UN Women Programme Management Specialist, IPSA-10, Homebased

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 Strategy, Planning, Results and Effectiveness Division (SPRED) of UN Women integrates corporate strategy and performance measurement to improve decision-making to drive the implementation of UN Women’s Strategic Plan and manage for results while increasing transparency and accountability to its Governing Bodies and Stakeholders. Specifically, the Division formulates corporate strategies aligned to the corporate objectives and ensures internal controls and risk management are fully in place.  Additionally, the Division monitors and reports on the implementation of the Strategic Plan and provides strategic guidance and oversight on programme, project management and implementation, including programme partner management.  SPRED helps strengthen UN Women, improving services to the field by defining a clear set of priorities with aligned resources, ownership, accountability and oversight. It also provides an arm’s length analysis of the performance of the organization. 

The UN Women Programme Support Management Unit (PSMU) provides corporate advisory services and direct support for project and programme development, implementation, monitoring and oversight under the Strategy, Planning, Results and Effectiveness Division (SPRED). The PSMU guides the organization – HQ, Regional and Country offices - in implementation of their respective Strategic Notes by following best practices to ensure that all projects and programmes maintain a level of standardization, planning, knowledge sharing, and work collectively towards UN Women’s strategic goals. PSMU offers Regional Offices (ROs) and Country Offices (COs) a range of services, trainings and toolkits that increase their implementation capacity to deliver programmes on time, within scope, and on budget. It also supports the implementation of global projects managed by HQs.  

Under the supervision of the Manager, Programme Support Unit with PSMU, and overall guidance of the Chief of PSMU in HQ, the Programme Management Specialist will play a proactive role in the Programme Partner Management oversight, enhancement of Partner and Grants Agreement Management System (PGAMS), Risk-based Capacity Assessment (RBCA) and Assurance Module, and business requirement documentation of other Programme Partner Management modules, working in close collaboration with other units in HQ and/or Regions/Countries.

Scope of Work:

Coordinate enhancements to the Partner Grants and Agreement Management System (PGAMS), online Risk-based Capacity Assessment and Assurance Module

• Sign-off on the detailed scope/requirements/wireframes with the PGAMS Offshore Development Team, providing clarifications, user acceptance testing of developed solution and validations post release of solutions. 
• Consult with Regional PGAMS Focal Points on the new requirements and enhancement/new development of PGAMS, online Risk-based Capacity assessment and Assurance Modules.
• Review with other business process owners/stakeholders and technical service providers (IST) on data/linkages, etc. for the enhancement/new development, technical architecture, etc.
• Update the documentation on User Guides, frequently asked questions, chatbots, and other related support documentation including creation of new content in multimedia.
• Provide user support on issues with PGAMS, RBCA Module and Assurance Module. 

Address outstanding UNBOA Recommendations on Programme Partner Management Lifecycle

• Finalize business requirements for next phase of PGAMS on Initiate, Monitor, and Closure Module, as required.
• Finalize reports and dashboards design. 
• Undertake further processes on completion of these modules, as required, dependent on resources. 

Coordinate the Annual Assurance of Programme Partners

• Conduct the Annual Assurance Planning and validation against the Assurance Module 
• Coordination of the annual Assurance exercise of Programme Partners with UN Women Offices and independent auditor(s)
• Review and provide procedural guidance on Resolution of Assurance Findings. 

Oversight of Programme Partner Management Indicators

• Implement automated Regional Office reporting templates for Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) to address UNBOA recommendations 
• Analyze key oversight indicators for the Programme Support Unit portfolio, recommend corrective action and follows-up for compliance
• Monitor key performance indicators for Programme Partners and other Programme Support Unit requirements through regular and ad hoc reviews.
• Oversee Programme Partner Agreements with offices using key PGAMS data.
• Analyze complex data, develop Programme Partner oversight tools, identify key trends, and provide information to management.

Manage knowledge building efforts

• Manage the process of identifying and synthesizing of best practices and lessons learned that are directly linked to the implementation of the Programme Partner management and contribute to their global dissemination.
• Strengthen the capacity of Offices on PGAMS, RBCA and Assurance Module.

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

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:

• Ability to translate business processes, policies and audit recommendations into clear business requirements.
• Sound understanding of risk-based capacity assessment, assurance and audit processes
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to analyze complex data, and recommend corrective action to management.
• Ability to design and maintain oversight tools, dashboards and reports that support second-line oversight and decision-making.
• Ability to coordinate across several stakeholders to deliver results on time.
• Ability to develop guidance and training material to strengthen corporate systems and procedure.

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Business Administration, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political/Development Studies, or other relevant discipline 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 5 years of progressively responsible experience in programme or partner management, business process management, or corporate systems, including oversight, assurance or compliance functions are required.
• Strong knowledge of programme partner and grant management processes across the full lifecycle (selection, agreement, monitoring, assurance, closure). Knowledge of UN Women or UN-system procedures is desirable.
• Experience writing business requirements and running user acceptance testing for corporate systems is desirable.
• Experience coordinating audits or assurance work with independent auditors is desirable.
• Experience developing guidance or training for field offices

Languages: 

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

Prior to starting their assignment, Home based International PPSA are responsible for holding a work permit valid for the homebased location during the entire I PPSA duration.

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.