Programme Consultant, Women’s Empowerment Principles

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.

Part of the Strategic Partnerships Division (SPD), the Private Sector Partnerships (PSP) Section leads UN Women’s engagement with the private sector, corporations, philanthropy, foundations, and individuals – both in terms of a substantive components and resource mobilization – and it drives a wide range of UN Women’s global initiatives: Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), Unstereotype Alliance (UA) and HeForShe. It also leads the work with all UN Women National Committees, and on the development of the individual/digital giving. PSP’s main aims are to ensure that UN Women develops and sustains high quality and impact focused partnerships to achieve maximum results for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

UN Women, in partnership with the UN Global Compact, launched the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) to guide the private sector on how to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. Nearly 10,000 companies have adopted the WEPs.

The WEPs Secretariat, housed within PSP, handles the administrative and operational aspects of the WEPs initiative, including all elements of private sector client management, onboarding, and engagement for WEPs signatories.

The consultant will support the WEPs Secretariat with the above functions and report directly to the Global Head of the Women’s Empowerment Principles at UN Women HQ.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of functions

1. Support companies, industry associations and chambers of commerce in becoming WEPs signatories.
2. Provide technical support to UN Women regional, country and liaison offices and national committees.
3. Provide technical guidance and inputs to companies in various stages of the WEPs Journey.
4. Coordinate partnerships and stakeholder relations.
5. Provide WEPs advocacy and communication support.
6. Contribute to knowledge production.
7. Contribute to other substantive activities as required.

Key functions:

1.Support companies, industry associations and chambers of commerce in becoming WEPs signatories

• Review applications (i.e. verify eligibility of applicants, check status on the UNGM platform), approve and publish companies to the WEPs website.
• Serve as a HelpDesk for companies that need support in the onboarding process.

2. Provide ongoing technical support to UN Women regional, country and liaison offices and national committees.

• Identify and implement strategies to strengthen UN Women’s WEPs portfolio.
• Organize and host regular capacity building sessions.
• Provide substantive and technical inputs to the work of UN Women’s field offices on the WEPs.
• Organize monthly meetings for WEPs focal points in regional, liaison and country offices, as well as National Committees to provide updates and facilitate discussion on challenges and solutions for the WEPs portfolio.
• Lead task forces to pilot new approaches and conceptualize new workstreams and processes.
• Lead quality assurance of WEPs application process, and support problem-solving of technical difficulties encountered by approvers/publishers of WEPs signatories.
• Organize induction and training sessions for new and current staff on the WEPs signatory approval/publishing process.

3. Provide technical guidance and inputs to companies in various stages of the WEPs Journey

• Design and implement virtual capacity building programmes for WEPs signatories to support with their WEPs journey, including through webinars and workshops.
• Schedule and organize regular dialogues and knowledge exchange sessions to support WEPs signatories in advancing on their WEPs journeys.
• Prepare demand-driven substantive guidance on WEPs implementation.

4. Coordinate partnerships and stakeholder relations

• Respond to queries from potential WEPs signatories about the WEPs, eligibility and other FAQs.
• Respond to queries from WEPs signatories on how to navigate their company profile pages and encourage them to report on the WEPs indicators.
• Regularly convene stakeholder consultations and structured dialogues to support their WEPs implementation journey.
• Coordinate with UN agencies and other partners to develop and implement joint reports, capacity building programmes and knowledge exchange.

5. Provide WEPs advocacy and communication support.

• Develop and implement WEPs advocacy and communication strategies.
• Update the WEPs website and liaise with the IT team to address technical issues, bugs, maintenance and enhancements of the WEPs website.
• Prepare WEPs newsletters and news updates in collaboration with regional and country offices.
• Create and post social media assets (YouTube, LinkedIn).

6. Contribute to knowledge production.

• Collect impact stories from WEPs signatories and lead the development of WEPs case studies.
• Collect internal impact stories from UN Women’s field offices to develop internal and external reports.
• Review and provide feedback on WEPs knowledge products developed by UN Women’s field offices.

7. Contribute to other substantive activities as required.

• Provide data updates and analytics on WEPs on a monthly basis (e.g. through excel, Google analytics).
• Collect data on WEPs activities for annual reporting.
• Quality assure the WEPs database and clean it for duplicates and other errors.
• Coordinate with companies providing donations to the WEPs.
• Other tasks as assigned by the Global Head of WEPs.

Institutional arrangements

The Consultant will work report directly to the Global Head of the Women’s Empowerment Principles and collaborate with PSP colleagues and WEPs focal points across UN Women’s regional and country offices.

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

Functional Competencies:

• In-depth understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues, challenges and motivations in the private sector.
• Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities.
• Experience establishing, building and sustaining effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in business, finance, social sciences, economics, or related fields. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Experience working on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the private sector.
• Knowledge of database and content management platforms (e.g. Drupal).
• Proficiency in organizing and analyzing data in excel.
• Experience with designing, creating content and disseminating newsletters through digital platforms (e.g. Constant Contact, MailChimp, …).
• Experience with social media strategy, content development, design and posting.
• Experience in working in a multicultural and web-based environment.

Languages:

Fluency in English is required. Fluency and knowledge of other UN language, particularly French and Spanish, 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, 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.)