UN Women: Operations Specialist, Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

Background

The duration of the assignment is for 364 days.  Whereas an external candidate will be offered a temporary appointment; subject to release agreements, staff members in UN Women may be administered as a temporary assignment and staff members in the UN Common system may be administered under a loan arrangemen

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.

UN Women’s Civil Society Division (CSD) facilitates the participation of CSOs in intergovernmental processes on gender equality and women’s rights, in particular in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and related intergovernmental processes. CSO engagement and participation numbers in the CSW sessions and related processes have significantly increased over the past decade and are expected to further increase leading up to Beijing+30 in 2025, and the Civil Society Division is working with partners in the UN system and in civil society on strengthening inclusive and enabling environments for civil society and youth to meaningfully engage in intergovernmental processes, including improved and innovative access and contribution modalities. At the same time, UN Women is looking to strengthen its support for civil society in other intergovernmental processes including the Human Rights Council and the Summit of the Future and its outcome.

Under the overall strategic guidance of the Director of the Civil Society Division, and the supervision of the Deputy Director, the CSW Operations Specialist serves as a member of the CSW management team in CSD, and is responsible for all aspects as well as the improvement/innovation of CSW civil society participation operations, and will work in close collaboration with CSW substantive and technical Secretariats, the UN Department for Safety and Security, UN Women Security Services, , and in coordination with UN Women Geneva office and Regional Offices, Programme, Policy & Intergovernmental Division (PPID), Strategic Partnerships Division (SPD), UN System Coordination Division, Executive Director Office (EDO) and the Generation Equality Coordination Hub and Action Coalition Focal Points in UN Women. The position will contribute to the strategic financial and human resources management for CSW CSO participation, efficient procurement and logistical services, security management, and CSW-related ICT and common services consistent with UN Women rules and regulations. In addition to the work related to CSW, the Operations Specialist will support CSD on CSO participation in relevant intergovernmental processes, including in humanitarian, human rights, health, and labour norm-setting fora, and will contribute to outreach and knowledge sharing with civil society organizations and networks.

Exploring innovative approaches for CSO access and participation modalities is a key task of the Operations Specialist and will include close collaboration with the Indico.UN team and related UNOG and UNHQ NY offices working on improved CSO registration, access, and participation modalities, including hybrid and virtual modalities; to strengthen CSD’s work with ECOSOC accredited organizations and CSW-related networks and to be able to better support civil society and UN Women regional and country offices in relation to participation of CSOs in global intergovernmental processes such as the CSW.

The Operations Specialist also fosters collaboration within the Civil Society Division and with other relevant UN offices, and a client-oriented approach. The Operations Specialist works in close collaboration with the CSD programme team, providing close guidance to programme staff ensuring that such staff are knowledgeable of rules and procedures governing NGO participation in CSW and other intergovernmental fora. She/he works in collaboration with IT development and operations staff in UNOG Indico.UN service and UNHQ NY and relevant UN Women teams to successfully deliver operations services related to NGO participation in the Commission in the Status of Women and other relevant intergovernmental processes.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.     Manage the operations and explore innovations for CSW civil society access and participation

• Serve as a member of the CSW Management team and provide advice and support to the Deputy Director Civil Society Division (CSD) and to the CSW Secretariat on operational issues related to civil society participation;
• Work closely with the Indico.UN team in UNOG to explore and develop innovative modalities for improved CSO access and participation for CSW;
• Develop the workplan for the CSD CSW operations team/project personnel and oversee its implementation and monitoring;
• Participate in review meetings and assess the managerial and operational capacities of implementing partners in collaboration with the programme and technical team;
• Manage business process mapping and establish internal standard operating procedures in all areas of CSW operations functions related to civil society access and participation in CSW;
• Manage the implementation of corporate, budget, financial, procurement, and HR policies and systems related to CSW CSO participation and ensure adequate training of CSD CSW staff and project personnel on these issues;
• Oversee all operations activities related to civil society access and participation in CSW and ensure they follow rules, regulations, policies and procedures for ECOSOC accredited NGOs;

2.     Oversee CSO online registration and related information and communications technology (ICT) management and innovation

• Oversee the implementation of ICT systems and improvement/innovation of processes for CSW CSO online registration, including Indico.UN, the official conference registration system of the United Nations;
• Liaise with UN DESA NGO Branch on ECOSOC accreditation data and process synchronization via the UN integrated Civil Society Organizations (iCSO) System;
• Liaise with UN Indico team in UNOG for a secure, reliable online registration ICT infrastructure and adequate planning for disasters and recoveries;
• Manage and oversee the overall CSW NGO online registration process, including troubleshooting and support to NGO representatives and UN Women regional and country offices, and ensure relevant CSW staff have access to Indico functionality for improved business results and improved client services;
• Liaise with UNDSS ICT office on data parameters and requirements for UNHQ access systems and oversee the preparation and handover of CSW registration data to UNDSS ICT office.

3.     Collaborate with other UN Women offices on CSO participation in intergovernmental processes

• Contribute to the engagement of women’s organization in relevant intergovernmental processes, including in humanitarian, human rights, health, and labour norm-setting fora;
• Contribute to outreach and knowledge sharing related to intergovernmental processes with civil society organizations and networks  

4.     Serve as the focal point for security issues related to CSW CSO participation

• Brief supervisor and staff on security matters related to NGO access and participation in CSW and disseminate relevant information as advised by UN DSS;
• Ensure full compliance with UN ECOSOC accredited NGO participation procedures in security planning for CSW;
• Manage UN Women’s support to UN DSS Pass and ID office for the onsite collection of CSW grounds passes leading up to and during the session;
• Liaise with UN DSS on all security matters related to NGO access and participation in CSW;
• Liaise with UN Women Security Advisor or their designated staff member on all security matters related to NGO access and participation in CSW;
• Coordinate UN Women’s contribution to the UN DSS CSW Security Plan.
• Serve as focal point for information security, data protection and privacy for CSW registration data and liaise with Infosec and Legal teams in UN Women.

5.     Manage knowledge sharing between UN Women/CSW Secretariat and civil society

• Ensure knowledge and information about NGO participation modalities for ECOSOC accredited organizations is shared with civil society;
• Manage the CSW website using the UN Women enterprise web content management system; 
• Manage the digital outreach to CSW CSO stakeholders and information-sharing with CSW-registered NGO representatives using CSD email campaign software;
• Create multimedia tutorials and training materials for CSW NGO registration and participation processes;
• Coordinate responses to relevant CSW-related requests from civil society and other stakeholders.

6.     Manage the planning and implementation of hybrid and virtual participation modalities, in coordination with other UN offices

• Monitor and research hybrid and virtual participation modalities at intergovernmental meetings and participate in relevant United Nations inter-agency working groups;
• Work with relevant UN offices to identify best practices and to create synergies related to the improvement of CSO participation modalities in intergovernmental processes such as the CSW, the Human Rights Council, and other related processes.
• Coordinate the collection, preparation, and processing of video contributions for CSW sessions from civil society organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC;
• Liaise with UNTV, publish live webcast of proceedings on the CSW website and make recordings of CSW meetings available for viewing on demand by participants in different time zones;
• Support the coordination of the programme of virtual CSW side events, including publishing side event links for virtual participation of civil society;
• Provide guidance for civil society to contribute via virtual modalities to the work of the Commission on the Status of Women.

7.     Oversee/Provide Human Resources services and procurement processes related to CSW CSO access and participation

• Oversee recruitment processes of CSW project personnel; liaise with the UN DSS Pass and ID office and service providers for onsite grounds pass collection and access as necessary;
• Oversee contracts; advise on appropriate contract modalities and manage the provision of goods and services for CSW operations following established corporate procedures regarding awarding of contracts, evaluate for cost effectiveness and manage the negotiations in connection with eventual agreements;
• Manage CSD’s CSW assets and liabilities and ensure proper inventory control.

8.     Participate in inter-agency activities and support the Division’s strategic engagement

• Represent UN Women in inter-agency meetings and working groups on operations issues related to CSW CSO participation to ensure UN Women’s interests are reflected.
• Liaise with UN Secretariat and other UN agencies on operational issues, activities, and collaboration.
• Provide inputs to the development of partnerships and resource mobilization strategies.
• Provide inputs to and support the Division’s knowledge management and outreach activities.

9.     The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Division and the Organisation.

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:

• Strong knowledge of UN intergovernmental processes related to gender equality and applicable civil society participation modalities;
• Ability to provide advice and support;
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings and recommendations
• Ability to handle confidential information
• Good negotiating skills
• Excellent IT skills, including databases, web publishing, Excel, and video-editing packages.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:     

• Master’s degree or equivalent in political science, international relations, event management 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 at the national or international level, in conference management, conference operations or logistics, is required;
• Familiarity with civil society organizations and international institutions is required;
• Experience in leading a team is required;
• Experience in working with security and safety services within the United Nations or other large international organizations is required.
• Experience in working with databases and data manipulation in Microsoft Excel is required;
• Experience in using conference management/registration software packages, preferably Indico.UN is desirable;
• Experience in managing public-facing websites using enterprise web content management systems, preferably Drupal is desirable;
• Experience in working with Mailchimp campaign software and Adobe Creative Suite video editing applications is desirable;
• Experience in servicing, implementing, and monitoring civil society participation in intergovernmental processes, preferably related to the thematic area, is desirable;
• Experience in working with ECOSOC accredited organizations and intergovernmental bodies is desirable.

Languages:      

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

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.