Job Description
Please note the appropriate Tier indicated in the vacancy title and ensure that you are holding the applicable contract as defined below:
Tier 1: UNDP/ UNCDF/ UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed term (FTA) appointments (defined as “internal” candidates)
Tier 2: UNDP/ UNCDF/ UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA) and personnel on regular PSA contracts
Tier 3: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates
Background
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Papua New Guinea (PNG) actively supports gender equality, peacebuilding, good governance and women’s empowerment as cross-cutting priorities in its development work. UNDP partners with government institutions, civil society, and communities to strengthen inclusive governance, prevent gender-based violence (GBV), and promote women’s participation in decision-making processes at all levels. In peacebuilding, UNDP facilitates community-led dialogue, conflict resolution, and social cohesion initiatives, particularly in fragile and post-conflict areas. Gender equality is mainstreamed across these efforts, with targeted interventions to empower women as agents of peace and change.
UNDP’s gender equality and women’s empowerment programming focuses on increasing women’s political participation, gender transformative institutions, laws and budgets, economic inclusion, and leadership in governance and peace processes. Through capacity building, policy support, and grassroots engagement, UNDP works to dismantle systemic barriers and ensure that women and girls can live free from violence, exercise their rights, and contribute fully to Papua New Guinea’s sustainable development. This role will be focused on supporting across various projects within the Peacebuilding, Governance and Gender portfolio.
The Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Officer will play a central role in supporting the delivery of a transformative multi-year programme aimed at advancing women’s political leadership and representation in Papua New Guinea ahead of and beyond the 2027 National General Elections. Working closely with national institutions, political bodies, civil society, and regional partners, the GEWE Officer will contribute to developing a cadre of capable and diverse women political leaders through leadership initiatives. They will coordinate efforts to strengthen women’s coalitions, support the Joint Parliamentary Women’s Caucus and its Secretariat, and mobilize women’s movements for effective electoral participation. The GEWE Officer will also support activities that focus on the enactment and implementation of gender-responsive legal and policy frameworks, including Temporary Special Measures and reforms to existing legislation to institutionalize women’s political participation. Additionally, they will contribute to nationwide visibility campaigns, grassroots advocacy, strategic communications training to shift public perception and reinforce women’s legitimacy as political leaders.
As a central part of the gender team, the Officer will support programme development in emerging areas of gender equality and women’s empowerment, designing new actvities and supporting resource mobilisation UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve the goals of its Country Programme Document (2024-2028). Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across issues, units, functions, teams and projects in multidisciplinary teams to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration. The GEWE Officer will be a vital part of the growing Governance, Peace, Gender and Social Cohesion portfolio at UNDP PNG, and will support integrated programming by offering technical inputs in emerging related areas of programming upon request.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Gender Equality and Womens Empowerment Project Manager works under the general supervision of the Programme Specialist (Women’s Empowerment and Gender Transformative Governance) and collaborates closely with other project team members from across the Gender, Governance and Peacebuilding Portfolio.
The key duties and responsibilities of the position incumbent are listed below.
Lead, manage, coordinate, and develop effective project planning and implementation.
Lead strategic planning for the project as well as formulation and periodic revisions of the project’s annual work plan (AWP), including plans for budget, HR and procurement that are developed in close coordination with UNDP’s Country Office Programme, HR, and Procurement teams. Lead development of detailed implementation plans. Manage, coordinate, and supervise project implementation to ensure the overall project relevance and performance, the effective realization and quality of outputs within the specified constraints of time and cost as outlined in the project document, and adherence to applicable UNDP policy and programme management procedures and Government standards, rules, and regulations. Act as a senior advisor on issues related to project activities. Provide direction, guidance, and direct supervision to UNDP project personnel. Undertake technical review of project documents produced by the project team and partners, and ensure high technical standards are met. Ensure all project interventions integrate a gender equality perspective/gender equality mainstreaming to the extent local context allows. Ensure proper execution of all administrative activities associated with project implementation, including mobilizing goods and services, preparing Terms of Reference, completing contracting processes, recruiting/selecting consultants and experts, and managing financial arrangements/transactions and their correct authorization. Identify opportunities for synergies with other projects within UNDP and beyond, to advance the key objectives and grow its focus.Develop strategic partnerships.
Substantively contribute to the harnessing of effective partnerships and lead the identification and onboarding process for implementing partners. Cultivate and maintain strong relationships and strategic linkages with implementing and development partners, government officials, businesses, NGOs, other national and regional stakeholders, and beneficiaries to support and ensure accurate interpretation of project objectives and promote inclusive project implementation. Substantively contribute to project communications and visibility efforts. Make recommendations to the management team on activities with potential for scale-up, replicability and synergies. Provide technical support to the implementing partners and act as a liaison between UNDP and the partners. Support resource mobilization efforts and project development.Monitor and report on progress in implementing project activities and achieving the targets set.
Provide leadership and technical advice to the project in developing baselines and indicators for project monitoring and evaluation and coordinate the finalization of detailed results framework. Develop clear strategies and an effective system for data collection, means of verification, and information sharing and reporting. Lead the implementation of project monitoring, evaluation, and results framework to identify plan deviations and other problems; and make needed course corrections within agreed upon tolerances to achieve results. Conduct field visits as required to verify project activities relative to stated targets and provide regular field updates to UNDP management. Lead the development and conduct of mid-term and annual reviews, and end line assessment; and coordinate the conduct of independent evaluations. Organize project review and evaluation meetings. Follow up on the implementation of decisions, recommendations, and course corrections. Manage and monitor project risks, including social and environmental risks, initially identified and submit new risks to appropriate project governing bodies for consideration and decision on possible actions. Coordinate the preparation of corporate, donor and government reports in line with the reporting schedule and UNDP and donor requirements. Ensure provision of ad hoc reports and information requested by relevant entities. Ensure proper operational and financial closure of the project.Facilitate knowledge and capacity building, knowledge sharing, and advocacy relevant to the assigned thematic areas.
Identify capacity building needs and opportunities. Ensure appropriate training, project workshops and other relevant activities are organized and implemented in a consultative manner, involving technical experts and stakeholders that may include the government, private sector, NGOs, donors, and/or academia. Ensure project reports capture results, lessons learned and good practices for possible wider application. Participate in and ensure sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice on development and project related issues. Support establishment of knowledge platforms for the project, facilitate innovative mechanisms for dissemination of knowledge from the project, and develop knowledge resources and products to share with project partners and to support UNDP’s engagement in this area. Promote advocacy for UNDP’s work and opportunities for collaboration in addressing development trends in coordination with the project partners, stakeholders, and UNDP communications staff.The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.
Competencies
Core Competencies:
Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands Act with Determination: LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivityCross-Functional & Technical competencies:
Business Direction & Strategy
System Thinking: Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the systemBusiness Development
Knowledge Facilitation: Ability to research information and to turn it into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need. Ability to apply existing concepts to new situations, and to develop new concepts to generate workable solutions and new approaches. Knowledge of relevant concepts, conceptual models, and theories that can be useful in addressing new situationsBusiness Management
Project Management: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and control resources, procedures, and protocols to achieve specific goals Communication: Communicate in a clear, concise, and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience. Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media, and other appropriate channelsPartnership management
Relationship Management: Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding.2030 Agenda: People
Governance: Inclusive Political Processes. Women’s political participation Gender: Inclusive governance and women’s participation and representation. Gender social norms and behavioural change. Gender Equality and Institutional Transformation. Gender and Intersectional AnalysisRequired Skills and Experience
Education:
Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Gender Studies, Political Science, Law, Public Policy, International Development, or related field is required, OR A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the fields mentioned above in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degreeExperience:
Minimum 5 years (with master’s degree) or 7 years (with bachelor’s degree) progressively responsible experience in gender equality, women’s empowerment, or governance, preferably with a focus on political participation.Required skills:
Demonstrated experience in project coordination, implementation, and stakeholder engagement in complex, multi-partner environments is required Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and web-based management systems, and advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages is required.Desired skills:
Experience in working, liaising, and collaborating with UN agencies, governments, NGOs, civil society organizations, and public international organizations on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment is desired Strong understanding and related experience with political institutions, electoral systems, and gender-related legal frameworks in Papua New Guinea or similar contexts is desired Proven experience in supporting legal and policy reform processes, particularly those related to gender equality, human rights, or democratic governance will be an assetRequired Languages:
Fluency in English and Tok Pisin is required.Equal opportunity
As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.
UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.
Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority
UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.
Right to select multiple candidates
UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.
Scam alert
UNDP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process. For further information, please see www.undp.org/scam-alert.