Programme Specialist, Women in Leadership, and Gender Sensitive Governance and Budgets

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 work of UN Women in Moldova is guided by its new Country Strategic Note 2023-2027, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Moldova 2023-2027 (UNSDCF), UN Women Global Strategic Plan, National Programs and Strategies and aims to contribute to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Strategic Note focuses on four main areas: 1) Ending Violence against Women; 2) Women’s Leadership and Governance; 3) Women’s Economic empowerment and 4) Humanitarian and Peace development nexus and UN Coordination on gender equality. 

SN Outcome 2 (UNSDCF Outcome 2): By 2027, a more accountable, and transparent, human rights-based, and gender-responsive governance empower all people of Moldova to participate in and to contribute to development processes.  Under Output 2.1: Government authorities have increased capacity to develop and implement gender-responsive legal and regulatory frameworks, policies and budgets, the CO will expand actions to support central and local authorities in enacting and implementing policy and budgetary frameworks that advance gender equality and cater to those groups most often left behind, particularly women and girls from these groups. A combination of tools and approaches including but not limited to high-level advocacy, multi-stakeholder engagement, innovative capacity development, methodological kits on gender-responsive policies and budgets will be put forward in this regard. Under Output 2.2: Central and local institutions have increased capacities to produce, share and utilize quality sex-disaggregated data in line with national priorities. Under Output 2.3 Women and girls, in particular those left behind, have increased capacity to meaningfully participate in public life and decision-making.

At central level, the CO will support both the development and monitoring of the gender-responsiveness of policy framework, action plans and internal ministerial documents frameworks to advance gender equality. This will be fully aligned with the objectives of the Government in advancing on EU accession process, following the granting of the candidacy status and the planned reforms of the Public administration and public finance management. On gender responsive budgeting and financing, UN Women will extend expert assistance to the Government of Moldova in addressing the gender-related gaps, particularly those emerging from the 2022 Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment. To this end, the CO will support the Ministry of Finance and sectoral ministries in addressing the gender equality aspects of the new Public Finance Management Strategy for 2023-2030.72 Complementarily, UN Women will provide targeted expertise to several line ministries, particularly those covering areas with the largest gender inequalities.

Engagement with local authorities (urban and rural) on Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) and policymaking will be scaled up using an integrated  approach which includes: (a) supporting local government structures to develop gender responsive local plans and budgets; (b) providing multi-dimensional capacity development, mentoring and coaching stakeholders; (c) implementing local initiatives derived from the adopted gender-responsive frameworks, and (d) exchanging and disseminating best practices on GRB/P nationally and internationally.

Reporting to Deputy Country Representative, the Programme Specialist, exercises overall responsibility for planning, implementing, and managing UN Women interventions under the Women in Leadership, Women, Peace and Security and Governance portfolio.  The Programme Specialist works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team, UN Women HQ staff, Government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under portfolio.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

Design and develop programme strategies in the area of Women in Leadership and Gender Sensitive Governance  and Budgets area

• Design and formulate programme/ project proposals and initiatives;
• Draft inputs to country strategy documents, briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to Women in Leadership and Gender Sensitive Governance.

Manage the implementation and management of the  programme

• Finalize the annual workplan and budget and manage their implementation;
• Manage the technical implementation of the programme/project; ensure synergies with other teams;
• Manage the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
• Provide guidance to personnel and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators;
• Organize Project Steering Committee, project review and/or evaluation meetings, as needed.

Manage technical assistance and capacity development to project/programme partners

• Manage the implementation of technical advice and guidance. Develop and implement technical tools, and initiatives
• Build and manage relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the women in leadership at all levels and Gender Sensitive Governance and budgets  ; respond to any potential problems;
• Identify capacity building needs of partners and lead the coordination of technical assistance, mentoring, training and capacity development initiatives to partners.

Manage the monitoring and reporting of the programme/ project

• Manage the monitoring of programme/ project implementation and finances using results based management tools;
• Oversee field missions and review reports on monitoring missions;
• Write quarterly reports and donor reports, focusing on results, output and outcomes;
• Contribute to office donor and UN Women reports.

Manage the people and financial resources of the Women in Leadership, and Gender Sensitive Governance and budgets

• Manage the programme budget and draft financial reports;
• Supervise Programme Analysts, Officers and Programme Associates; Mentor and coach personnel and conduct performance assessments;
• Oversee recruitment processes, as necessary.

Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

• Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Finalize relevant documentation on donors and potential opportunities for resource mobilization;
• Analyze and research information on donors, prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost sharing.

Contribute to inter-agency coordination on Women in Leadership Gender Sensitive and Governance and Budgets,  to achieve coherence and alignment of UN Women programmes with other partners  in the country

• Provide technical support to the Country Representative and Deputy Representative on inter-agency coordination related activities by attending meetings, events, and participating in groups and committees as needed;
• Coordinate with other UN agencies, government departments, donors and NGOs to ensure the projects’ capacity development programme is harmonized and aligned with other in-country efforts.

Manage advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts

• Develop and review background documents, briefs and presentations related to the WILG;
• Represent UN Women in meetings and policy dialogues on issues related to WILG as necessary;
• Develop advocacy strategies and oversee their implementation;
• Identify best practices and lessons learned to guide programme improvement and strategy planning;
• Develop knowledge management strategies, products and methodologies on women in leadership and Gender Sensitive governance and budgets.

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely and quality programme design and inputs to Strategic Note;
• Timely and quality of programme delivery in line with budget and workplans, and in line with all UN Women operational rules and regulations, including security;
• Timely and quality monitoring and evaluation of programmes;
• Relations with partners and stakeholders;
• Quality reports and timely submission;
• Regular communication with other agencies and partners;
• Quality of advocacy and communication initiatives.

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 programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management;
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making;
• Strong knowledge of Thematic Area;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and develop strategies.

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 5 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• Technical experience in the Women in Leadership, and Gender Sensitive Governance area
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is an asset;
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset;
• Experience in leading/managing a team is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Romanian is required.
• Working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.
• Knowledge of Russian is an asset.

APPLICATION PROCESS AND SUBMISSION PACKAGE 

Interested candidates are invited to submit applications with the following documents. 

• Motivation letter;
• Duly filled UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from:  . Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. 

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.