UN Women: Programme Manager, the UAE-UN Women Strategic Partnership Framework (SPF)

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) supports UN Women offices in all regional and country locations to deliver results in line with UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and internationally agreed goals on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, including the Beijing Declaration and 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 programme 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 strengthen the capacity of partners to deliver results on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. The Division develops and implements UN Women’s programme of work across its normative, coordination, and operational triple mandate and provides policy advice and guidance and technical support to intergovernmental processes, UN system, and UN Women regional and country offices, among other partners and stakeholders. It is organized in thematic sections, which undertake policy research; analyze data on country, regional and global trends; and propose evidence-based options for global policy, norms and standards as well as for UN Women’s policy advocacy and global programme strategies, including Gender Equality Accelerators.

UN Women and the United Arab Emirates has entered into a strategic partnership under the UAE-UN Women Strategic Partnership Framework (UAE SPF), to support UN Women in delivering results in peace, security and resilience, women economic empowerment and climate action, leadership and governance alongside strengthening the UN Women Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) liaison office. The implementation of the UAE SPF is managed by PPID in collaboration with the Strategic Partnership Division (SPD). The implementation of the programme is through the SPF Technical Management team comprised of Peace, Security and Resilience section, the Women Economic Empowerment Section, the Leadership and Governance Section and the GCC Liaison Office based in Abu Dhabi.

Reporting to the Chief, Programme Support Management Unit (PSMU) and in a matrix management arrangement with the head of the UN Women Liaison Office to the GCC, the UAE SPF Programme Manager will be responsible for the provision of effective assurance and oversight related to all aspects of implementation of the UAE SPF. S/he will plan and coordinate; manage the implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation; and provide budgeting, financial management, and operations of the UAE SPF Programme.

The UAE SPF Programme Manager works in close daily collaboration with the UAE SPF Technical Management Team who manage the individual programme components, Strategic Partnership Division (SPD), Strategic Planning Resource Effectiveness Division (SPRED), Division of Management and Administration (DMA), UN Women Regional and Country Offices to ensure adequate and timely implementation assurance and oversight of the programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.     Manage and ensure oversight of the programme’s finances, budget, human resources in accordance with UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and procedures:

• Ensure compliance with governance processes and procedures for the programme and provide timely follow-up on the recommendations coming from the different governance bodies.
• Coordinate the financial management (contributions management, budgeting and programming of resources, expenditure management) of the Programme in close liaison with the UAE SPF Technical Management Team.
• Monitor the achievement of the financial targets and budget execution rates, providing continuous feedback and programme management advice to the UAE SPF Technical Management Team, Regional and Country Offices on implementation rates.
• Ensure that financial plans, partner selection and management plans, and procurement plans are in place and regularly updated.
• Advise and take prompt action in case of under-delivery and lack of/delay of financial planning.
• Develop and maintain Risk Management Framework and accompanying comprehensive risk mitigation measures and ensure its regular updates.
• Oversee the updates of UN Women corporate systems such as Quantum ERP system, Donor Agreement Management System, Results Management System, and Partner and Grant Agreement Management System
• Ensure that programme functions are sufficiently resourced, developed, and formulated.
• Review Job Descriptions and Terms of Reference and monitor recruitment processes.
• Provide guidance to UAE SPF Technical Management Team, Regional and Country Offices on financial/operations management and programming processes and procedures.

2.     Provide technical support to the programme implementation in line with Results Based Management principles and UN Women rules and regulations, policies, procedures and guidance (PPG):

• Formulate and update programme implementation plans.
• Organize regular reviews to track implementation, inform the UAE SPF Technical Management Team on the progress and coordinate revisions and corrective action.
• Develop and manage approaches to identify and review proposed initiatives for funding under the UAE SPF.
• Update results framework and annual operational plan outlining the key results based on UAE SPF priorities.

3.     Manage the monitoring and reporting in line with UN Women rules and regulations, policies, and procedures:

• Manage the implementation progress of the Annual Operational Plans of the programme.
• Monitor the implementation and revision of the programme Performance Monitoring Framework (PMF). In cooperation with the Programme Specialists from the thematic areas and ensure that Programme´s monitoring mechanisms are designed and implemented according to the Policy, Procedure and Guidance (PPG) Framework.
• Review for quality and prepare, as required, programme submissions for corporate UN Women reporting.
• Coordinate programme evaluations, mid-term reviews and audits and monitor the implementation of recommendations.
• Provide support to the UAE SPF Technical Management Team, when necessary, to ensure that programme management responsibilities are met.
• Lead the preparation of programme progress reports and ad-hoc documents to the donor in line with the donor agreement.
• Prepare and participate in the annual review meeting between UN Women and the donor and its follow-ups.

4.     Oversee the implementation systems and procedures to ensure adherence to UN Women´s rules, approaches and policies:

• Develop guidelines, formats, and checklists for implementation of programme management and monitoring for the programme.
• Review the quality of results-information at the department level, providing feedback and proposing improvements.
• Ensure that Quantum information is correct and corresponds with UN Women´s quality standards.
• Ensure that the programme is adequately set up in UN Women Systems and Programme Resources and Monitoring Framework are established to support planning, results, and resource management, monitoring and reporting.
• Manage quality control on programme implementation to ensure that the programme is implemented in line with UN Women rules and procedures and the programme documents.
• Perform assurance tasks specific to the different stages of the UN Women programme and project management.

5.     Facilitate and contribute to knowledge management:

• Provide support to the overall knowledge management function for the UAE SPF.
• Identify and document best practices and lessons learned and ensure dissemination with UN Women offices and partners.
• Contribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

6.     The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office 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 organizational skills and communication skills both written and verbal.
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management.
• Ability to develop sound tools for the effective management of the programme’s budgets, financial delivery.
• Ability to keep job knowledge up to date through self-directed study and other means of learning.
• In-depth understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and programme/ project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments.
• Ability to ensure compliance with the organizational standards for accountability.
• Ability to design, implement and monitor programmes.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, Economics, Business Administration or similar is required.
• Certification in Programme/ Project Management will be an advantage.
• A combination of relevant academic qualifications and two years of experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in financial planning, programme management and oversight is required;
• Experience in programme and project management, experience in management of complex multi-sector/multi-component programmes is desirable.
• At least 2 years of international experience is required.
• Experience working with MS office applications web-based management information systems and modern ERP systems, preferably Oracle Cloud is desirable.

Language:

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