National Program Officers at UN Women

UN Women - In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In doing so, UN Member States took an historic step in accelerating the Organization's goals on 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. 

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: National Program Officer

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Post Level: NO-C
Type of Contract: FTA Local
Starting Date: (date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 01-Mar-2017
Duration of Initial Contract: One 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.
• The UN Women Nigeria Country Office works to execute UN Women’s normative, operational and coordination mandate principally through partnerships with the national government, civil society, the private sector and UN System entities. The Nigeria Country Office also facilitates UN Women’s liaison and partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
• Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Deputy Representative in Nigeria, the Programme Officer performs duties related to the development, execution, monitoring and effective delivery of UN Women  programmes/projects  to facilitate the economic and political empowerment of women in Nigeria, in  line with UN Women’s strategic plan, rules and regulations.
• The National Programme Officer will be required to supervise other UN Women staff in Nigeria and  may occasionally serve as  Officer-in-Charge. The post holder works in close collaboration with the operations, programme and project staff for resolving complex issues and ensuring exchange of information.

Duties and Responsibilities
Provide advisory and programme development services to the Country Programme:

• Draft country strategy documents, briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to the programme;
• Draft the design and formulation of programme/ project proposals and initiatives;
• Translate the priorities of the Strategic Note into programme interventions;
• Participate in meetings and policy dialogues on issues related to the programme on behalf of UN Women, as necessary;
• Identify areas for support and interventions within the country programme.

Support the implementation and management of the Country Programme:

• Finalize the annual workplan and budget and oversee implementation;
• Finalize reports on activities, outputs and outcomes; as well as donor and UN Women reports;
• Ensure adherence to standard UN Women procedures in planning and implementation of programmes/ project;
• Ensure synergies within and with other programme/ project teams;
• Manage the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
• Provide guidance to staff and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators.

Provide technical assistance and capacity development to project/programme partners:

• Build and manage relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the Country Programme; respond to any potential problems
• Identify capacity building needs of stakeholders;
• Provide partners with technical assistance, mentoring, training and capacity development initiatives.

Support monitoring and reporting of the Country Programme:

• Support the monitoring of implementation of activities and finances using the results based management tools;
• Undertake field missions and write reports on monitoring missions;
• Write quarterly reports and donor reports.

Manage people and financial resources of the programme:

• Support management of overall programme budget;
• Draft financial reports;
• Supervise team;
• Write terms of reference for new staff, consultants and contractors and oversee the recruitment process, as necessary.

Contribute to inter-agency coordination:

• Provide technical support on inter-agency coordination related activities by attending meetings, events, and participating in groups and committees as needed;
• Coordinate with other UN agencies, government departments, donors and NGOs to ensure the projects’ capacity development programme is harmonized and aligned with other in-country efforts;
• Participate in country level Comprehensive Country Assessment (CCA)/UNDAF processes and similar exercises related to the RC system;
• Prepare inputs to CCA/ UNDAF and other documents;
• Write analytical and regular progress reports on UN Women’s programme experiences in support of UN Women inter-agency coordination role.

Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies:

• Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Finalize relevant documentation on donors and potential opportunities for resource mobilization;
• Analyze and research information on donors, prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost sharing;
• Determine programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, country needs and donors’ priorities and develop the relevant partnerships.

Lead advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts:

• Develop advocacy strategies and oversee their implementation;
• Develop and expand knowledge management strategies, products and methodologies;
• Manage the process of identifying and synthesizing of best practices and lessons learned that are directly linked to the implementation of the programme and contribute to their global dissemination
• Perform any other job related duties assigned by supervisor and the Regional Director

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality programme design and inputs to Strategic Note
• Timely and quality of programme delivery in line with budget and workplans
• Timely and quality monitoring and evaluation of programmes
• Relations with partners and stakeholders
• Timely and quality of reports
• Regular communication with other agencies and partners
• Quality of advocacy, communication and knowledge management initiatives

Competencies
Core values;

• Integrity: Demonstrates consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
• Professionalism: Demonstrates professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
• Respect for Diversity: Demonstrates an appreciation of the multi-cultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrates an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity
• Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
• Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative
• Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication
• Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others
• Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.
• Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making

Functional Competencies:

• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Programming and Management
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports in order to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong Knowledge of gender and development / women’s empowerment
• Innovative partnerships development and resource mobilization skills
• Strong organizational skills and ability to pay close attention to detail
• Organizational learning and knowledge sharing skills
• Good conflict resolution skills
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and develop strategies

Required Skills and Experience
Education and certification:

• A Master's Degree in Social Sciences, Management, International Relations, Humanities or any other relevant field.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects

Essential Proven track record in:

• Gender analysis with capacity to mainstream gender into programmes and engage in policy dialogue;
• Project and staff management experience;
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills, including an ability to prepare succinct analytical documents and briefs in English.
• Network building with a range of stakeholders (e.g. in civil society, government
• private sector and donor  community);  Working with local and international
• partners in complex projects and environments
• Technical working experience in gender and development / women’s empowerment
• Experience in establishing relationships among international organization and national governments in the field of gender and human rights of women
• Experience working in the UN System and familiarity with UN system coordination mechanisms will be  an asset
• Management experience will be an asset

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and English is required
• Working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.

Application Closing Date
15th February, 2017.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online