UN Women: Director, Brussels Liaison Office

Background

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (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 Strategic Partnerships Division (SPD) works to strengthen UN Women’s position as a partner of choice for gender equality and the empowerment of women (GEWE) among governments and inter-governmental actors around the world. The division is doing this by positioning GEWE in the intergovernmental and multilateral fora and engaging with governments and public institutions as policy, programme and resource partners. A key premise for SPD is that engagement with countries should be holistic based on multiple aspects of partnerships, including policy advocacy and resource mobilization.

Under the supervision of the Chief of the Public Partnerships Section, the Director of the Brussels Liaison Office has overall responsibilities for managing UN Women’s relations with all relevant entities and interlocutors of the European Union and will oversee external relations and both the overall partnership portfolio with the EU and other partners as well as political engagement and advocacy, in addition to managing the office. The European Union (EU) constitutes a key global player in the intergovernmental space, including through its own work in setting policies and norms with gender-equality implications for its own Member States, Accession Countries and others.  It is also highly influential in international development allocations and policy as the largest donor in the sphere of international development aid, accounting for more than 50% of global ODA.  The strategic focus of the office is on UN Women’s partnership development and political engagement with the EU institutions on issues pertaining to UN Women’s mandate to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, notably through policy dialogue, advocacy, including joint advocacy, and joint programming.  The office is also responsible for providing guidance to UN Women HQ, regional and country offices on partnership development with the EU.  The office additionally supports the Strategic Partnerships Section in partnership building with Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands as well as outreach to and cooperation with civil society, UN agencies based in Brussels, and other actors.

The work of the Brussels Office is, inter alia, guided by the Memorandum of Understanding between the European Union (EU), which was signed in 2012 and re-committed to in 2016 and in 2022 and which supports the implementation of UN Women’s Strategic Plan.

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead and manage the development of external relations and overall partnership building with the EU and other key stakeholders:

• Pursue and maintain strategic engagement with the EU, also in the context of the EU/UN Women MoU and its recommitments.  Advance the partnership with the EU and identify, develop and implement partnership opportunities for policy dialogue, joint advocacy and joint programming with the EU, in coordination with different UN Women divisions and Regional and Country Offices;
• Identify and follow-up on possible sources of new and continued joint programming/resource mobilization with the EU and devise strategic entry points and innovative opportunities for field implementation;
• Develop, build and nurture strategic partnerships with EU Member States representatives and delegations to the EU, civil society, networks, think tanks and other stakeholders to advocate and promote UN Women mandate, gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Oversee the monitoring and analysis of the EU political landscape as well as the overall UN Women partnership with the EU and advise UN Women’s senior management and colleagues in the field and at HQ on advocacy opportunities whereby UN Women can influence EU policy and decision making in favour of gender equality;
• Advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment and UN Women normative, coordination, and operational work in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Entity’s Strategic Plan with partners and key stakeholders at Brussels level and elsewhere, as needed;
• Identify opportunities for policy dialogue with the EU. Coordinate policy dialogue with the EU level (European Commission, Council, European Parliament, EU MS, as applicable), connecting and leveraging capacities of HQ and field offices including coordinating expert policy advice, including with other UN agencies, as applicable;
• Represent UN Women in the UN Brussels Team and foster collaboration with other UN agencies on behalf of UN Women in terms of policy dialogue, joint advocacy and programming with the EU. Provide strategic leadership within the UN Brussels Team on gender equality and women’s empowerment, and promote and develop UN coordination around these goals, including the coordination of crafting UN positions on EU policies;
• Represent UN Women at events, conferences, working groups and meetings in Brussels to promote UN Women’s triple mandate to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. Represent UN Women in strategic conferences and fora in Europe upon request of HQ;
• Provide support to all parts of UN Women on partnership development with selected bilateral partners, including Belgium, France, Germany, and others as required.

Lead and manage the capturing and dissemination of partner intelligence:

• Oversee real-time intelligence gathering and knowledge products on EU’s policies and priorities for dissemination to offices globally;
• Lead the preparation of comprehensive and substantive briefs, reports, statistics for UN Women’s leadership, also in context of meetings with high-level officials from the EU;
• Work with other sections and offices to develop and implement visibility products on UN Women’s results, including joint UN results.

Proactively provide substantive support to field and HQ offices on resource mobilization and partnership opportunities:

• Guide and provide substantive advice and capacity development opportunities to HQ, regional and country offices to equip them to engage the EU for policy dialogue, joint advocacy and joint programming/resource mobilization;
• Oversee negotiations on agreements consistent with UN Women Rules and Regulations, policies and procedures and Financial and Administrative Framework Agreement (FAFA). Follow the FAFA process;
• Oversee the provision of technical and coordination guidance to other sections of UN Women in developing and approving strategic partnership proposals;
• Oversee the support to programme implementation provided via the Brussels Office and support  oversight functions/quality control/regular monitoring processes, including for verification missions;
• Advise and coordinate for resource mobilization for core and non-core resources from selected European donors and other partners.

Manage the Liaison Office:

• Manage the development and implementation of the office’s workplans and budgets;
• Oversee the financial and operations management of the office in line with UN Women policies, rules and procedures including identifying financing solutions for necessary office capacity in the context of anticipated increased EU-funded portfolio and political engagement;
• Recruit and supervise staff and consultants, ensure timely implementation of performance management process;
• Promote a healthy working environment and supervise personnel, including by supporting personnel in the achievement of their career goals, ensuring appropriate learning, training and development, and actively participating in timely planning and assessing of performance;
• Strategically contribute to the work of the Strategic Partnerships Division and represent the Brussels Office in the Division Management Team;
• Manage the security requirements for the office and represent UN Women in the UN Brussels Security Management Team.

Provide any other support as requested by supervisor.

Key Performance Indicators: 

• Partnership with the EU strengthened and EU/UN Women MoU implementation guided;
• Volume and number of partnership opportunities identified and negotiated;
• Opportunities for policy dialogue and joint advocacy identified and successfully pursued,
• UN Women influence on EU policies and action in favour of gender equality including in intergovernmental spaces;
• Timely quality advice and guidance to UN Women offices on partner engagement provided;
• UN Women well represented in meetings and events;
• Partnerships and engagements with other UN agencies pursued;
• Office management, including performance of staff, workplanning and financial management, ensured; 
• Quality communication and advocacy ensured;
• Regular collaboration, coordination and teamwork with colleagues globally, including at HQ and field level ensured.

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:  https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Substantive knowledge or gender equality and women’s empowerment issues;
• Excellent knowledge of the European Union and its institutions;
• Excellent political acumen, judgement, technical knowledge in representing the organization effectively;
• Excellent partnerships development, networking, interpersonal skills and ability to mobilize support from a range of resource partners and ability to establish strategic partnerships with UN agencies, civil society and other international partners;
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision;
• Excellent advocacy, communications and negotiation skills;
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills;
• Ability to lead strategic planning, change processes, results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to lead formulation, reporting and evaluation oversight for development programmes;
• Ability to manage complexities, including planning, goal-setting and prioritization skills;
• Ability to establish and enhance broad strategic partnerships with UN agencies, civil society and other international partners;
• Ability to lead and manage teams to achieve demonstrable results;
• Strong oral and written communications skills, including public speaking skills; ability to convey complex concepts to different stakeholders.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: 

• Advanced university degree in economics, business management, social sciences, public administration, political science, international relations, 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.

Experience: 

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in strategic partnership development, resource mobilization and communications/advocacy is required;
• Experience working with international institutions and government partners is required;
• Experience working with the European Union/European Commission is an asset;
• Experience working on gender equality issues is an asset;
• Experience working in the UN system is an asset;
• Experience managing an office, including people management, and financial and administrative oversight.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and French is required.

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/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc 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.

Notes:

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.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)