the umbrella of the Generation Equality global campaign.

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

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Strong commitment to and good understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues;
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to contribute to team success and cooperation;
• Strong organizational skills and strong self-direction;
• Creative thinking and problem solving;
• Strong research and communication skills;
• Ability to prioritize, work under pressure with colleagues at all levels, and deliver tasks on time;
• Strong knowledge of knowledge exchange and learning platforms;
•  Familiarity with interactive Learning Management Systems is a plus.
• Knowledge of the women, peace and security field highly desirable;

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in political science, international relations, gender studies, management, editing and production, or 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.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in Women, Peace and Security, gender/women’s rights, policy, knowledge and coordination, or related field;
• Experience designing and implementing advocacy, communications and knowledge management strategies, including related to women, peace and security;
• Demonstrated success in coordinating successful knowledge exchange networks/communities of practice;
• Experience in advocacy events management in the UN System is highly desirable;
• Experience in internal and external communications, including campaigns, newsletters, social media, etc.;
• Experience facilitating workshops, trainings or other activities a plus.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of the other UN official working 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 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.