Job: UN WOMEN: DEPUTY REPRESENTATIVE (PROGRAMME & OPERATIONS)

Location : Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA

Application Deadline : 03-Oct-13

Type of Contract : FTA International

Post Level : P-4

Languages Required : English

Duration of Initial Contract : 1 year

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. Much of this works takes place at the national/country level in which UN Women either have a Country Representative on site to manage this programme of work, or a Representative covering several countries where an integrated multi-country programme (MCO) is in place.

Cambodia isan important stage in the long process of rebuilding physical, social and human capital after almost three decades of conflict, insecurity and instability which included genocide under the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979). Cambodia has seen tremendous progress in the normalization of life, rapid economic growth and integration into regional and global communities. Yet, Cambodia remains classified as a Least Developed Country (LDC) and gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched and challenges continue to emerge and hinder progress towards development goals. Low levels of literacy, education and vocational skills of women, as well as a lack of social infrastructure for mothers in the workforce, manifest in very limited livelihood options and underemployment for women workers and low representation of women in professional occupations and decision making positions. Moreover, changes in the structure of the economy and increased labour migration are contributing to increased vulnerability of women, further exacerbated by the global economic crisis.

Issues such as low representation of women in political and decision making processes, high prevalence and social acceptance of violence against women (VAW), and the increasing proportion of women infected with HIV due to lack of control over preventive measures are compounded by land conflicts, forced evictions, violations of women's human rights and deep social inequalities.

There are opportunities to make a positive difference and commitments from the government and the UNCT. For example, national gender equality priorities articulated in the NR III emphasize the need for equal representation of women in politics and public decision making (Strategic Area 5). Similarly, the UNDAF 2011-2015, which both mainstreams and includes a specific outcome on gender, recognizes the importance of increasing women's political participation (Outcome 3).

In this context, UN Women places Deputy Representative in order to capture arising opportunities and catalyse UN Women's strategic position in providing technical support to various partners and UN coordination, as well as strengthening office management. The Deputy Representative is supervised by the Country Representative who provides strategic guidance and direction to the incumbent. The Deputy Representative supports the Representative in the overall management of the CO. The incumbent is responsible for substantially contributing to the design, implementation, management and oversight of the country programme and to the operations supporting its implementation to ensure effective and efficient delivery of results as planned in UN Women's Strategic Plan and the Country Office's plans. The incumbent is expected to bring innovative thinking which fits and adapts to the changing environment to the strategic development of the programme portfolio, and to help raise resources to fund it. He/she also plays a key role in ensuring effective use and management of UN Women resources (material, financial and human) in compliance with UN women programming and operational policies and regulations.

HIV transmission from husbands to wives accounts for 42 percent of all new infections in Cambodia and is the most significant driver of the HIV epidemic in Cambodia. Male clients of sex workers infect their wives and as a result, females represent an increasing proportion of the number of people living with HIV. Ibid, p. 108.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

• Advisory and specialized technical support;
• Programme management, monitoring and oversight;
• Office management/ Resources and Operations;
• Substantive support to UN coordination, advocacy and partnership building;
• Knowledge management and capacity building.

Advisory and specialized technical support:

• As Deputy Representative, serve as key advisor to the Representative and as a senior member of his/her management team in the CO strategic discussions and formulation of programs and management operations, including work planning;
• Provide specialized technical and strategic support in managing all aspects of CO programme design and management of related activities and for ensuring accountability in programme monitoring, reporting and evaluation;
• Support, guide and provide input to assure quality control in the formulation of relevant, high quality, results-based and rights-based country programmes and to ensure programme coherence, technical integrity, inter-unit programme cooperation and coordination;
• Provide strategic and specialized technical advice to the Representative and put in place systems, processes and mechanisms to improve/enhance programme planning, implementation, monitoring and timely progress reporting;
• Draft policy documents, briefs and other strategic papers/materials for use in the development and presentation of innovative and coherent policy and programmatic positions in support of national development priorities and commitments to gender equality and women's empowerment, incorporating regional and global perspectives and contributing to regional and global strategies;
• Review and evaluate proposals submitted to the CO. Oversee the preparation of donor proposals and reports to ensure quality, timeliness, compliance with requirements as per established rules, regulations, including the commitments under relevant UNDAFs and the UN Women global Strategic Plan to facilitate the review and approval of proposals and reports by the Representative;
• Take timely action to take any corrective action to meet standards for submissions;
• Regularly assess the country level annual work plans, monitor progress on the achievement of goals and targets, and present the Representative with recommendations to assist in development planning.

Programme management, monitoring and oversight:

• Recommend and establish program monitoring standards, criteria and other indicators for measuring and assessing progress/results;
• Monitor the progress on mutually agreed results frameworks and performance indicators and take timely support, action and/or decisions as required;
• Lead the processes of preparing reports on progress of programme implementation, assessing results and identifying areas for the Representative's action and/or decision to ensure achievement of results as planned and in accordance with UN Women's goals and objectives and accountability framework;
• Identify areas that may require improvement and capture best practices/lessons learned, using corporate monitoring tools, as well as Audits and other corporate reports;
• Take action to improve areas of weakness;
• Ensure substantive and high quality proposals following the established rules, and regulations, and adhering to the Strategic Plan and Annual Work plans;
• Establish and/or support the development of sustainable and solid relations with counterparts, for effective advocacy and partnerships resulting in the achievement of UN Women goals and objectives in the country, and consequently in the enhanced reputation and credibility of UN Women in delivering results on gender equality and women's rights.

Resources and Operations/Office management:

• Support the Representative in the management of the CO;
• Manage the formulation of the annual CO work plan and monitor implementation;
• Develop and facilitate an integrated results-based approach to the work of the Country Office using the annual work plan as the road map;
• Communicate standards of performance, and assign responsibilities and accountabilities for achieving results;
• Support the Representative in the management of human, material, and financial resources, in line with UN Women policies, rules and procedures;
• As required coordinate the provision of administrative services with service providers;
• Propose and secure annual allocations for the country programme, and ensure the efficient and effective use of such resources in compliance with UN Women financial rules, regulations, and procedures;
• Support the Representative in the formulation and implementation of a country resource mobilization strategy.
• Empower, and help develop international and national programme staff, under the incumbent's supervision, providing them with managerial direction , guidance and leadership;
• Contribute substantially to staff management as a whole within the CO, particularly on learning, career management, and teamwork;
• Establish and maintain a harmonious working environment;
• seek to strengthen team-building by encouraging active participation and interaction at all levels; foster staff motivation, development and empowerment; and lead by example;
• As required advise on and support the establishment of a CO security strategy and plan in line with UN procedures and requirements; and
• Ensure an ethics-based approach to management of all human and financial resources.

Substantive support to UN coordination, advocacy and partnership building:

• Establish and maintain effective consultations with governments, partners, stakeholders and donors to achieve active collaboration, cooperation and alliances on programme development and implementation, resource mobilization and sustained partnerships;
• Represent UN Women in meetings as delegated/appropriate to consult, collaborate and interact on common issues and activities and to participate in the CCA/UNDAF process to ensure the integration of gender equality and women's empowerment;
• Actively seek out participation of UN Women in UN system thematic and other working groups to establish effective networks, facilitate joint programming and promote UN Women competencies and interests to advance gender and women's human rights;
• Support the Representative in parnership building and advocate for UN Women with government counterparts, donor community and other partners;
• Represent UN Women in national and international fora as requested by the Representative.

Knowledge management and capacity building:

• Identify lessons learned and areas of emphasis to guide programme improvements and future strategic development planning;
• Manage the process of collecting and sharing lessons learned on gender equality and women's empowerment to build knowledge and capacity of partners and stakeholders;
• Design and implement capacity building training activities to enhance skills and knowledge in results based management; results based reporting and budgeting, and systematic quality assurance;
• Oversee cutting-edge research and knowledge generation to inform and advise national development priorities and commitments for gender equality and women's empowerment, ensuring the integration of regional and global contexts and developments;
• Contribute to global and regional programme knowledge networks and practices, and development of knowledge products;
• Identify lessons learned from resource and staff management to ensure effective change management as required in adapting the programme and CO to meet changed circumstances.

Impact of Results:

The effective support provided by the Deputy Representative to the strategic development and management of programmes, to their effective and efficient integration with operations in the country office, and the technical support provided to UN Women's coordination mandate, directly impact the quality of UN Women's programme development, implementation and results and the quality of its technical expertise. This in turn directly impacts on the credibility and image of UN Women as an effective and efficient partner and as the leading knowledge-based technical and advocacy organization for gender equality and for the empowerment of women.

Competencies

Core Values / Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrate the values of United Nations and UN Women, act without consideration of personal gain, resist undue political pressure in decision-making, no abuse of power or authority, stand by decisions in the organization's interest, and take action in cases of unprofessional or unethical behavior.

Professionalism:

• Show pride in work and achievements, demonstrate professional competence and mastery of subject matter, conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments and achieving results, motivated by professional rather than personal concerns, show persistence when faced with challenges, and remain calm in stressful situations.

Respect for Diversity:

• Work effectively with people from all backgrounds, treat all people with dignity and respect, treat men and women equally, show respect for and understand diverse opinions by examine own biases and behaviors to avoid stereotypical responses, and do not discriminate against any individual or group.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and values:

• Promoting ethics and integrity / creating organizational precedents.

Organizational awareness:

• Building support and political acumen;
• Developing and empowering people / coaching and mentoring: Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation.

Working in teams:

• Building and promoting effective teams.

Communicating information and ideas:

• Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication.

Self-management and emotional intelligence:

• Creating an emotionally intelligent organization;
• Conflict management / Negotiating and resolving disagreements: Leveraging conflict in the interests of the organization & setting standards.

Knowledge sharing / Continuous learning:

• Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning.

Appropriate and transparent decision making:

• Fair and transparent decision-making; calculated risk-taking.

Functional Competencies:

• Proven ability in managing and empowering teams to work effectively together in reaching results;
• Demonstrated analytical and technical skills in managing development projects/programmes particularly those that are pertinent to UN Women strategic priorities on gender issues and women's rights;
• Demonstrated political acumen and technical capacity in representing the organization effectively in national and international fora to advocate and to promote organizational priorities, initiatives and a better understanding of the organizational strategic agenda;
• Proven ability to lead and to drive result;
• Ability to establish and maintain broad strategic networks and partnerships with UN agencies and other international partners to promote partnership and build alliances to advance organizational interests and competencies;
• Ability to go beyond established procedures and practices, introduce new approaches and strategic innovations.
• Good knowledge of Results Based Management principles and approaches.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree in international development, public administration, public policy or other relevant social science fields.

Experience:

• A minimum of seven years of relevant professional experience that combines intellectual, strategic and managerial leadership in development programmes with a strong focus in the area of gender equality and women's empowerment at the international level, preferably in developing countries within the UN system, Agencies, Funds or Programmes;
• Several years field based experience working with multi-cultural teams required.

Languages:

• Proficiency in written and spoken English;
• Knowledge of another UN working language is desirable.

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.All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employmentKindly 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.

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UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

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