PROGRAMME SPECIALIST- STRATEGIC PLANNING AND UN COORDINATION

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 centre of all its efforts, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. In Kenya, the UN Women Country Programme contributes to the development objectives of Kenya’s blue print, the Vision 2030 and is aligned to the United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAF) of 2009-2014 and the upcoming UNDAF of 2014-2018, as well as UN Women Global Strategic Plan. The Kenya Country Programme - “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Gains Consolidated' - aims to achieve the following results: (i) increased women’s leadership and participation in governance; (ii) strengthened women’s economic empowerment; (iii) increased protection of women & access to justice for women; and (iv) strengthened women’s leadership in peace building and humanitarian response. Under the overall guidance and direction of the supervisor, the Program Specialist - Strategic Planning and UN Coordination exercises overall responsibility for  planning, implementing, and managing UN Women interventions under his/her portfolio. She/he works in close collaboration with the regional Strategic Planning and Coordination Specialist and other programme staff in the UN Women Kenya country office.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions: Support to the Country Director and the team in the country office on UN programming and coordination at country level; Support UN system partnership and alliances at country level; Support enhanced results-based management practices at the country level to ensure more coherent and coordinated UN Women commitments and implementationwithin the UNDAF; Knowledge management and capacity building.  Support to the Country Director  and the team in the country office on UN programming and coordination at country level: Support the Country Director in her role and participation in United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and other relevant inter-agency and government bodies; Support UN Women country presence in the development of gender-specific country programming processes and products, including the preparation of UNDAF and other UN system joint programming documents, in close collaboration, with UNCT members, and other development partners to ensure that a gender perspective is mainstreamed;  Ensure effective knowledge management and capacity development of UN Women in the country and sub-region in rolling out and support any system-wide tools on gender equality;  Support the Country Director in the agreed mechanisms for UNCT for coordinating UN’s work on gender in Kenya including in humanitatian issues; Provide guidance to UN Women Kenya Country Office on joint programming modalities and strategies;  Prepare briefing materials for the CD on issues to be discussed in the UNCT as well as UN and other related events and meetings. Follow up on required action/outstanding issues and report on outcome/result. Alert CD on critical issues for action to be addressed.; Review and assess UN Women’s engagement in inter-agency processes and joint programmes in Kenya to devise improved strategies for ensuring that UN Women‘s investment in coordination processes is yielding results in support of gender equality and women’s human rights; Promote UN Women’s engagement in joint evaluations on gender equality and women’s empowerment.  Support UN system partnership and alliances at Country level: Support work within the UNCT and other inter-agency bodies in managing activities and other promotional events to engage bilateral and multilateral institutions/donors, private sector and civil society to expand and/or sustain interest and resources for UN Women programs and joint UN system programs; Support partnership development with other UN agengies resident and non-resident in Kenya; Participate in global practice network on coordination, sharing and learning best practices to keep abreast of and/or to contribute to ongoing debates and strategic thinking and to exchange experience and/or seek support on coordination issues affecting UN Women and UN system programs and operations.;  Support enhanced results-based management practices at the country level to ensure more coherent and coordinated UN Women commitments within the UNDAF: Provide technical support to the development and monitoring of Annual work plans; Provide capacity development support on results based programme planning and management;  Ensure that quality country level planning instruments are applied, promoting application of good practice in the development, design, monitoring and reporting of results; Collaborate with Regional Evaluation Specialist and regional Knowledge Management  and Research Specialist to ensure that findings and lessons from evaluations are reflected in strategic planning processes and RBM as well as training on results based management.   Knowledge management and capacity building: Analyze global practice and lessons learned on coordination and advise the Country Director as well as internal and external partners to enhance knowledge and build capacity. Collect and share lessons learned on coordination and UN system programming and development and contribute to development of knowledge management products and tools in UN Women.  Ensure the use of evaluation findings to feed into knowledge management and decision making at the country level.  Design and implement capacity building training activities to enhance skills and knowledge on request, make accessible to national partners, the Resident Coordinator’s Office and UNCT, a comprehensive roster of highly experienced and technically qualified professionals that are gender experts in a range of fields.  Impact of Results: The successful management of coordination activities will facilitate and enhance the ability of the Country Director to work effectively within the context of UN system priorities in the country and support coherent UN response and implementation in line with national strategies and priorities. The key results also impact on the success of the UN Country Team activities, strengthening of overall coordination capacity, design, implementation and operations of UN activities, creation of strategic partnerships in support of national priorities.  Support to results based programme planning and management will improve focus of UN Women programming, its alignment with clear national and corporate objectives, and better results reporting.

Competencies

Core values/Guiding principles:     Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct; Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work;   Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff; Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity. Core competencies: Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity; Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment  Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative; Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds; Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication; Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others; Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution;  Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge ; Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making. Functional competencies: Substantive experience in the area of development and /or gender equality and women's empowerment issues; Knowledge of UN system and understanding of inter-agency coordination processes; Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision from the spectrum of development to experience; Demonstrated negotiating, cultural sensitivity and diplomatic skill; Familiarity with results-based programme planning and management, and the ability to clearly communicate and explain RBPPM approaches;  Well-developed people management skills; Effectiveness and pro-activity; Ability to leverage information technology, executive information systems, management techniques and tools for optimal office performance; Ability to lead in formulating, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects; Strong interpersonal, communication and presentation skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Master’s Degree in development related disciplines, international relations, development studies or other social science fields. Experience: At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in providing advisory services in the area of gender equality, coordinating programmes with multiple actors in national or international contexts; Familiarity and experience with UN inter-agency coordination processes and/or results based management would be an asset. Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required; Working knowledge of another UN official language an asset. APPLY