Country Programme Management Specialist

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.

Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates UN system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action worldwide. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

In Bolivia, the Country Office (CO) focuses on key strategic priorities, including combating gender-based violence, enhancing women’s economic empowerment, and increasing women’s participation in leadership and decision-making processes. These priorities align with the national policies and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5 on gender equality. The CO works collaboratively with governmental and non-governmental organizations to implement programs that have a tangible impact on the lives of women and girls.

Under the supervision of the Bolivia Country Office Representative, the Programme Management Specialist will manage the development, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of programmes for the Country Office (CO). This role provides technical support to the Project Managers and coordinates with Operations for the timely implementation of the Country Office Strategic Note and Work Plans, ensuring efficient budget management and delivery. The Programme Management Specialist’s responsibilities are directly linked to the CO’s priorities, ensuring that the strategic goals of gender equality and women’s empowerment are effectively translated into impactful actions and measurable outcomes.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Lead the Bolivia country programme.

• Develop, implement, and monitor the country programme workplan and individual programme workplans, including budget and results framework;
• Manage delivery of the day-to-day programme activities to ensure prompt and adequate delivery of results;
• Ensure effective use of resources and compliance with UN Women rules, policies, and procedures as well as donor/fund requirements;

2. Lead technical support and capacity development to national partners.

• Provide substantive technical support on gender equality, women´s rights and women empowerment to national partners and other stakeholders;
• Provide substantive technical support on some the emergent areas such as humanitarian, peace building culture or environment approach.
• Respond to any potential problems to ensure continuity of program implementation;
• Manage capacity building opportunities and initiatives of key institutions and mechanisms;
• Provide timely inputs and suggestions on programmatic areas;
• Provide partners with technical assistance, training, and capacity development initiatives as needed.

3. Manage the implementation of programme/ project activities through monitoring and reporting

• Establish an effective monitoring system for the delivery of programme results;
• Prepare quarterly and annual progress reports and donor reports and organize progress reviews as necessary;
• Attend field missions and write reports on monitoring missions.

4. Manage people and financial resources of the programme

• Manage programme budget; and office operations as necessary;
• Write financial reports in accordance with UN Women procedures in coordination with operations, and submit the reports to the Regional Office and donors;
• Supervise and coach programme staff and manage performance;
• Write terms of reference for new staff, consultants and contractors and oversee the recruitment process, as necessary.

5. Manage inter-agency and country coordination support for UN Women in Bolivia

• Participate in the update of country level Comprehensive Country Assessment (CCA)/United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework UNSDCF  processes and similar exercises related to the Resident Coordinator (RC) system, as necessary;
• Provide guidance to the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in supporting enhanced response to national partners in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Write progress reports on UN Women’s programme experiences in support of UN women inter-agency coordination role;
• Collaborate with the Regional Office, provide coordination support to UN Agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and national authorities to promote gender equality and women empowerment activities in Bolivia;
• Identify and inform the RO of joint programming opportunities and participate in the development of UN joint programmes, as necessary.

6. 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.

7. Manage knowledge building and sharing and communications advocacy

• Develop knowledge management strategies and methodologies;
• Identify and synthesize of best practices and lessons learned to dissemination information;
• Provide the MCO, RO or HQ with updates and relevant information for publication and advocacy campaigns.

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

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: The incumbent leads a team of 9, which includes 2 direct reports as well as 7 affiliate personnel (SC and UNV).  

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 programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Strong budget and finance skills
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment
• Strong knowledge of country and/or region
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and develop strategies

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/ women’s studies, international development, or a related field 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 at the national and/or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects is required.
• Experience in establishing inter-relationships among international organization and national governments is required.
• Experience in leading a team is desirable.
• Experience in the in the field of gender and human rights of women is desirable.
• Experience in administrative systems and UN system norms is desirable.
• Experience in Bolivia and/or in Latin America and the Caribbean region is desirable.
• Experience in working independently with minimal supervision.
• Experience leading and coaching staff in international settings is requiered.
• 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.

Language Requirements:

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

 

HOW TO APPLY:

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.

Only short-listed qualified candidates will be contacted.

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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.)