Women’s Economic Empowerment Project Officer/National Position

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, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world.

Through its programmes and projects, UN Women is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental) in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, it facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life. According to its mandate, UN Women works in five thematic areas, such as leadership and participation, women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women, women peace and security and governance and national planning fully reflect accountability for gender equality commitments. UN Women is also the lead Agency in coordinating the UN Country Team on gender equality.

The UN Women Country Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been supporting relevant stakeholders in the country to advance economic empowerment of women and the efforts are intensifying along the four primary programming streams – knowledge generation and sharing, support to women in entrepreneurship, raising awareness and policy response to the needs and potential of the care economy, advancing potential of women in rural areas and advancing role and participation of women in tech driven industries .

UN Women Country Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina is seeking to recruit Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Project Officer who will work under the direct supervision of WEE Coordinator and overall supervision of Programme Specialist and UN Women Representative, and will be responsible for implementing designated programme components within the WEE Portfolio, in support to gender perspective in the economic processes and reforms in the country and direct efforts for women’s economic empowerment.

WEE Project Officer will work in close collaboration with the colleagues in the related programmes and the operations team to ensure consistent delivery of results.

Duties and Responsibilities

Design and implementation of WEE programmatic interventions

Lead planning and implementation of activities within the designated component of the WEE portfolio.
In close consultation with partners, support development of programmatic interventions.
Monitor and technically resource implementation of consultancy contracts and agreements with the implementing partners.
Draft Letters of Agreement, project plans, budgets, Terms of Reference for national and international consultants, experts/ institutions, and CSOs and oversee their performance in delivering required outputs.
Develop and update quarterly work plans and expenditure plans based on the agreed annual work-plan;
Identify and obtain any support and advice required for the management, planning and control of the designated WEE Portfolio components;
Ensure proper identification of and follow up with all relevant counterparts;
Ensure project documentations/communication is properly done, tracking system is in place for effective project closure and any anticipated human resources changes on the designated WEE Portfolio components;
Contribute to UN Women planning and reporting corporate requirements as requested by the supervisors;
Any other tasks assigned by the supervisors.

WEE Technical Support

Provide technical support to UN Women implementing partners, consultants and collaborators, towards the achievement of intended results;
Organize stakeholder coordination to ensure harmonization and sustainability of results;
Foster strategic partnerships with the key stakeholders;
Identify and link to related ongoing activities within other institutions and encourage collaboration and synergies;
Promote and advocate for the project in the media as agreed with supervisors;
Undertake regular monitoring missions to ensure timely delivery and quality of results;
Flag in a timely way issues of strategic concern and seek advice by the supervisors in finding appropriate solutions;
Responsible for timely collection of all baselines and setting the targets;
Prepare deliverables and provide technical support and inputs as needed;
All other technical tasks as agreed with the supervisors.

Reporting to UN Women and the Donor

Provide inputs for quarterly, annual and donor reports on the state of the implementation of the designated WEE Portfolio components;
Contribute to ensure project documentation/communication is properly done and tracking system is in place for effective project closure;
Ensure adherence to the UN Women operating rules and procedures;
Perform appropriate operations in the online corporate management system.

The overall objective of UN Women’s work on WEE is to strengthen the gender perspective in the economic reforms and policies and to contribute to direct economic empowerment of women in the country.

Competencies

CORE VALUES / GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;
Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work;
Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

CORE COMPETENCIES

Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity;
Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative;
Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds;
Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication;
Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others;
Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution;
Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge;
Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES

Ability to extract, interpret, analyze data and resolve operational problems;
Ability to perform work of confidential nature and handle a large volume of work;
Ability to support a team and team building skills;
Strong IT skills and ability to apply it consistently in work tasks;
Good knowledge of administrative rules and regulations, organizational policies and procedures related to the position and ability to apply it consistently in work tasks;
Focus on results and positive response to feedback;
Attention to detail;
Generates new ideas and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things;
Documents and analyses innovative strategies/best practices/new approaches;
Reports to internal and external partners in a timely and appropriate fashion;
Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet partners and donors needs and deadlines;
Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships within the work unit and with internal and external partners;
Responds to partners needs promptly.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

MA degree in economics, social studies, or closely related field. BA with additional two years of experience may be accepted in lieu of MA degree.

Experience:

A minimum of 2 years of relevant experience (with BA) in similar positions is required.
Demonstrated project experience will be highly valued as well as previous work on topics related to human rights, gender equality, and women’s economic empowerment.
Experience working on analytical or practical projects and having a good understanding of economic position and empowerment of women in BIH;
Experience with the international standards related to the Project Cycle Management and Monitoring and Evaluation of Projects;
Experience working with international organizations will be an asset.

Language Requirements:

Excellent English and B/S/C language skills, both written and oral.