UN Women: Programme Associate

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 Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division (PPID) provides global support to UN Women offices at Headquarters and in all field locations to deliver results in support of UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and internationally agreed goals on gender equality and women’s empowerment, including the Beijing Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Division provides intellectual and strategic leadership on normative support and the delivery of integrated policy and program advice, including through policy analysis and gender mainstreaming. The Division leverages innovation, knowledge management, and cutting-edge technical expertise to support UN Women programmes and to build the capacity of partners to deliver results on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The UN Women Training Centre (TC) in NY/HQ in the Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division is dedicated to supporting the UN System and other stakeholders to realize commitments to gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s rights through transformative training and learning. The gender capacity-development programmes range from basic and introductory levels to specialized and advanced levels for diverse audiences with different backgrounds. In terms of capacity-development strategies and techniques, the TC makes maximum use of on-line training techniques, paying special attention to e-learning courses and an active learning approach.

Reporting to the Chief of the Training Center in close coordination with the Training Centre Team, the Programme Associate supports the coordination and completion of operational and programmatic activities of the Training Centre. S/he is a member of the Training Centre team where most of his/her supporting, operational, programmatic functions are coordinated. S/he supports decisions to ensure delivery of organizational goals and operational results, including the compilation of information and analysis on a monthly and quarterly basis, and handling daily operations for the TC team. S/he will be responsible to support the achievement of operational excellence and the analysis of results achieved in different programmatic and operational areas during their support to the implementation of TC workplans towards UN Women’s Strategic Plan.

The Programme Associate contributes to donor reporting, financial management, and programme implementation including necessary operational, administrative, and programmatic support. The Programme Associate works in close collaboration with other UN Women HQ Divisions as required to support projects management and to resolve finance-related issues exchanging relevant information and planning coordinated actions. Likewise, as part of the support to TC initiatives, the Programme Associate needs to coordinate actions with some Country and Regional Offices. S/he serves as the procurement focal point for the TC and performs other operational roles as well.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide administrative support to the financial management of the Training Centre  

• Create projects and corresponding budgets in ERP systems and RMS, prepare budget revisions, year-end rephasals and mandatory revisions;
• Liaise and assist team members and programme staff regarding budget queries as needed.
• Monitor budget’s implementation and finances of the programme to ensure that spending is on track and in line with the planned budget and procurement policies and procedures; propose necessary changes to the programme components to attain programme objectives in consultation with the supervisor and support reallocation of resources as needed;
• Prepare and analyze monthly financial reports to update status of budgets and expenditures;
• Support cash allocation exercises; process GLJEs for adjustments of transactions, as needed and ensure their completion with the Finance section.
• Review and verify financial transactions including the processing of payment to vendors, advances to implementing partners, and completing liquidations.
• Maintain internal expenditures control system;
• Create requisitions in ERP systems; register goods receipts in ERP systems;
• Ensure clearance of partner agreements in PGAMS are processed in a timely fashion.
• Document all transactions for audit purposes.

Provide administrative support to the human resources management of the TC

• Assist programme staff with procurement, administrative and human resources issues;
• Support the hiring and onboarding processes of the Training Centre staff and consultants including contract preparation and renewals, in liaison with Human Resources, Facilities and ICT.
• Act as the leave monitor ensuring timely recording of Training Centre staff’s leave;
• Undertake all logistical, administrative and financial arrangements for organization for meetings, workshops, events, and missions;
• Make travel arrangements for the programme team, including travel requisitions and claims; 
• Maintain a contract tracker  for consultants and vendors and monitor regularly expiration of contracts;
• Support the procurement planning and its implementation for timely and efficient programme delivery under the guidance and compliance of organizational rules, regulations, and procedures.
• Prepare public information materials and briefing packets as needed; 
• Provide guidance and training to staff members on general administrative matters;
• Manage the Chief, Training Centre calendar; prioritizing and scheduling meeting requests;
• Liaise with UN Women HQ Facilities and UN Women ICT team on behalf of the unit as needed.  

Provide programmatic support with donor agreements linked to other resources (non-core)

• Provide technical guidance and support to PMs on the different processes related to donor agreements, funding modalities, budget structure, linkages to workplans and reporting commitments. 
• Support the unit with the management of donor agreements in the Donor Agreements Management System (DAMS), acting as level one approver.

Provide support in work planning activities to the TC

• Provide budgetary and programmatic support in the preparation of workplans, budget documents, and proposals.
• Support entries of workplans in Results Management System (RMS), including semi-annual monitoring and evaluation (M&E) requirements in RMS.
• Ensure that mapping of RMS and ERP activities is accurate based on Biannual Workplan Plan’s guidance.
• Support the development and establishment of LTAs with vendors to facilitate procurement processes and development of training courses, materials, and resources. 
• Actively engage in the development of the Training Centre revitalization process, including the development of the Business Model and Communications plan.

Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing 

• Keep abreast of new developments and changes in UN Women’s policies, procedures and guidelines, sharing  relevant updates with the Training Centre section.
• Create and share operational guidance tools on HR/ Procurement/Project Management/ ERP systems/RMS and provide support to the Training Centre Section, as needed.
• Provide administrative support related to training for the programme staff and partners on programme and operations related issues.
• Review and give feedback on SOPs and business processes.

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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: 

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Ability to administer and execute administrative and procurement processes and transactions;
• Ability to perform work of confidential nature and handle a large volume of work;
• Strong knowledge of administrative rules and regulations;
• Strong IT and web based management skills;
• Ability to extract and interpret data
• Ability to priorities work and to multi-task;

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Completion of secondary education required.
• University Degree in Business, Administration and Finance, would be desirable, but it is not a requirement.

Experience:

• At least 6 years of progressively responsible experience in administration, finance, procurement, human resources or logistic support services at the national or international level;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is required.
• Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable.

Language Requirements:

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

GS fixed-term appointment (FTA) positions located in New York are open to candidates who are either US Permanent Residents, US Citizens or holders of a valid G4 visa at the time of their application and whose G4 visa has been acquired on account of their employment in the UN Systems based in New York.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: . 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.)