JOB DESCRIPTION

* This local post opens for Nationals of Cambodia.

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.

In 2015, on 25 September, the United Nations General Assembly adopted unanimously the Resolution 70/1 Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Gender equality and women’s empowerment is at the heart of the agenda, as numerous goals and targets address structural barriers to achieve equal rights and opportunities between women and men, girls and boys.

One of the key areas of concern is the economic empowerment of women. It is expressed in targets and indicators of SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) and SDG 8 (Promote inclusive and sustainable development, decent work and employment for all). Progress toward it depends not only on the adoption of a set of public policies by governments, but also on the existence of an enabling environment and active engagement of the corporate sector. This is also relevant to the achievement of SDG 1 (Poverty Reduction), SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities) and SDG 17 (Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development).

In an effort to drive transformative change in the private sector, in 2024 UN Women in partnership with the Government of Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) launched the new initiative “UN Women Gender Action Lab (GAL): Innovation and Impact for Gender Equality in Asia-Pacific, powered by the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) (2024-2028). The Gender Action Lab will build on the success of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a set of 7 principles that provide companies a roadmap to become more gender-responsive throughout their value chain. The WEPs were launched in 2010 by UN Women and the UN Global Compact and is the only framework that encompasses gender equality at all organizational levels, beginning with leadership and providing guidance for the workplace, marketplace and community, underpinned by a strong emphasis on accountability and transparent reporting of progress.

Based on the very strong foundation built through previous programmes, the UN Women’s Asia-Pacific Gender Action Lab (GAL) aims to further advance private sector and government action to accelerate gender-responsive business policies and practices in Asia-Pacific by strengthening, in particular,  implementation efforts to contribute to closing the Private Sector and Government ‘Action Gap’ across the Asia and the Pacific, with a specific regional focus on ASEAN and especially in four priority countries, namely Indonesia, Philippines, and Malaysia and Cambodia. GAL will aim to incorporate an inclusive and creative problem-solving methodology to enable multi-stakeholder and innovative thinking around specific thematic areas to ideate and prototype new multi-stakeholder solutions. The programme will cover four countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Malaysia. It will also have a regional component under the responsibility of UN Women Region Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP).

At the country level, a key GAL programme modality is the WEPs Corporate Action Lab. The WEPs Corporate Action Lab (WEPsCAL) is a unique 6–9 month learning and action program, bringing together a cohort of 8-12 companies to co-design, pilot test, and assess progress of solutions that foster gender equality. Each WEPsCAL focuses on a specific theme. The first WEPsCAL in Cambodia will focus on ‘Fostering Inclusive Leadership for Gender Equality in Business.’ The Lab is expected to launch in Q3 2025.

At the Regional level GAL operates ‘Systems Labs’ which seek to convene a cohort of key influencers and stakeholders across the Asia-Pacific to tackle a specific systemic challenge over a period of two to three years. The first Systems Lab launched is the “Asia-Pacific Sustainable Finance Systems Lab: Accelerating Action in Gender Equality in Capital Markets” is implemented with technical support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE). The Lab seeks to develop a regional action platform to support stock exchanges, regulators, and other capital market actors to share insights, innovate, and pilot tangible actions to address systemic challenges to gender equality as key enabler for inclusive progress. Managed from the Regional Office, the Systems Lab will require country level engagement and on-ground support for the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) and the Cambodia Stock Exchange (CSX).

The Programme Analyst, Gender Action Lab (GAL) is responsible for the coordination and implementation of the GAL in Cambodia as a part of the regional programme in coherence with private sector engagement and women’s economic empowerment programming at country level.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the National Country Programme Coordinator, with matrix technical supervision by the Regional Programme Specialist, Women’s Economic Empowerment, the Programme Analyst is based within UN Women Cambodia and will provide technical guidance and oversight to a private sector engagement consultant as well as shared Programme Assistant. The regional nature of GAL requires working closely with the Regional Programme Specialist (as manager of the regional GAL programme) as well as GAL country teams to ensure country alignment with regional targets. As such, the Programme Analyst much possess strong leadership and team skills to work in a cross-cultural and dynamic environment.  S(he) will lead the partnership building in the framework of this project and work in close coordination with various partners and stakeholders, including the local DFAT delegations, which will guide and provide input for the performance of the programme at country level. The incumbent will also inform and update his/her supervisors at country level about programme implementation and opportunities to build synergies with other relevant initiatives implemented by UN Women and key relevant stakeholders to advance women’s economic empowerment portfolio at the country level.

Scope of Work:

1.  Contribute technically to the development of programme strategies in the area of Women’s Economic Empowerment

• Provide technical inputs to the overall Programme/Portfolio work plan development and implementation according to Strategic Note/ programme document;
• Contribute to the development strategies for engaging the private sector by utilizing innovative techniques such as inclusive problem solving, systems thinking, and human-centered design for gender-transformative outcomes, with implementation through partners or other support mechanisms;
• Contribute to finalization of country strategy documents, proposals, briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to GAL;
• Collect knowledge on current and emerging trends by gathering relevant information on projects, strategies, approaches and ongoing experience for lessons learned and best practices.

2.  Provide substantive technical support to the management and implementation Gender Action (GAL)

• Coordinate country-level needs assessment and development of training materials and workshops to avoid duplication of efforts and ensure coherence in the overall approach within UN Women and other partners at the country level;
• Facilitate the delivery of training and capacity-building sessions to build innovative approaches to advance gender equality for private sector partners involved in Women”s Economic Empowerment (WEE) and/or Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) related activities, especially the WEPs Corporate Action Labs in Cambodia
• Coordinate and supervise the implementation of specific thematic WEPs Corporate Action Labs, provide technical advisory to especially private sector organizations, including those involved in Regional Systems Labs, and monitor the implementation of tangible pilot initiatives programming.
• Gather inputs and coordinate the preparation of work-plans, periodic narrative progress reports and expenditures status reports to the UN Women Gender Action Lab (GAL) programme and UN Women Cambodia office;
• Contribute to the developmentof further and implement existing a detailed country-level work plan in line with the approved programme document in close consultation with the Country Programme Coordinator and WEE Regional Lead to ensure it is aligned with the overall direction of the GAL programme as well as UN Women’s strategic priorities on WEE at the country and regional level;
• Ensure the implementation of GAL is based on the Results-based Management (RBM) principles and in accordance with UN Women’s standard rules and regulations;
• Connect the country level activities with regional level initiatives and cross-country learnings;

3.  Provide coordination support with national partners and other stakeholders 

• Coordinate relationships with national partners (government and private entities) to support implementation and expansion of the implementation of the Regional Programme “UN Women Gender Action Lab (GAL): Innovation and Impact for Gender Equality in Asia-Pacific, powered by the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs)” Programme/Portfolio, raise potential problems and suggest solutions;
• Support the develop and manage partnerships with DFAT Delegation, key private sector players, relevant UN and multilateral agencies, government and civil society partners and experts at the country level to ensure timely and efficient delivery of activities;
• Support and coordinate high-level dialogues at country level with private sector companies, finance institutions, multilateral organizations and its networks to create and/or strength commitment regarding corporate practices on gender equality;
• Provide inputs for the development of methodologies, tools and knowledge products to strengthen companies´ capacities to implement WEPs tailored to the country context;
• Support the development and relationship building of strategic partnerships with private companies and policy makers to identify possible areas of cooperation and collaboration, especially related to thematic focus of GAL Innovation Labs and potential future GAL programming
• Identify key partners to co-finance and co-organize workshops, trainings and/or activities based on methodologies and tools developed by the regional programme at country level;
• Identify resource mobilisation opportunities particularly through private sector engagement to advance country-level results of the GAL regional programme.

4.  Provide technical inputs to the monitoring and reporting on the UN Women Gender Action Lab (GAL) 

• Monitor progress of implementation of activities and finances using results-based management tools in close collaboration with the M&E officer at the regional level, conduct regular monitoring visits and gather as well as compile all necessary information, as required;
• Draft and provide inputs to the preparation of donor and UN Women annual and semi-annual reports; monitoring missions, programme results, outputs and outcomes at the country level; coordinate the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports. This including reporting in RMS, narrative and financial reports;
• Record and maintain documents on relevant Programme activities, issues, risks and risk mitigation plans;
• Contribute to accomplish an updated database of relevant private sector entities (including entrepreneurs), government and private sector regulatory bodies and industry association and networks;
• Coordinate exchange of information and knowledge products internally and externally of the programme at country level;
• Contribute to implementation of knowledge management strategy, organization of activities to promote exchange of experiences between national and regional corporate commercial associations, chambers and networks and advocate for implementation of WEPs.

5.  Provide technical inputs to manage people and finances of the UN Women Gender Action Lab (GAL) programme 

• Coordinate development and preparation of financial resources of the programme including budgeting and budget revisions, and expenditure tracking and reporting;
• Monitor budget implementation and make budget re-alignments/ revisions, as necessary;
• Co-supervise Programme Associates and Assistants.

6.  Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

• Provide inputs to the development of partnerships and resource mobilization strategies.
• Partnership management with other organizations implementing similar programmes to ensure complementarity;
• Engage private sector companies and employers` organizations in close cooperation and coordination with the Regional WEE team to expand WEPs signatories and implementation of WEPs;
• Contribute to the development of a catalytic and forward-looking partnership engagement strategy  and develop  resource mobilization strategies to position and build GAL as a long-term, sustainable platform for private sector innovation, in close coordination with Indonesia Country Office and the Regional WEE Advisor
• Strategic partnership building, management and resource mobilization

7.  Advocate and facilitate knowledge building and management and communication

• Document the programme implementation process and products;
• Contribute to the exchange of information and provide inputs to the development of knowledge products internally and externally of the programme;
• Coordinate the organization of major advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products;
• Outreach and advocacy support and knowledge management, and knowledge building at country level;
• Serve as a focal person for the project in meetings and policy dialogues on issues related to WEE and donor engagement at national level and ensure the local embassies;
• Contribute to the advocacy and communication strategy for GAL with particular attention to country level work and its linkages to the multi-country platform, including key opportunities for major advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products;

8.  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:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Good programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Good budget and finance skills;
• Good knowledge of Results Based Management;
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings and recommendations;
• Good analytical skills;
• Strong experience of Women’s Empowerment, Diversity and Inclusion and Gender Equality in or working with the private sector;
• Ability to maintain networks and partnerships with UN agencies and other international partners to promote partnership and build alliances to advance organizational interests and competencies;
• Demonstrated good oral and written communication skills;
• Knowledge of UN programme and DFAT programme management systems;
• Strong knowledge in gender equality, women`s economic empowerment and private sector management, policies and environment.

 

Minimum Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in public administration, law, human rights, gender equality, management, social sciences or other related areas 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 (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 2 years of progressively responsible work experience in development complex programme/project implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting and capacity building with national and international organization is required.
• Experience in applying the Results-based Management (RBM) principles and approaches in programme planning, monitoring/reporting and implementation is required.
• Experience in designing and delivering advisory services and/or capacity building with the private sector for gender equality is required.
• Experience on women’s economic empowerment, women-owned business, private sector engagement and/or corporate social investment is required.
• Knowledge and/or experience of utilizing human-centered design, innovation thinking, systems thinking, creative and inclusive problem solving in development programming is an advantage.
• Experience in advocacy and policy influencing and working with governments and/or other inter-governmental bodies an advantage.
• Knowledge and experience in supporting the private sector to design and implement diversity and inclusion policies, programmes and practices in the private sector (i.e. through Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs)) is an asset.
• Previous experience working in the UN system is an advantage.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is required.
• Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Khmer is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).
• Excellent written and communication skills.

 

Statements :

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.)

 

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.