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.

Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The Policy, Programme & Intergovernmental Division (PPID) drives UN Women’s positioning as a global thought & practice leader on gender equality and women’s empowerment to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by:

• Connecting and consolidating UN Women’s knowledge and experience from across the field for normative policy advancements,
• Facilitating substantive thematic coordination across the UN System,
• Leading cutting-edge policy analysis based on data and evidence, and
• Providing technical advice to support field programming for impact at scale.

PPID Core Functions include:

• Accountable for Strategic Plan (SP) implementation through effective and efficient inter-governmental, policy and programmatic support, including for the delivery of the UN Women programme results as outlined in the UN Women Strategic Plan 2022-2025 (SP):
  • Impact: Governance and Participation in Public Life (G&P), Women’s Economic empowerment (WEE), Ending Violence against Women (EVAW), and Women, Peace, Security, Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction (PSHADRR)
  • Outcomes: i) Global Normative Frameworks & laws/policies/institutions, ii) Financing for GE, iii) Social Norms, iv) Women’s access to services and goods and resources, v) Women’s voice, leadership and agency, vi) Gender statistics and data, vii) UN System Coordination
• PPID ensures that UN Women offices and stakeholders receive high quality technical policy and programme guidance, substantive support and strategic direction, knowledge, and data in all contexts (development, security, humanitarian, and disaster/post-disaster) to contribute to the achievement of SDGs.
• PPID leads the work on data, evidence and knowledge on gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) and tracking progress on the SDG by collecting, analyzing, and disseminating evidence, data, and knowledge internally and externally.
• PPID enables UN Women to function as a globally networked and matrixed development organization that is equipped to deliver results as part of a repositioned UN development system where they are most needed in the field, including across the Humanitarian-Development-Peace nexus in protracted crises, conflict, post-conflict, humanitarian and disaster settings.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide coordination and technical support to the DED Directorate / Director PPID in interactions with other UN entities by working closely with liaison staff of senior officials of those entities;
• Process and/or prepare the DED Directorate / Director PPID participation in meetings and missions/key events;
• Manage the DED’s Directorate / Director agenda; evaluate and keep track of important events and, meeting and advise on priorities and critical meetings requiring his/ her presence;
• Liaise closely with Divisions, sections and field offices as well as key partners and stakeholders on workplans and commitments.Assist in the follow-up to meetings and corporate initiatives, including the preparation of relevant notes as appropriate;
• Maintain close contacts with the Executive Director Office, and the Office of the DED/ASG for Partnerships, Resources and Sustainability and bring to the attention of the ASG/DED all matters requiring his/ her personal attention. Formulate options as to how those matters might be best handled and followed-up, as directed;
• Identify, research, analyze, prepare and organize information and briefing materials for the DED Directorate / Director PPID to facilitate decision-making and leadership in management strategic planning/review;
• Coordinate the production of speeches, talking points, briefing notes, background papers, and/or design presentation materials (including multi-media) for delivery by the Director in key events, meetings and other external fora ensuring that UN Women thinking, goals, objectives, strategies and/or policies on gender issues and UN Women programs are appropriately reflected in these materials.

2. Provide substantive knowledge management and reporting support:

• Establish a system for timely and prioritized decision-making and ensure sharing of good practices and decisions with involved units and divisions;
• Coordinate efforts and in meeting deadlines related to organizational reports including for intergovernmental bodies ensuring the required quality standards are observed;
• Ensure the timely follow-up to the Division’s directives, including the effective dissemination of pertinent information to senior management and other relevant staff at Headquarters and in other offices.

3. Provide high level administrative and logistical support:

• Provide administrative, logistical and coordination support to the DED Directorate / Director PPID in official engagements such as signatures/ceremonies ensuring that liaison has been maintained within all the different sections in UN Women, determine if adequate representation is present and ensure all protocol arrangements are in place;
• Provide support to the DED Directorate / Director’s participation in Senior Management Team (SMT) meetings and retreats, including preparation of agenda and minutes, ensuring the timely submission and circulation of relevant background documents and reports;
• Manage the planning and organization of the DED Directorate / Director’s official travel, including the timely preparation of official travel files and background documents by the relevant divisions and units as well as prepare or ensure the preparation of official travel reports;

4. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Competencies

• 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

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:

• Excellent skills and substantive knowledge in gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Strong planning, goal-setting, prioritization and organizational skills;
• Strong communication skills, both written and oral. excellent drafting skills with the ability to edit and clear reports, speeches and correspondences;
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills;
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision from the spectrum of development experience;
• Demonstrated negotiating, cultural sensitivity and diplomatic skills;
• Capacity to conduct data analysis and visualize results in digestible communication products;
• Ability to provide information, tools, resources to support work achievement;
• Effectiveness orientation and pro-activity;
• Ability to leverage information technology, executive information systems, management techniques and tools for optimal office performance;
• Strong interpersonal skills;
• Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability.

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in one of the following disciplines: social sciences, political science, international relations, business administration or management, public administration, or other related fields;
• 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/programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of progressively varied responsible experience with international and/or corporate organizations preferably in the United Nations system and its organizations;
• Experience in Results Based Management is required;
• Experience working on issues of gender equality and empowerment of women is desirable;
• Experience in knowledge generation and management, research, normative support and integrated policy advice to governments and other development actors is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

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/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.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.

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.

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.)