Back Programme Coordination Specialist, Governance and Leadership, Gender Equality Accelerator, Sarajevo, BiH, N-PPSA10

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 United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

To respond to the demands of national partners, UN Women established its presence in 2008 in Sarajevo. Priorities of UN Women’s Country Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are based on the 2021-2025 United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework signed between the Government of BiH and the United Nations system in BiH. Key priorities of UN Women in BiH under its 2021-2025 Strategic Note span four key priority areas: 1) ending violence against women; 2) supporting the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, especially through the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 and ensuring that women are empowered to fully contribute to and lead in public and political life; 3) enhancing women's economic empowerment by working to create equal opportunities and access to resources, including by recognizing, reducing, and redistributing unpaid care and domestic work and promoting women’s entrepreneurship; and 4) strengthening gender-responsive governance by making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting.

Within this framework, the Gender Equality Accelerator (GEA) represents a flagship joint initiative coordinated by UN Women in partnership with UNFPA, UNDP, and UNICEF. The GEA aims to accelerate transformative change on gender equality and women’s empowerment by supporting systems-level reforms and advancing institutional accountability across three interconnected pillars: (1) gender-responsive governance and leadership, (2) prevention of and response to gender-based violence, and (3) women’s economic empowerment. The programme is aligned with national reform efforts, EU integration priorities, and international frameworks including CEDAW and the 2030 Agenda. It prioritizes intersectionality, localization, and inclusive partnerships with government, civil society, and the private sector to advance structural change and deliver measurable progress on gender equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Reporting to Programme Management Specialist and under overall supervision of the Representative, the Programme Coordination Specialist is responsible for coordinating the Governance and Leadership portfolio which includes coordinating relationships with national partners and stakeholders, and the monitoring and reporting, and the finances and personnel of the portfolio. 

Scope of Work

1.    Coordinate the Governance and Leadership Programme 
•     Design and formulate programme/project proposals and initiatives;
•     Manage the technical implementation of the Programme; ensure synergies with other teams;
•     Coordinate the overall Programme work plan development and implementation according to Strategic Note/programme document;
•     Liaise with the Programme Board, national counterparts, donors, UN Women and partners to ensure the Programme results are achieved and resources are managed;
•     Prepare and present workplans, periodic narrative progress reports and expenditures status reports to the Programme Board and UN Women;
•     Draft inputs to country strategy documents, briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to Governance and Leadership;
•     Establish systems for project planning, implementation and monitoring, in collaboration with partners; and
•     Record and maintain documents on relevant Programme activities, issues, and risks.

2.    Contribute to inter-agency coordination on Governance and Leadership to achieve coherence and alignment of UN Women programmes with other partners in the country
•     Provide substantive technical support to the Representative and Programme Management Specialist on inter-agency coordination related activities by drafting background reports and briefs;
•     Working closely with the partner agencies to achieve synergies and coherence in the implementation of joint programmes and initiatives.

3.    Guide coordination with national partners and other stakeholders 
•     Coordinate relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the Governance and Leadership Programme, raise potential problems and provide solutions;
•     Provide guidance to partners on establishment of performance indicators, and monitoring achievement of results; and
•     Identify capacity building needs and support partners through technical assistance, mentoring, training, cross-partner learning, and capacity development initiatives.

4.    Coordinate the monitoring and reporting on the Governance and Leadership Programme 
•     Gather and compile all information necessary for monitoring and reporting on programmes and projects from the planning to the evaluation stages, using results-based management tools;
•     Monitor the implementation of activities and the expenditure of funds by partners; conduct regular monitoring visits;
•     Write annual and quarterly reports; review and coordinate the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports; and
•     Provide inputs from Governance and Leadership Programme activities and results to Country Office corporate and donor reporting.

5.    Manage financial resources and supervise personnel
•     Supervise and manage a team of professional and administrative personnel, review performance and mentor/guide personnel;
•     Coordinate development and preparation of financial resources of the Programme including budgeting and budget revisions, and expenditure tracking and reporting; and
•     Oversee and monitor the allocation and disbursement of funds to participating partners.

6.    Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies
•     Provide technical support to the development of partnerships and resource mobilization strategies; and
•     Identify potential programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, country needs and donors’ priorities and develop the relevant partnerships.

7.    Advocate and facilitate knowledge building and management and communication
•     Ensure documentation of the programme implementation process and products produced are in accordance with UN Women guidelines;
•     Identify best practices and lessons learned to guide programme improvement and strategy planning;
•     Contribute to the exchange of information and knowledge products internally and externally of the programme; and
•     Organize major advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products.

8.    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 provides direct functional oversight and management to a team of 4 personnel, including two Programme Analysts, Programme Associate and Programme Assistant supporting the implementation of the Gender Equality Accelerator.

Education and Certification:

•     Master’s degree or equivalent in public administration, law, human rights, gender equality, management, social sciences or other related areas 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 in managing complex and multi-component programme interventions with national partners, preferably related to thematic area is required.
•     Experience in coordinating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development programmes and projects is required. 
•     Experience leading and coaching staff in international settings is required.
•     Previous experience working in the UN system is desirable.

Languages:

Competencies :

Core Values:

Core Competencies:

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

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 in order to inform management and strategic decision-making
•     Strong analytical skills
Good knowledge of UN programme management systems
 

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.