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 UN Women Programme Support Management Unit (PSMU) provides corporate advisory services and direct support for project and programme lifecycle development and implementation across the organization. As part of the Strategic Planning, Results and Effectiveness Division (SPRED), PSMU guides Headquarters (HQ) Regional Offices (ROs) and Country Offices (COs) in following best practice to ensure that all projects and programmes maintain a level of standardization, planning, share knowledge, and work collectively towards UN Womenโs strategic goals. PSMU offers HQ, ROs and COs a range of services, trainings and toolkits that increase their implementation capacity to deliver programmes on time, on scope and on budget. It also supports the implementation of global projects managed by HQs.ย
Within PSMU, the head of the Programme Management Office (PMO) supports the Chief PSMU in leading the organization's work on project and programme lifecycle management. Additionally, UN Women has been developing the Performance and Results Integrated System (PRISM) to unify project planning, monitoring, reporting, and project management functions in line with Planning Monitoring and Reporting Policy and underlying project lifecycle procedures, offering an integrated platform that enhances accuracy, efficiency, transparency, and accountability in managing results and resources. This platform, together with the corporate Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, Quantum, will serve the end-to-end management of the programme and project lifecycle.ย
Under the overall supervision of the Chief of PSMU, and direct supervision of the Head of the Programme Management Office (PMO), the Programme Management Consultant will be responsible for conducting organizational efforts in the professionalization of project and programme management standards, practices, and capacities, specifically related to Donor Reporting, Joint Programming and Strategic Note Direct Funding (SDNF) work. Additionally, as part of PRISM and Quantum PPM Team, the consultant will be part of the Business Process Owner team responsible for the development, User Acceptance Testing, training, and launch of Project Lifecycle management in PRISM, through capacity building, and knowledge management transfer.
Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work
1. Provide coordination support to Joint Programming Life Cycle
- Provide technical support as part of a joint help desk (with Legal, Finance and PSMU).
- Contribute to the development of a repository for global monitoring of implementation of joint programmes.
- Stay abreast of inter-agency policy developments related to joint programming.
- Lead capacity building efforts on joint programming.
ย 2. Provide Technical Support and coordination to UNW Donor Reporting
- Provide technical support to ROs and HQ Programmes and Projects in relation to donor reporting.
- Lead the global coordination and monitoring of Donor Reporting, in close coordination with regional donor focal points.
- Conduct reviews and updates on internal systems, procedures and guidance relating to Donor Reporting.
- Lead capacity building efforts on donor reporting.
3. Provide technical Support and coordination of the Strategic Note Direct Financing (SNDF) Implementation
- Monitor the implementation of the SNDF guidance and support development of relevant procedures.ย
- Lead capacity building efforts on the SNDF implementation.
- Develop and deliver targeted support and guidance regarding SNDF.
4. Provide technical support in the implementation of UNW Women programming policies and procedures such as the Social and Environmental Standards.ย
- Monitor the implementation of programming policies and procedures, including social and environmental standards.
- Lead capacity building efforts on programming policies and procedures including the social and environmental standards.ย
- Conduct revisions and updates to relevant programming policies, procedures, and guidance.
5. PRISM business/process leadership and coordination (overall)
- Act as PRISM business/process coordinator for Programme and Project Management (PPM) policies, procedures, templates and guidance.
- Define business requirements and acceptance criteria for PRISM to reflect UN Women policies and procedures, in partnership relevant HQ units.
- Define the content and business logic of standard PRISM reports and dashboards required for corporate monitoring of the project life cycle.
- Lead corporate capacity-building and oversight of project life cycle functions, leveraging PRISM data for analysis and performance monitoring.
- Coordinate business-side data standards and data quality requirements for PRISM PPM; review data quality metrics and provide corrective guidance to regions/offices.
6. Collaboration with Quantum PPM Consultant on PRISM (Programme and Project Management Stream)
- Coordinate closely with the Quantum PPM Consultant (solution/ERP lead), who serves as โsystem ownerโ for PRISM technical workstreams of PMW interface and Quantum integration points.
- Identify and prioritize business-driven change requests and enhancements to PRISM (Programme and Project Management stream), and coordinate user acceptance testing with business users, in close collaboration with the Quantum PPM Consultant.
7. Support work around the Project Life Cycle and special assignments as requiredย including provision of technical, and advisory support, as well asย capacity building related to the project life cycle.
Consultantโs Workplace and Official Travel
This is a home-based consultancy. As part of this assignment, there may be in-person training to be considered.
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 visitย this linkย for more information on UN Womenโs Values and Competencies Framework:ย
Functional Competencies:
- Strong coordination and analytical skills
- Strong organizational skills and communication skills both written and verbal.
- Ability to design, implement, monitor, and report on projects and programmes.
- Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them.
- Ability to synthesize project, program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making.
- Strong knowledge of UN project and programme lifecycle Policies, Procedures and Guidances, as it relates to Joint Programming, Donor Reporting and Direct Funding to Country Programmes/Strategic Notes management.
- Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation.
Required Qualifications
Education and Certification:
- Masterโs degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Political Science, Development, Public Administration, or Gender is required.ย
- A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
- PRINCE2ยฎ Practitioner and/or Project Management Professional (PMPยฎ) and Managing Successful Programmes (MSPยฎ) Practitioner certification is an asset.
Experience:
- A minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in project and programme development, strategic planning, coordination support is required.
- International development experience preferably focused on, or strongly involving in programme and project management and gender equality at national, regional and/or international levels.
- Technical experience in Donor Reporting, UN Joint Programmes Management, and management of Direct and Flexible Funding to Country Programmes/ Strategic Notes is an asset.
- Experience in project/Programme oversight and coordination.
- Experience in the utilization of ERP systems for Project and Programme Management.
- Prior experience in the UN System is an asset.
Languages:
- Fluency in English is required.
- Knowledge of any other UN official is an asset.
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,ย and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age,ย ability, national origin,ย 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 toย UN Womenโsย policiesย and proceduresย andย theย standardsย of conduct expected of UN Women personnelย 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.
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