Head of Programmes, a.i - Open for Egyptian Nationals Only

Contract

This is a NO-D contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 7 years of experience, depending on education. More about NO-D contracts.

Background

In support of the Arab Republic of Egypt’s Vision 2030 and the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women (NSEEW), the work of the UN Women Egypt Country Office (ECO) is grounded in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA).

Under the Egypt/UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023-2027 and the Entity’s Strategic Note therein, UN Women implements its triple mandate of supporting normative standard-setting to advance gender equality and women's empowerment, implementing national and grassroots programmes grounded in international norms and best practices in partnership with national stakeholders, and strengthening UN system coordination.

Over two decades of work in the country has resulted in UN Women ECO consolidating its expertise, partnerships, and investments around three main areas of work: women's leadership and system-wide support to advancing gender equality; women's economic empowerment; and eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls, including harmful practices.

Objective of Assignment

Reporting to the Country Representative, of Egypt the Head of Programmes, a.i. is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Egypt CO programme portfolio and to support UN Women’s normative and UN Coordination roles in the country. The incumbent is responsible for substantially contributing to the design, implementation, management and oversight of UN Women’s programs in the country and works closely with operations to ensure effective and efficient delivery of results as planned in UN Women’s Strategic Plan and the UN Women Egypt Country Office’s Strategic Note (2023-2027).

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Manage the programme team

• Manage the day-to-day work of the programme team, including finalizing and overseeing the implementation of the team’s annual work plan;
• Under the UNSDCF and UN Women Strategic Note, manage the process of programme conceptualization, planning, implementing and monitoring; and the management of material and financial resources;
• Lead the process of preparing programme implementation progress reports and identifying areas for UN Women Country Representative’s action and/or decision;
• Technically support the development of the Office security strategy and plan, as required.
• Identify and support areas of enhanced cooperation within the UN Country Team.

2. Provide advisory and specialized technical support on the strategic direction of the office

• Advise and guide the Country Representative on strategic areas of programmes, partnership, and coordination;
• Provide specialized technical and strategic support in managing all aspects of the programme design and related activities and for ensuring compliance and accountability in programme monitoring, reporting and evaluation;
• Develop policy documents, briefs and other strategic papers/materials for use in the development and presentation of innovative and coherent policy and programmatic positions;
• Serve as a senior member of the management team.

3. Represent UN Women in UN system coordination, with a focus on programming

• As delegated by the UN Women Country Representative, represent UN Women in the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and/or the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) to collaborate with the Resident Coordinator and UN system on interagency coherence, collaboration, cooperation, resource mobilization, advocacy, common services, and operations;
• Ensure UN Women’s participation in UN system thematic and other working groups to advance UN Women’s mandate.

4. Provide technical support in creation of strategic partnerships and resource mobilization strategies

• Provide substantive research and inputs in the formulation and implementation of the country resource mobilization strategy;
• Establish and maintain relations with government, partners, stakeholders and donors to achieve active collaboration, cooperation and alliances on programme development and implementation and resource mobilization.

5. Represent UN Women and support advocacy strategies

• Represent and advocate for UN Women in organizational, regional, global, public information/ relations events and key meetings, as delegated;
• Develop and implement advocacy and public communication strategies.

6. Facilitate knowledge management, innovation and capacity building

• Manage the process of collecting and sharing lessons learned on gender equality and women’s empowerment to build knowledge and capacity of partners and stakeholders;
• Oversee the design and implementation of capacity-building training activities to enhance skills and knowledge.

7. Manage personnel under supervision

• Manage the performance of personnel under supervision; provide managerial direction, guidance and leadership to staff and provide performance feedback and coaching to personnel supervision, ensure performance assessments are implemented on time and ensure personnel are fully aware of UN Women workplace relations policies;
• Create an enabling work environment;
• Identify learning and development opportunities.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality provision of strategic support and advise to the Country Representative;
• Timely and quality delivery of the programme team;
• Regular interaction and establishment of joint activities and programmes with other agencies and partners;
• Quality of inputs provided in formulation and implementation of the country resource mobilization strategy;
• Quality and number of knowledge management and advocacy initiatives undertaken;
• Quality mentoring, training, coaching which affects performance of personnel, inclusive workplace environment;
• UN Women is seen as a reliable and trustworthy partner, providing substantial inputs to progress UN women’s mandate.

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 Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Excellent programme formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation skills;
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them;
• Ability to provide policy advice and support to partners;
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making;
• Strong leadership skills, ability to create and enable work environment;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Excellent knowledge of Results Based Management;
• Strong knowledge of the UN system;
• Strong knowledge of the local country context;
• Strong negotiation skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree in international development, public administration, public policy or other relevant social science fields is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A project/programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience that combines strategic and managerial leadership in development programmes with a strong focus in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment at the national or international level, preferably in developing countries within the UN system, Agencies, Funds or Programmes; is required.
• Field-based experience working with multicultural teams;
• Experience in leading a team.
• Experience working in the UN is required.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required;
• Knowledge of another UN working language will be an asset.

Note:

In accordance with the UN Staff Regulation 4.5 (b) A temporary appointment does not carry any expectancy, legal or otherwise, of renewal. A temporary appointment shall not be converted to any other type of appointment.

Application:

Interested Individual Candidate must submit the following documents/information in English to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Completed and Signed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; make sure that you provide a valid email address for future communications, and
• A cover letter with a brief presentation explaining your suitability for the vacancy;
• Copies of credentials as per education requirements stated above.

IMPORTANT: The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to uploading one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

Incomplete submissions can be a ground for disqualification. Make sure that you provide a valid email address for future communications.

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.)