Job Description

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 Political Analysis and Programme Development Unit (PAPDU) is part of the Policy, Programme and Inter-Governmental Affairs Division (PPID). PAPDU provides gender-responsive political and contextual country and regional analysis to inform strategic decision-making and advance UN Women’s triple mandate. The Unit delivers high-quality analytical and strategic support to the Executive Leadership engagements and represents UN Women in UN interagency and system-wide coordination fora on programming approaches. It also facilitates strategic liaison with programme country Member States based in New York and strengthens programmatic partnerships and political alignment.

PAPDU serves as an institutional bridge and facilitates the flow of strategic information and analysis to and from global, regional and country office teams. The Unit consists of Regional Specialists who cover Arab States, Asia-Pacific, East and Southern Africa, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and West and Central Africa regions, providing region-specific insights and support to strengthen UN Women’s policy, programme and intergovernmental work.

Under the supervision of the Deputy Director of PPID, the Chief is responsible for overseeing the work of the section and is part of the PPID leadership team.

Key Functions and Accountabilities:

1. Lead the development of Gender responsive Political Analysis and strategic advice

• Lead the development of strategic, high-quality, and gender-responsive political analysis of countries and regions to inform UN Women’s strategic foresight, programming, and global policy engagement, in alignment with the UN Women Strategic Plan.
• Provides political insights and periodic global and cross-regional analysis on key issues, trends and crisis situations to support executive leadership, decision-making processes, institutional messaging, and effective intergovernmental and bilateral engagement with Member States.
• Serve as a resource hub for UN Women Country and Regional Offices throughout the entire programme cycle, from CCA/UNSDCF formulation to SN development, quality assurance and implementation, leveraging PAPDU regional focal points and facilitating technical inputs and support from across PPID, in close collaboration with regional offices and SPU. All activities are aligned with the UN Women Strategic Plan, informed by political analysis, operational feasibility, and the UN 2.0 reform perspective. Promote cross-regional knowledge sharing and best practices. Provide regional context, and political insights into the strategic analysis process, including CCA/UNSDCF, Strategic Notes and UN Women’s corporate Strategic Plan and support on political trends and discussions on country configuration, including in relation to UN reform and implications for UN Women’s programme delivery;
• Coordinates the UN Women’s contributions and facilitates strategic executive engagement within the system-wide prevention platform, including participation at principal-level Executive Committee and Deputy Committee meetings. Consolidates technical and policy expertise across divisions to develop high-quality, evidence-based analytical briefs and background documents, anticipating emerging trends from a gender equality standpoint. Oversees systematic follow-up on EC/DC decisions assigned to UN Women, thereby strengthening organizational accountability, knowledge transfer, and strategic influence within the UN prevention architecture.

2. Build and maintain partnerships with Member States

• Establishes and sustains regular communication with Permanent Missions from programme countries and regional groups. Provides up-to-date information regarding UN Women’s initiatives and key gender equality concerns through both informal and regional briefings; disseminates UN Women knowledge products; facilitates access to technical and policy advisory services; and organizes periodic knowledge-sharing sessions and cross-regional learning dialogues.
• In close coordination with thematic teams and IGS, contributes to and supports political outreach with Member States related to major intergovernmental processes, including the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and other global forums. Collaborates with regional offices to support regional intergovernmental activities, ensuring that valuable feedback and insights are shared across headquarters, regional, and country teams to inform their engagement with governments.
• Contributes to the development of UN Women’s strategy for work in LLDCs, SIDS, Middle-Income, and High-Income Countries, including domestic resource mobilization efforts. Supports the implementation of UN Women’s universal mandate.
• Coordinates UN Women’s involvement in South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) on gender equality issues, acting as the primary liaison with New York-based programme country Permanent Missions and UN agencies, while closely engaging with UN Women’s country and regional offices. Promotes the integration of gender equality principles and financing within SSTC initiatives, leveraging UN Women’s normative, operational, and coordination roles to enhance collective impact and partnership.
• Supports the engagement of UN Women’s senior leadership with Permanent Missions and government delegations from national capitals.

3. Lead Cross-regional collaboration and knowledge management

• Collect and disseminate best practices on programming at regional and country levels, and contribute to UN Women’s knowledge management efforts;
• Facilitates effective two-way communication and feedback between headquarters, regional, and country teams to promote coherence, guide policy and programmatic decisions, and monitor emerging regional political trends pertinent to UN Women’s mandate and global advocacy efforts.

4. Team management and oversight

• Lead time management and oversight to ensure team coherence and well-being.
• Ensure high-quality and timely annual performance reviews (PMDs). Ensure that the team is compliant with mandatory training courses.
• Lead the work on preparation of annual work plans and budget allocations. Ensure that quarterly monitoring reports are completed in a timely manner.

5. 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 leads a team of 5, which includes 4 direct reports (3 P4 and 1 G6), as well as 1 affiliate personnel (1 fellow).

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:

• Excellent programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them
• Excellent knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to distill and synthesize policy and program information and data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Excellent knowledge in thematic area
• Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation
• Strong networking skills
• Ability to negotiate and interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising

Recruitment Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Master`s degree (or equivalent) in development related disciplines, political science, economics or public policy or other social science fields.
• 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 would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of extensive development programme experience, including in gender equality and women’s rights at the international level, preferably in developing countries within the UN system, Agencies, Funds or Programs.
• Technical expertise in one or more thematic areas covered by the UN Women Strategic Plan is required.
• Experience in inter-agency processes is desirable.
• Experience of political analysis and context analysis is desirable.
• Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable.

Languages:

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

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