UN Women: Programme Assistant – Spotlight (EVAW)

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 arrangement.

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.

Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today. The Spotlight Initiative is a global, multi-year partnership between European Union and United Nations to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030. Launched with a seed funding commitment of €500 million from the European Union, the Initiative represents an unprecedented global effort to invest in gender equality and women’s empowerment as a precondition and driver for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Spotlight Initiative is responding to all forms of violence against women and girls, with a particular focus on domestic and family violence, sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices, femicide, trafficking in human beings and sexual and economic (labour) exploitation. The Spotlight Initiative is addressing legislative and policy gaps, strengthen institutions, promote gender-equitable attitudes, and provide quality services for survivors and reparations for victims of violence and their families. Interventions will also strengthen systems for collecting data on violence against women and girls and empower women’s movements.

The Spotlight Initiative is deploying targeted, large-scale investments to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in more than 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific.

The Secretariat for the Initiative comprises two parts, the programme fund management component (housed at the Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office) and the Technical Unit (housed at UN Women).

The Technical Unit is accountable for the technical quality and coherence of the Fund, it responds to requests from the Fund’s Strategic and Operational Committee, for support and assistance to: provide key technical support and guidance in development of country programmes; collaborate with and provide support to technical officers of UN Agencies at country and regional levels to guarantee the technical quality and coherence of the Fund, regularly brief and consult all relevant UN Agencies, serve as a liaison to civil society at the global level to build partnerships and ensure inclusion, ensure timely deployment of technical capacity to country programmes as needed, initiate and support regional programming where there is no regional structure, make the linkages between programming and policy outputs, provide on-going monitoring support for quality assurance, coordinate the evaluation of programmes, and ensure public information, communication and visibility for the Initiative and conduct analysis and management of the Fund’s knowledge.

The Technical Unit is led by a Senior Technical Advisor, who works closely with the Fund’s Secretariat, the core implementing agencies (UN Women, UNFPA, UNDP), and the Administrative Agent (MPTFO) and is overseen by the EOSG.

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Associate, the Programme Assistant will provide programme, financial, administrative, and operational support for the Technical Unit team. The programme and administrative support provided by the incumbent includes financial, logistical and other operational support in high standards of quality, productivity and timeliness in the delivery tasks in line with the UN Women’s principles, rules, policies and operational strategies. The Programme Assistant will work in close collaboration with the members of the Technical Unit Team and other staff from the Fund’s programmes including the core implementing agencies of the Fund.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.     Provide budgetary planning, monitoring and financial administration support

• Assist Programme Associate in preparing materials, estimates and other documents to support budget review, planning and preparation
• Record and verify financial transactions in compliance with IPSAS as outlined in the corporate policies and procedures
• Support Programme Associate in  analyzing and monitoring the financial situation of the Technical Unit, and assist in presenting forecasts for the Spotlight and Global Platform projects in close collaboration with the Technical Unit Team

2.     Provide programme and administrative support

• Provide direct administrative support to the Spotlight Initiative Global Coordinator, including calendar management, scheduling meetings, tracking deliverables and due dates, and monitoring follow up of action items from relevant meetings.
• Provide programme and administrative support to the Technical Unit Team, including providing inputs in the preparation of programme workplans, budgets, and assistance with the monitoring and measurement of project progress and prepare project reports as required,
• Assist in processing payments for consultants

3.     Provide operational and logistical support

• Provide administrative support related to the hiring of consultants and Procurement-related matters in close collaboration with the Division of Management and Administration
• In cooperation with the Division of Management and Administration, assist in the proper management of UN Women’s assets, facilities, and logistical services
• Prepare all travel and logistics preparations for meetings and appointments
• Provide assistance in Procurement related functions
• Perform arrangement of travels in UNall/Quantum, ensuring appropriate entitlement calculation and other requirements are fulfilled
• Prepare F-10s for the liquidation of travels and approval in UNall/Quantum.

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:

• Good knowledge of programme management
• Ability to administer and execute administrative processes and transactions
• Ability to create, edit and present information in clear and presentable formats
• Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow
• Strong financial and budgeting skills
• Strong IT skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Completion of secondary education required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business or Public Administration is an asset.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in administration or programme management/support
• Experience in working in a computer environment using multiple office software packages is required
• Experience in financial management support is required
• Experience in supporting a team is required.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another UN official working language is desirable.

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.)