Partnerships and Coordination 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.

The UN Women Liberia Country Office contributes to its global corporate mandate to make the vision of the sustainable Development Goals a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life. Its main objective is to promote women’s human rights and gender equality which are key in sustaining and furthering achievements in stability and development.  In this regard, its programming in the country is connected to four corporate priority areas: (1) Governance, women’s leadership and political participation; (2) enhancing women’s economic empowerment; (3) engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; (4) advancing women’s rights to live free from violence. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s joint work in advancing gender equality.

Under the overall  & direct supervision of the Country Representative, the Partnerships and Coordination Specialist will provide technical support to the development and management of UN Women’s strategic partnerships and relationships, and coordination strategy, as well as enhance resource mobilization capacity in the Country Office (CO).

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide technical support towards the development of strategic partnerships and resource mobilization efforts

• Elaborate and update the Resource mobilization strategy in the framework of the Strategic Note process;
• Manage the development and implementation of differentiated, donor fund-raising strategies, aligned and coordinated with country-level activities initiatives and outreach activities;
• Provide support and advice to the Country representative in forging and implementing strategic partnerships to increase outreach on UN Women’s work in country;
• Develop targeted products and initiatives to mobilize programmatic resources and attract additional donors’ funding;
• Ensure accurate and up-to-date records of resource mobilization processes in the Leads system;
• Provide technical support towards the development of projects proposal in line with the UN Women’s strategy and the interest of donors;

2. Provide technical support to the Country Representative on Programme and Partnership Coordination

• Identify entry points for harnessing UN Women’s coordination mandate to drive programme and resources expansion to deliver impact at scale;
• Facilitate knowledge-sharing to build skills and capacity of staff to enhance coordination activities in programme implementation;
• Participate in and provide support to joint inter-agency UN planning processes and similar exercises;
• Provide analysis and advice to Resident Coordinator (RC) and the UN Country Team (UNCT) on the gender dynamics and opportunities to support inclusive engagement of women in the development assistance provided by the UNCT;
• Prepare inputs to Common Country Assessment (CCA)/ UNDAF and other documents;
• Provide technical support to UNCT in monitoring and reporting and prepare analytical and regular progress reports on UN Women’s programme experiences;
• Provide substantive support for UN joint programme development, joint advocacy and research in collaboration with the Country Representative;
• Facilitate the work of the Gender Thematic Group of the UNCT;

3. Provide gender coordination support to national partners

• Provide ongoing technical support to facilitate gender coordination activities between the Government and development partners and civil society;
• Provide technical support to the national gender machinery to facilitate inter-ministerial gender coordination activities;
• Support government efforts to leverage its national gender coordination role to enhance resource mobilization and investments in national gender priorities;

4. Build trust and maintain effective relationships with donors

• Provide technical support to the Country Representative and other senior managers in the preparation of missions, meetings and other consultations with donors, including the preparation of notes, briefs and other materials;
• Provide regular updates on donor profiles, databases (e.g. contacts management) and donor intelligence;
• Identify opportunities to secure additional non-core resources;
• Provide technical support for the drafting and review of partner-specific Framework Arrangements and Cost Sharing Agreements; and the preparation of brief funding proposals and concept notes, where appropriate.
• Organize donor round tables to strength relationship with donors
• Work closely with the reporting units to collect donor feedback on donor reports
• Facilitate partnership and resource mobilization training to program staff and managers based in Country Offices including the development of tools and products, as needed;

5. Participate in knowledge building and sharing and advocacy efforts

• Contribute to the development of knowledge and learning products to enhance UN Women’s thought leadership on advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Share knowledge and enhance organizational learning through contribution to in-house communities of practice and through the development and use of on-line tools, templates, tips, mechanisms and guidelines;
• Monitor emerging issues that could affect partnerships and resource contributions at the national level (risk management).

Competencies

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:

• Strong knowledge of gender equality and women's rights issues;
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with government representatives of Member States (donor and programme);
• Proven networking skills, and ability to mobilize support on behalf of UN Women;
• Strong negotiating skills;
• Knowledge and understanding of UN system and familiarity with inter-governmental processes;
• Strong IT skills, including databases, extranet and office software packages;
• Strong analytical and interpersonal skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, business management, social sciences, public administration, international relations, communications, women's studies, 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.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in resource mobilization, communications/ advocacy, and/or business development;
• Experience in gender equality and women's empowerment is required;
• Experience working with civil society organizations, international institutions and donor is required;
• Experience working in the UN system is desirable.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English
• Knowledge of French is desirable

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.