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.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Country Representative (CR), the Manager ensures effective and efficient functioning of the CR office, full confidentiality in all aspects of assignment, maintenance of protocol procedures, management of information flow, close coordination with the communications team, and follow-up on deadlines and commitments made.

The Manager works in close collaboration with the UN Women Operations and Programme teams, joint UN teams, cluster groups of UN agencies, etc. on internal and external exchange of information. The Office Manager will also support the CR’s social media and liaise closely with the communications team.

This post serves as principal assistant to the CR carrying out broad administrative functions, including coordination and providing guidance to other appropriate staff and national authorities. S/he is expected to ensure efficient flow of information, actions on instructions, agendas and liaison with stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities

Ensures effective and efficient functioning and organization of the CR office focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Support the Office of the Representative, in coordinating activities, performing research, and preparing briefing materials, position papers and speeches;
• Track the status of the Representative’s action items;
• Keep abreast of issues and activities in relation to the Country Programme management, as well as emergency preparedness/response, partnerships, and donor relations, to provide timely and appropriate advice;
• Collaborate with internal and external counterparts, including the United Nations System and national partners, to ensure the smooth functioning of the CR’s office;
• Manage the Representative’s front office, serving as the main point of reference on requests and problems;
• Prepare draft correspondence for the CR, including on sensitive matters;
• Oversee the overall functioning of the CR’s Office, including providing guidance to the Management Associate/Assistant in the effective management and coordination of the front office’s activities;
• Support the Country Representative on internal and external communication of UN Women in close collaboration with Communications.

Support and advice the Country Representative on programmatic, policy and managerial issues:

• Coordinate strategic prioritization of all communications addressed to the Country Representative, review and comment, suggest courses of action, monitor progress of preparation;
• Monitor and identify emerging policy and managerial issues in consultation with senior management;
• Prepare background briefing material for the Country Representative;
• Ensure routing of assignments to Sections and ensure completion by deadlines.

Maintain liaison with divisions and serve as contact between the Country Representative, and Senior Management:

• Establish and maintain effective liaison with senior management on policy as well as programmatic issues relevant to the Country Representative’s functions and responsibilities and keep abreast of key developments on strategic issues. Keep abreast of follow-up from Senior Management Team meetings;
• Manage the Country Representative’s Management Associate and the day-to-day commitments;
• Ensure prompt and efficient communication and coordination between the Country Representative and programme and operations team;
• Review communication/correspondence for Country Representative approval;
• Draft correspondence for and on behalf of the Country Representative, including confidential correspondence, in close liaison with the UNW’s Divisions and relevant staff;
• Coordinate and plan the Country Representative’s official travel and keep in close contact regarding the substantive and logistical preparations required;
• Coordinate the Country Representative’s meetings, including the quarterly and monthly meetings with Division head, arrange the agenda and coordinate follow-up actions.

Advise and support the Country Representative with governments, delegations, senior UN officials, UN system organizations and non-governmental organizations:

• Facilitate effective communication and contacts between the Country Representative and these bodies/ organisations.

Coordinate and manage the Country Representative’s meetings and communication:

• Provide support to effective advocacy of UN activities and communications;
• Maintain all social media presence of the CR;
• Take part in communications meetings and support coordination;
• Coordinate strategic prioritization of all communications addressed to the Country Representative, review and comment, suggest courses of action, monitor progress of preparation;
• Prepare background briefing material for the Country Representative and ensure quality content and format of draft speeches, briefing notes, comments, and reports under the authority of Representative’s Office;
• Ensure facilitation of knowledge building and management focusing on contributing to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
• Organize training to UN staff on coordination, administration and protocol issues.

Undertake ad hoc assignments at the request of the Country Representative.

Key Performance Indicators:

The key results have an impact on the efficiency of the CR office. Accurate analysis and presentation of information strengthens the capacity of the CR office and promotes the image of UN Women as an effective contributor to the development of the country. Incumbent’s own initiative is decisive in results of work and timely finalization.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Creative Problem Solving
• Excellent Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to create, edit, synthesize and present information in clear and presentable formats;
• Ability to administer and execute administrative processes and transactions;
• Ability to provide input to business process re-engineering, elaboration and implementation of new data management systems;
• Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow;
• Ability to manage social media;
• Excellent IT skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in public administration, human rights, gender equality, management, social sciences, or other related areas 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:

• Minimum 2 years of progressively responsible work in the area of administration and coordination.
• Programme experience and providing support to the Head of an Office, knowledge of protocol an added advantage.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.), experience in handling of web-based management systems.
• Experience in supporting a team.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Hindi is required.
• Working knowledge in another official UN language is an asset.

Application Information:

Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs
• 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;
• UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

Inclusion Statement:

• At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits employ, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of race, religion, colour, 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.)

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.