Economic Empowerment Specialist, Gender-Responsive Procurement

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.

UN Women has recently signed a Strategic Partnership Framework (SPF) with the Government of the UAE that supports the acceleration of the Sustainable Development Agenda through women’s economic empowerment in Africa and Latin America. Under the SPF, in line with the UN Women’s Gender Equality Accelerator (GEA) on Women and the World of Work, concrete results in supporting women’s entrepreneurship and decent work will be advanced in Kenya and Chile, as well as at the global level, through promoting gender-responsive procurement (GRP) in the public and private sectors and enabling markets for women. The GEA adopts a systematic approach for women’s economic empowerment that promotes job creation and the full realization of women’s rights, agency, leadership and economic autonomy and attainment of decent working conditions that are free from violence and harassment and tackles discriminatory social and legal norms through policy and programmatic change. Because procurement has a huge potential to shape financial flows and move the needle on gender equality, the GEA leverages GRP, which applies a gender perspective to procurement, in both the public and private sectors. The expected outcome of the SPF component is that governments (county and national) and private sector organizations adopt gender-responsive procurement laws, legislation and policies and increase procurement spend from women-owned, led and gender-responsive businesses.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Deputy Country Representative the Economic Empowerment Specialist, Gender-Responsive Procurement is responsible for managing the project ‘Accelerating Women’s Economic Empowerment in Africa and Latin America component of the UAE SPF’ in Kenya and will coordinate closely with the Programme Specialist, Gender-Responsive Procurement in the Economic Empowerment section at UN Women HQ.

Duties and Responsibilities

      1. Manage/coordinate UAE SPF component on Accelerating Women’s Economic Empowerment in in Kenya

• Manage the day-to-day implementation of the component
• Provide advice and ensure synergies with the work on this Component in the Economic Empowerment section and across UN Women
• Prepare the annual workplan and budget and manage their implementation, in coordination with
• Contribute to overall monitoring and evaluation and donor reporting of the SPF

      2. Provide guidance, technical assistance and capacity development

• Provide guidance and support to entities that express their commitment to GRP in Kenya and regionally
• Actively participate to develop capacity for national, subnational and private sector to develop and implement gender-responsive procurement in Kenya as well as regionally
• Coordinate and advise on opportunities to connect women’s and gender-responsive enterprises in specific sectors with public and private sector procuring organizations in Kenya and regionally
• Contribute to develop and disseminate tools to increase women’s participation and to leverage from public and private procurement opportunities in Kenya, in coordination with the Programme Specialist/HQ
• Contribute  to create tools and standards, such as supplier codes of conduct and evaluation criteria, to support public and private GRP in Kenya, in coordination with the Programme Specialist/HQ

       3. Manage knowledge management on public and private GRP

• Research and identify experiences, lessons learned and promising practices to guide implementation, capacity development and advocacy
• Promote the development, and presentation of knowledge products (e.g. analytical reports, research papers, briefing notes, background papers, online newsletters, etc.) on GRP to advance women’s economic empowerment
• Facilitate knowledge sharing on GRP by convening and participating in strategic events
• strengthen the global Community of Practice on GRP and facilitate communities of practices in Kenya to connect practitioners, decision makers and individuals to consult, coordinate and build knowledge.

       4. Provide technical support for advocacy and stakeholder and partner engagement initiatives related to public and private GRP

• Develop advocacy strategies and implement them in close collaboration with global and Kenya teams.
• Develop  outreach strategy and work with  governments and civil society on GRP
• Build and strengthen partnerships with stakeholders, partners and donors to raise awareness of advancing women’s economic empowerment through public and private GRP
• Contribute to an annual Women’s Economic Empowerment Conferences.

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

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities:

The incumbent will not have a supervisory role.

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

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Demonstrated achievement in the field of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment
• Excellent knowledge of public and private gender-responsive procurement
• Ability to interact effectively with partners, stakeholders, donors and UN system
• Excellent analytical and drafting skills
• Ability to identify trends and opportunities relevant to programmatic area
• Excellent knowledge of programme development, implementation and reporting
• Strong knowledge of UN systems and procedures
• Capable and committed team player

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, international development, gender studies 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.

Experience

• At least – 5 years progressively responsible experience in gender equality and women’s economic empowerment
• Experience in gender-responsive procurement is required
• Experience in preparation of knowledge products is required
• Experience in managing women’s economic empowerment programmes and strategic planning is required
• Experience in coordinating teams is required
• Experience in working in the UN system is desirable

Languages

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

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.

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.