Programme Specialist

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. Economic empowerment is one of the global impact areas for UN Women while it is also a key focus of the Growth and Transformation Plan of Sierra Leonean government.

UN Women is recognized in the country as an expert in advancing the implementation of gender related global norms and standards through strengthening the national gender machineries (working with the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs), the parliament, the justice mechanisms (the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice); the police, the military as well as with traditional leadership institutions.

Partnership with traditional leadership mechanisms particularly with all categories of the institution of chiefs and religious leaders has brought into focus the critical role in play in addressing harmful traditional practices to supporting the protection of the rights of women in a transformative gender perspective.  UN Women’s portfolio in Sierra Leone is inclusive of the following flagship programmes:

• Women’s Leadership in governance and political participation.
• Ending Violence Against Women.
• Women in Peace, Security & Humanitarian Action.
• Women’s Economic empowerment.

UN Women Sierra Leone supports stakeholders to deliver advanced changes in the work and lives of networks of farmers, farmers’ groups; and market women associations. UN Women undertook initiatives to support mainstreaming of gender in the Government’s localization and participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area. The Agency is working on improving knowledge on women in business, promoting women/gender in climate resilient agriculture and environmental sustainability.

To align its women’s economic empowerment portfolio with UN Women’s global standards and Sierra Leone priorities (as defined in UNSDCF), ensuring sustainable impact generation for women and girls, UN Women is recruiting a Programme

Specialist. Under the overall guidance and direction of the Head of Office, the women’s economic empowerment Programme Specialist leads the effective coordination and management of UN Women Economic Empowerment Program through all aspects including programme identification, design, formulation, implementation, monitoring, knowledge development, report, resource mobilization, partner relations, thematic communication and evaluation. S/he is accountable to the overall delivery of UN Women WEE programme, and ensures appropriate application of systems, procedures and necessary enhancements on a timely manner. She/he works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team, UN Women HQ and Regional (WCAR) WEE departments, UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes, Government institutions at various levels, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successes and strong positioning of UN Women’s advantage values in the thematic.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Lead the coordination of the women’s economic empowerment Portfolio/ Programme

• Coordinate the overall Programme/Portfolio work plan development and implementation according to Strategic Note/ programme document;
• Liaise with the Programme Boards, national counterparts, donors, UN Women and partners to ensure the Programme results are achieved and resources are managed;
• Prepare and present work-plans, periodic narrative progress reports and expenditures status reports to the Programme Board and UN Women and other stakeholders as necessary;
• Establish systems for project planning, implementation and monitoring in collaboration with partners;
• Record and maintain documents on relevant Programme activities, issues, and risks.

1. Manage the coordination with national partners and other stakeholders

• Manage relationships with national implementing partners to support implementation of [Women’s Economic Empowerment] Programme/Portfolios, raise potential problems and provide solutions;
• Provide substantial guidance to partners on establishment of performance indicators, and monitoring achievement of results;
• Identify capacity building needs and support partners through technical assistance, mentoring, training, and cross partner learning and sharing, and capacity development initiatives; develop training materials and workshops, as necessary.

3. Oversee the monitoring and reporting on the women’s economic empowerment Programme/Portfolio

• Gather and compile all information necessary for monitoring and reporting on programmes and projects from the planning to the evaluation stages;
• Monitor the implementation of activities and the expenditure of funds by partners;
• oversee regular monitoring visits;
• Finalize annual and quarterly reports; finalize the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
• Provide inputs from Women’s Economic Empowerment programme activities and results to Country Office/ Multi Country/ Regional Office reporting;
• Ensure the delivery of baseline, monitoring, evaluation plans and reports (flash, progress and final) based on information compiled from colleagues and stakeholders

4. Manage financial resources and supervise staff

• Supervise and manage a team of professional and administrative staff, review performance and mentor/ coach staff;
• Develop and prepare of financial resources of the programme including budgeting and budget revisions, and expenditure tracking and reporting;
• Oversee and monitor the allocation and disbursement of funds to participating partners;
• Ensure appropriate actions are taken to optimize use of programme funds.

5. Build partnerships and lead resource mobilization for the economic empowerment portfolio/program

• Coordinate the development of partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Determine programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, country needs and donors’ priorities and develop the relevant partnerships;
• Participate in on-going coordination mechanisms to ensure coherence of the programme with other country level processes.
• Pro-actively plan and creatively mobilize resources for the full development and financing of economic empowerment portfolio/program

• 6. Advocate and facilitate knowledge building and management and communication

• Develop, coordinate, and/or finalize briefs on programme achievements;
• Ensure documentation of the programme implementation process and products produced are in accordance with UN Women guidelines;
• Coordinate exchange of information and knowledge products internally and externally of the programme;
• Organize major advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products.

• 7. Contribute to inter-agency coordination to achieve a coherent and aligned presence for Women Economic Empowerment in the country

• Provide substantive technical support to the Head of Office and inter-agency coordination related activities by drafting meaningful background reports and briefs.

• 8. Provide substantive inputs to advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts

• Develop background documents, briefs and presentations related to Women Economic Empowerment;
• Coordinate and organize advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products;
• Coordinate the development of knowledge management methodologies, and products on Women Economic Empowerment.

Competencies

• Timely and quality implementation of Programme/Portfolio/Project activities against set workplans, timelines and budgets, in line with the Strategic Note, UN Women’s Global directions of Women’s economic empowerment.
• Quality and timely reporting
• Excellent relations with partners and stakeholders
• Regular and timely monitoring of activities
• Enhanced best practices and lessons learned documented and circulated
• Increase in resources mobilized
• Performance of Staff members

Increase awareness of UN Women in the Country

Core Values:

• 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

• Functional Competencies

• Excellent programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Excellent knowledge of results based management principles and approaches
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on the for development results
• Outstanding knowledge in Women Economic Empowerment
• Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation
• Excellent networking skills
• Ability to negotiate and interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, 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.
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage

Experience:

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• Technical experience in Women economic empowerment;
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is an asset;
• Experience in resource mobilization;
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset;
• Experience in leading/managing a team.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset;
• Knowledge of Resource Mobilization is an asset.

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.