Regional Strategic Planning 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.

UN Women has placed emphasis on improving its strategic planning and managing for results by applying the Results-Based Management (RBM) throughout all the work of UN Women. This requires dedicated efforts to strengthen the results culture in the organization. In order for UN Women to communicate impact stories on women and girls at the corporate level with aggregated results and financial data across all the countries and regions, strategic planning with a strong emphasis on results management is pre-requisite to facilitate systematic and effective results monitoring and reporting during the implementation.

The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region comprises three subregions: the Western Balkans and Turkey, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, and Central Asia. UN Women has offices in 12 countries/territories and serves as member of UNCTs in 5 others as non-resident agency (NRAs). In line with the corporate Strategic Plan 2022-2025, the ECA Regional Office Strategic Note 2022-2025 aims to apply its triple mandate – normative, coordination and operational – to achieve structural and transformational progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the region. The intergovernmental focus is on Beijing (BpfA), CEDAW, Istanbul Convention, 2030 Agenda, SCR1325, etc., promoting engagement of youth, women’s human rights defenders, women’s organizations in national, sub-regional and subregional consultations. UN Coordination is supported at country level with gender mainstreaming of UN System planning frameworks (CCAs and UNSDCFs), regional coordination (RCP and IBCs), and through the humanitarian mechanisms. The priority areas of programmatic focus are women´s entrepreneurship and economic empowerment (WEE), Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB), gender statistics/data, social norms change and gender-based violence (GBV), as well as policy and technical advisory support on women´s leadership and political participation (WPP) and women’s peace and security (WPS) and humanitarian response and its development nexus. Areas for further development and growth are gender and digitalization (gender-responsive governance, WEE and technology-facilitated violence) and gender and climate change. Increased focus will be placed on measuring and capturing the results and impact of UN Women’s interventions on the lives of women and girls, including through enhanced monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems and capacities.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Deputy Regional Director, the Regional Strategic Planning Specialist is responsible for leading the strategic planning work in the region. The Regional Strategic Planning Specialist provides strategic guidance and technical support to the RO and the field offices to ensure high quality strategic planning documents at regional and country levels, ensuring the alignment with UN Women Strategic Plan and the corporate standard on RBM. They lead the preparation of the Strategic Note and workplan of the RO in close collaboration with RO colleagues and the field office in the region. The Regional Strategic Planning Specialist also provides guidance, technical support and quality assurance to the field offices associated with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCFs), Strategic Notes and workplans from the strategic planning and RBM perspectives. They also contribute to HQ-led corporate level initiatives in the areas of Strategic Planning and RBM.

In addition, she/he oversees the results monitoring and reporting work in the RO, including the mid-term review of SNs, and annual reporting work in the region. The Regional Strategic Planning Specialist also oversees and coordinates the overall regional Knowledge Management (KM) initiatives as part of strategic planning and development and will advise ECARO management and Heads of Offices on KM in line with the thematic programming areas and UN Women Gender Equality Accelerators. She/he will support the development of the KM strategy and oversee its effective implementation.

The Regional Strategic Planning Specialist works closely with the regional programme and policy team, the Regional Coordination Specialist as well as field office colleagues in the ECA region. She/he supervises the Regional Monitoring and Reporting Specialist (NOC) and coordinates with other Regional Strategic Planning Specialists in other ROs to facilitate cross-regional knowledge exchange and peer-to-peer support mechanisms. In carrying out the functions, she/he coordinates and collaborates closely with relevant HQ Divisions and units, including the Strategy, Planning, Resources and Effectiveness Division (SPRED) and the Policy, Programme and Inter-Governmental Division (PPID), in order to ensure the implementation of corporate policy, procedures, guidance and systems associated with strategic planning, results monitoring and reporting, RBM Iin the region.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide effective planning, reporting and RBM-related guidance and technical support to the UN Country Teams (UNCTs) and UN Women field offices in the region for the development of UNSDCFs through the inter-agency regional mechanism, such as Peer Support Group (PSG), in close collaboration with Regional Coordination Specialist

• Substantively support and contribute to the inter-agency strategic planning and reporting processes at the regional and country levels, by coordinating with PSG co-chairs and participating in PSG meetings and activities related to the results-based strategic planning, monitoring and reporting.
• Review draft Roadmaps, Common Country Assessment (CCA) and UNSDCFs from the perspective of results-based strategic planning, and monitoring/reporting, in line with the guidance/standard from DCO, in close collaboration with the Regional Coordination Specialist.
• Provide additional technical support to UNCTs and Results Groups, upon request, in relation to UNSDCFs, joint work plans, RBM capacity development, monitoring and reporting.
• Provide guidance and technical support to UN Women field offices in the areas of strategic planning, RBM, monitoring and reporting related to UNSDCFs, Joint Workplans and the UN INFO platform, clarifying the alignment and linkage with UN Women Strategic Plan, Strategic Notes, workplans and UN Women Results Management System (RMS).

Provide strategic guidance, technical support and quality assurance to UN Women field offices in the areas of strategic planning, reporting and RBM

• Provide guidance, technical support and quality assurance to UN Women field offices in the region to ensure the quality and timely submission and finalization of Strategic Notes, workplans and mid-term review/annual reports, in line with UN Women’s relevant corporate policies, procedures and guidance.
• Lead and manage the regional-level review and appraisal process of SN/workplans as well as completion of mid-term/annual reports from field offices, in collaboration with the relevant RO colleagues, to ensure quality and to facilitate the approval of those SN/workplans/mid-term reviews/annual reports by Regional Director.
• Ensure that amendments of Strategic Notes, workplans are completed promptly in line with relevant corporate procedure, in coordination with HQ.
• Provide guidance, technical support and training to strengthen the capacity of field offices in the areas of RBM in relation to strategic planning, monitoring, Mid-Term Review (MTR)/annual reporting.
• Ensure Strategic Notes, workplans and annual reports of RO and field offices in the region are fully updated in the corporate systems and documented with amendments, ensuring the readiness for future audits and evaluations.

Lead and coordinate the strategic planning processes at the regional level

• Lead the overall processes and coordinate within the RO and with COs in the region to develop and finalize SN and workplans of the RO, ensuring the timely submission and quality in line with the relevant corporate policies, procedures and guidance documents.
• Lead and manage the amendment process of Strategic Note and workplan of RO in line with relevant corporate procedure and in coordination with SPRED/SPU.
• Provide RBM-related guidance and technical support to RO personnel to improve strategic planning, monitoring and reporting in RO.
• Provide guidance and technical support to personnel in the RO to ensure the effective use of the Results Management System (RMS) for RO’s planning, monitoring and reporting processes.
• Provide support to the Regional Operations Manager for matters relating to the Regional Quarterly Business Review (QBR), the Regional Risk Management process and the development of the regional Office Typology and physical presence setup.
• Leads the formulation of donor-funded regional programmes and projects.
• Contribute to the work of the regional programme appraisal committee (RPAC/LPAC) on quality assurance of UN Women programme and project development and selection of programme partners.

Contribute to HQ-led corporate initiatives in the areas of Strategic Planning, mid-term review/annual reporting and RBM in close collaboration with HQ to ensure the field perspectives and needs are reflected in those corporate initiatives

• Contribute to corporate-level strategic planning exercises associated with UN Women Strategic Plan, including the development of new Strategic Plans and Mid-Term Reviews of Strategic Plans.
• Contribute to the development, revision and socialization of relevant corporate policies, procedure and guidance in the areas of strategic planning, mid-term review/annual reporting and RBM.
• Serves as ECA Knowledge Management Focal Point in UN Women KM internal community of practices.
• Contribute to the development/revision of corporate RBM capacity development resources and tools in the areas of strategic planning and SN/annual reporting.
• Contribute to the development/enhancement of corporate systems in the areas of strategic planning, results management and reporting.
• Contribute to the enhancement of UN Women’s Transparency Portal to improve the publishing of relevant data.
• Contribute to cross-regional and corporate level knowledge exchange and learning on strategic planning, mid-term review/annual reporting and RBM in close collaboration with other Regional Strategic Planning Specialists and HQ colleagues.
• Coordinate and collaborate with HQ to support the preparation of sessions with the Executive Board associated with Strategic Notes, as needed.

Oversee the overall portfolio of results monitoring and reporting as well as knowledge management in the RO, including mid-term review and annual reporting processes and KM strategy at the regional level

• Support the RD/DRD in overseeing the drafting and finalization all COs’/NPPs’ mid-term review/Annual Reports (ARs) in the region. This includes providing oversight to ensure swift correction of any problematic data issues that are raised during the Global Verification Check.
• Using the SN/annual reporting Review Checklist, oversee the review and rating of COs’/NPP’s mid-term and annual reports a) narrative questions reporting; b) Development Results (DR) and Operational Effectiveness and Efficiencies (OEE).
• Contribute to the corporate level monitoring and reporting requirements, such as the Executive Director’s Annual Report (EDAR) to the Executive Board on the implementation of the UN Women Strategic Plan and UN Women’s Transparency Portal.
• Guide to the Regional Monitoring and Reporting Specialist (NOC) to strengthen the monitoring and reporting capacity in the region to enhance the quality of planning, monitoring and reporting.
• Facilitate the development of regional Knowledge Management (KM) Strategy and plan within the framework of the SN, oversee their implementation and reporting in compliance with the UN Women corporate KM Strategy.
• Document best practices and lessons learned by UN Women in the region for sharing best practices internally and externally.

Oversee documentations in the areas of strategic planning, monitoring, reporting, KM and RBM within the Regional Office and contribute to audits, evaluations and organizational learning

• Ensure Strategic Notes and workplans of RO and COs in the region are fully updated in the corporate systems and documented with amendments, ensuring the readiness for future audits and evaluations.
• Contribute to internal/external audits, corporate/regional evaluations, other assessment/reviews and reporting requirements, by providing necessary data, information and documents associated with UNSDCFs, Strategic Notes and workplans from the region.

Lead and manage personnel under their supervision

• Supervise the performance of the Regional Monitoring and Reporting Specialist (NOC) and affiliate personnel (consultants and interns) under her/his supervision by providing managerial direction, guidance and leadership as well as performance feedback and coaching.
• Ensure performance assessment are completed on time and identify learning and development opportunities to support personnel’s engagement.
• Ensure all personnel under their supervision are fully aware of UN Women’s workplace relations policies.

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

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities:

The incumbent will supervise the Regional Monitoring Specialist (NOC) as well as any affiliated personnel (Consultants and Interns) that may be assigned to this Unit.

 

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:

• Excellent knowledge of strategic planning and RBM
• Excellent knowledge of UN system and understanding of inter-agency strategic planning processes
• Excellent analytical skills
• Ability to promote and monitor inclusion of gender-specific results, indicators, targets and activities in various planning frameworks
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision
• Ability to support others to strengthen their knowledge and skills in the areas of strategic planning

 

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:	Master’s degree or equivalent in development-related disciplines, Social Sciences, Political Science, Development Studies, Public Administration, Gender, 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 7 years of progressively responsible development experience that combines strategic and managerial leadership in development cooperation, international relations, public administration or a related field is required. At least 3 to 5 years of experience in Results-Based Management (RBM) and strategic planning, including managing and coordinating the development of strategy, multi-year planning documents, work plans and related reporting, and/or programme documents at the country, regional and/or international levels is required. Experience in providing guidance and technical support for the development of Theory of Change, results frameworks, logical frameworks and indicators for programmes/projects, to ensure the minimum standard of RBM is required. Experiences in inter-agency strategic planning work related to UNDAF/UNSDCFs at the country, regional or international level is desirable. Experience in developing RBM resources and tools and RBM training delivery is desirable. Experiences in conducting RBM training, as a trainer, to personnel and/or external partners to support results-based planning, monitoring and reporting is desirable. Experience leading and coaching staff in international settings is required. Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, Power Point, etc.), spreadsheet and database packages is required. Experience in the use of a modern web-based results management system, is desirable.
Languages	Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (in particular, Russian).

 

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.