International Consultant- Project Manager

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 equal partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action as well as peace and security. As such, UN Women seeks to complement and enhance the capacity of other entities to serve their respective mandates to deliver on gender equality, and support those most vulnerable with immediate relief and empowering interventions. In Ethiopia, to ensure gender sensitive implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) and to ensure timely relief and support to most vulnerable conflict-affected women in the Northern Ethiopian region of Tigray, the UN Women Ethiopia Country Office (ECO) engages with key stakeholders, duty-bearers and rights-holders with direct programming. To this end, UN Women ECO has entered into an agreement with the United States Department of State Bureau of Conflict and Stabilisation Operations, and starts a one-year project to support the most vulnerable affected populations  through institutions and organizations in Tigray regional state of Ethiopia but with possibility to scale up to other regions of Ethiopia. Within this context, the Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action (WPS-HA) unit at UN Women Ethiopia will hire an International Consultant to manage the day to day operations and programmes affiliated to this project from the launch , implementation , monitoring , reporting and evaluation .. Moreover, the Project Coordinator will work in close collaboration with donor representatives, UN Women ECO operations team, UN Women HQ staff, government officials, key stakeholders, and civil society to ensure successful project implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Directly reporting to the UN Women Ethiopia Deputy Country Representative with overall guidance from the country Representative and in close collaboration with other relevant programme team members at country , regional offices and HQ level , the project Manager will have the following roles and responsibilities :

Project design, management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation:

• Oversee the project management and implementation;
• Support the project operational framework setup in UN Women’s administrative and operational ecosystem;
• Manage the process of monitoring the project implementation of activities and finances, using results-based management tools;
• Contribute to the technical implementation of the project activities in accordance of the Work Plan;
• Review the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports as required;
• Oversee the project timelines and deadlines for milestones and quarterly reporting and plan for timely implementation and report submissions;
• Travel to the regions to support project coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation as needed;
• Finalise quarterly reports and donor reports with focus on results, outputs, and outcomes;
• Write office donor reports and UN Women reports.

Liaise with Project Donor, project partners, and key stakeholders, and oversee technical asistance and capacity development to project partners 

• Coordinate and engage in regular corrspondence and communications with project donor;
• Coordinate and organize quarterly monitoring visits per project agreement;
• Coordinate and support the monitoring and evaluation and the communications aspects of the project with consideration to the policies and frameworks of both UN Women and the donor;
• Coordinate and consult with key stakeholders to ensure inputs on programme design where relevant;
• Provide technical advice and guidance to partners;
• Contribute to the provision of technical guidance by the team;
• Build, manage, and expand relationships with national partners, particularly women’s organizations, to support implementation and expansion of the programme;
• Serve as an expert resource to partners on WPS;
• Implement, oversee and facilitate capacity building opportunities and initiatives;
• Provide partners with technical assistance, training and capacity development initiatives when necessary and feasible.

Women, Peace and Security (WPS) advisory and support to WPS-HA team, Country Office, and Senior Management:

• Identify programmatic areas for support and interventions to advance the WPS agenda;
• Support development of office’s strategy for meaningful participation of women and girls;
• Contribute to the annual workplan and budget as well as support their implementation;
• Provide programme advisory support to the Senior Management within the WPS portfolio;
• Provide technical advice and contribute to synergies with other teams;
• Draft policy documents, briefs and other strategic papers/materials for use in the development and/or presentation of WPS policy;
• Support WPS-HA team in essential reporting and other functions when possible within bandwidth.

Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies, substantively support advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts

• Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Finalise documentation on donors and develop opportunities for resource mobilisation;
• Analyse and research information on donors, finalize substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, as well as identification of opportunities for cost sharing;
• Represent UN Women in meetings, events, and policy dialogues on issues related to WPS, conflict prevention and peacebuilding platforms and processes, and gender mainstreaming, protection, and access to services, decision-making, and justice;
• Identify best practices to guide programme improvement and strategy planning.

Competencies

Core Values:

1. Respect for Diversity;
2. Integrity;
3. Professionalism.

Core Competencies:

1. Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
2. Accountability;
   1. Creative Problem Solving;
   2. Effective Communication;
   3. Inclusive Collaboration;
   4. Stakeholder Engagement;
3. Leading by Example.

Functional Competencies

• Excellent programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them;
• Knowledge of Results Based Management;
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making;
• Excellent knowledge and proven experience of WPS and cross-thematic programme design;
• Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation;
• Strong networking skills and experience with inter-agency coordination;
• Ability to negotiate and interact with donors, identify and analyse trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising.

 

Required Skills and Experience

Education 

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in social and economic history, social sciences, gender/women’s studies, international development, or a related field is required.

Experience

• Minimum 2 years of progressively responsible experience at international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development and WPS projects is required;
• Technical experience in WPS, YPS, and HDP nexus work in Ethiopian context is required;
• Experience working in the UN System with WPS themes is required;
• Experience working with UN System and interagency response on DDR programming agencies is required;
• Experience working with Ethiopian national  rehabilitation and peacebuilding agencies and networks would be an asset;
• Experience coordinating with UN System and interagency response on DDR programming agencies is an asset;
• Experience in managing project design jointly with potential donors is an asset.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English is required.
• Working knowledge of Amharic is an added advantage

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.)