UN Women (UNW) Programme Officer Job in Nairobi, Kenya

Background

UN Women (UNW), 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 centre of all its efforts, the 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 actor.

In order to reinforce its Office for Somalia, UN WOMEN seeks to recruit a programme officer to guide the development of UN WOMEN work in Somalia. Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Regional Programme Director, the Programme Officer is responsible for management of UN WOMEN Somalia programme within the thematic/sectoral areas assigned. The Programme Officer analyzes political, social and economic trends and leads the formulation, management and evaluation of programme activities within his/her portfolio, and provides policy advice.

The Programme Officer supervises and leads programme support staff, coordinates activities of projects' staff. The Programme Officer works in close collaboration with the operations team, programme staff in other UN Agencies, UN WOMEN HQs staff and Government officials, technical advisors and experts, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN WOMEN programme implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

• Implementation of programme strategies.
• Management of the CO programme.
• Creation of strategic partnerships and implementation of the resource mobilization strategy.
• Provision of top quality policy advice to the Government and facilitation of knowledge building and management.

Ensures implementation of programme strategies focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Thorough analysis and research of the political, social and economic situation in the country and preparation of substantive inputs to CCA, UNDAF, CPD, CPAP and other documents.
• Identification of areas for support and interventions within the thematic/sectoral areas assigned.
• CO business processes mapping and preparation of the content of internal Standard Operating Procedures in Results Management.

Ensures effective management of the CO programme within the thematic/sectoral areas assigned

focusing on quality control from formulation to implementation of the country programme achieving the following results:

• Effective application of RBM tools, establishment of management targets and monitoring achievement of results.
• Design and formulation of CO programme within the area of responsibility, translating UN WOMEN's priorities into local interventions. Coordination of programme implementation with the executing agencies. Introduction of performance indicators/ success criteria, targets and milestones.
• Initiation of projects, presentation of the projects to PAC, entering projects into Atlas ( in small offices), finalization of contribution agreement; determination of required revisions; coordination of the mandatory and budget re-phasing exercises, closure of projects through review. The Programme Officer can perform functions of Manager Level 1 in Atlas for POs and vouchers approval, participates in recruitment processes for projects.
• Financial and substantive monitoring and evaluation of the projects, identification of operational and financial problems, development of solutions. Participation in audit of NEX projects.
• Follow up on audit recommendations. All exceptions are timely reported. Aggregate reports are regularly prepared on activities, outputs and outcomes.
• Preparation of donor reports.

Ensures creation of strategic partnerships and implementation of the resource mobilization strategy in cooperation with the Management Support and Business Development Team focusing on achievement of the following results:

focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Development of partnerships with the UN Agencies, IFI's, government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society in the specific thematic areas based on strategic goals of UN WOMEN, country needs and donors' priorities.
• Analysis and research of information on donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for initiation of new projects, active contribution to the overall office effort in resource mobilization.

Ensures provision of top quality advisory services and facilitation of knowledge building and management focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Identification of sources of information related to policy-driven issues. Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learnt directly linked to programme country policy goals.
• Support to development of policies and institutions that will address the country problems and needs in collaboration with the Government and other strategic partners.
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.
• Organization of trainings for the operations/ projects staff on programme issues.

Impact of Results:

The key results have an impact on the success of the country programme within specific areas of cooperation. In particular, the key results have an impact on the design, operation and programming of activities, creation of strategic partnerships as well as reaching resource mobilization targets.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Advocacy/Advancing A Policy-Oriented Agenda: Preparing information for advocacy.

• Identifies and communicates relevant nformation for a variety of audiences for advocating UN WOMEN's mandate.

Results-Based Programme Development and Management

: Contributes into results through primary research and analysis.

• Assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work.
• Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration.
• Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation.
• Analyzes country situation to identify opportunities for project development.
• Participates in the formulation of project proposals and ensures substantive rigor in the design and application of proven successful approaches and drafts proposals accordingly.

Building Strategic Partnerships:

Maintaining a network of contacts.

• Maintains an established network of contacts for general information sharing and to remain up-to-date on partnership related issues.
• Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders.

Innovation and Marketing New Approaches:

Enhancing processes or products.

• Generates new ideas and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things.
• Documents and analyses innovative strategies/best practices/new approaches.

Resource Mobilization:

Providing inputs to resource mobilization strategies.

• Analyzes information/databases on potential and actual donors.
• Develops a database of project profiles. Identifies opportunities for project proposals for presentation to donors.

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Basic research and analysis.

• Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things.
• Documents and analyses innovative strategies and new approaches.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise: Fundamental knowledge of own discipline.

• Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position.
• Possesses basic knowledge of organizational policies and procedures relating to the position and applies them consistently in work tasks.
• Strives to keep job knowledge up-to-date through self-directed study and other means of learning.
• Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments.
• Demonstrates in-depth understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments.

Global Leadership and Advocacy for UNWOMEN's Goals: Preparing information for global advocacy.

• Identifies and communicates relevant information for advocacy for UNWOMEN's goals for a variety of audiences.
• Identifies and takes advantage of opportunities for advocating for UNWOMEN's mandate.

Client Orientation: Establishing effective client relationships.

• Researches potential solutions to internal and external client needs and reports back in a timely, succinct and appropriate fashion.
• Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines.
• Anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment, proficiency in applying knowledge tools and products to work
• Self-development, initiative-taking, resourcefulness and a high sense of responsibility

• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work
• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively
• Creating synergies through self-control
• Managing conflict
• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others.

Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member

• Informed and transparent decision making
• Strong analytical skills
• Excellent in time management, demonstrated capacity of multi-tasking, and working effectively under pressure for extended periods and meet strict deadline
• Ability to engage substantively with networks of professionals in this field
• Ability to work independently and be able to effectively interact with various constituencies

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Minimum of a Master's Degree in Gender and Development or Public Policy or Development Studies or Development Management or Social Science with Gender as a component from a recognised University. Prince2 training and certification, RMG.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of experience in Gender and Governance and sustainable development related issues at the national level
• Good understanding and experience in program/project cycle management
• Good understanding of program finances and demonstrated experience of formulating, tracking and reporting against budgets
• Demonstrated experience of working in challenging knowledge-based and results based management environment
• Good skills in using office software applications, intranet and internet based applications
• Knowledge of development context of Somalia and added advantage.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English.

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.

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment

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.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

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