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’s goal in Timor-Leste is to promote women’s human rights and gender equality as the country works towards sustaining and furthering achievements in stability and development. In this regard, its programming in the country is connected to two corporate priority areas: enhancing women’s economic empowerment (WEE), and engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes (WPS), supported by integrated efforts to ensure gender-sensitive plans and budgets and women’s right to live free of violence. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s joint work in advancing gender equality.

Women’s economic empowerment is also one of the key pillars of UN Women’s programming in Timor-Leste. Establishing an enabling environment and gender-responsive public spaces for advancing their economic engagement is essential in achieving women’s economic empowerment. This aligns to the Government of Timor-Leste’s existing gender equality commitments including its Safe Dili and Safe Baucau commitments, the Second Maubisse Declaration for Rural Women, and institutional reforms including Public Finance Management (PFM), and mainstreaming gender in the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Since 2021, UN Women expanded scope of capacity building to include entrepreneurship, financial literacy and leadership training skills, strengthening organizational (the network capacity), improving product diversification and quality, and supporting increasing marketing channels to the weavers in the existing four municipalities Oé-cusse -RAEOA, Los Palos, Bobonaro, Covalima and support the establishment of two additional weavers network in Viqueque and Baucau.

The initiative contributes to UN Women's Strategic Plan Outcome 3; Women have income security, decent work, and economic autonomy. Within this Outcome, the project contributes to the output of women, particularly young and rural women, having strengthened their capacity to analyze and make recommendations to influence policy and to access their economic rights and decent work.

Reporting to the Head of Office, the Programme Specialist exercises overall responsibility for planning, implementing, and managing UN Women interventions under their portfolio.  The Programme Specialist works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team, UN Women HQ staff, Government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under portfolio.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.  Design and develop programme strategies in the area of Women Economic Empowerment (WEE)

• Design and formulate programme/ project proposals and initiatives;
• Draft inputs to country strategy documents, briefs, policy dialogue and other documents related to WEE

2.  Manage the implementation and management of the Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) programme

• Finalize the annual workplan and budget and manage their implementation;
• Manage the technical implementation of the programme/project; ensure synergies with other teams;
• Manage the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports;
• Provide guidance to personnel and partners on Results Based Management tools and performance indicators;
• Organize Project Steering Committee, project review and/or evaluation meetings, as needed.

3.  Manage technical assistance and capacity development to project/programme partners

• Manage the implementation of technical advice and guidance. Develop and implement technical tools, and initiatives
• Build and manage relationships with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the WEE programme; respond to any potential problems;
• Identify capacity building needs of partners and lead the coordination of technical assistance, mentoring, training and capacity development initiatives to partners.

4.  Manage the monitoring and reporting of the programme/ project

• Manage the monitoring of programme/ project implementation and finances using results based management tools;
• Oversee field missions and review reports on monitoring missions;
• Write quarterly reports and donor reports, focusing on results, output and outcomes;
• Contribute to office donor and UN Women reports.

5.  Manage the people and financial resources of the WEE programme

• Manage the programme budget and draft financial reports;
• Supervise Programme Officer and Technical Specialists or consultants; Mentor and coach personnel and conduct performance assessments;
• Oversee recruitment processes, as necessary.

6.  Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

• Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Finalize relevant documentation on donors and potential opportunities for resource mobilization;
• Analyze and research information on donors, prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost sharing.

7.  Contribute to inter-agency coordination on WEE to achieve coherence and alignment of UN Women programmes with other partners  in the country

• Provide technical support to the Head of Office on inter-agency coordination related activities by attending meetings, events, and participating in groups and committees as needed;
• Coordinate with other UN agencies, government departments, donors and NGOs to ensure the projects’ capacity development programme is harmonized and aligned with other in-country efforts.

8.  Manage advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts

• Develop and review background documents, briefs and presentations related to the WEE;
• Represent UN Women in meetings and policy dialogues on issues related to WEE as necessary;
• Develop advocacy strategies and oversee their implementation;
• Identify best practices and lessons learned to guide programme improvement and strategy planning;
• Develop knowledge management strategies, products and methodologies on WEE.

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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values 

Functional Competencies

• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong knowledge of the Women Economic Empowerment (WEE)
• Strong analytical skills
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising and develop strategies

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/women's studies, international development, business management and communications or a related field is required
• A first-level university degree in combination with five 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 5 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of WEE projects; preferably business development, tourism, trade, hospitality.
• Technical experience in Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) is required
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is desirable;
• Experience working within the UN System is desirable;
• Experience in leading/managing a team is desirable.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of Tetum or Bahasa Indonesia is desirable.
• 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 Application and recruitment process | About us: Careers at UN Women | UN Women – Headquarters  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.

Inclusion Statement:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits employ, 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.)