UN Women: Project Coordination Specialist, Operations

Overview

Coordinate grant-making operations for the UN Trust Fund.

You have:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in related field is required.
• At least 5 years of relevant experience required.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of one other UN official working language is required.
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage.

Contract

This is a P-3 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 5 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 131,084 USD and 171,644 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

Background

The duration of the assignment is for 364 days. Whereas an external candidate will be offered a temporary appointment; subject to release agreements, staff members in UN Women may be administered as a temporary assignment and staff members in the UN Common system may be administered under a loan arrangement.

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 United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) was established through the UN General Assembly Resolution 50/166 in 1996 with UN Women as its Administrator on behalf of the UN system. The UN Trust Fund (UNTF) is a global multi-lateral grant making mechanism supporting national efforts to prevent and end violence against women and girls, one of the most widespread human rights violations in the world. The UN Trust Fund provides technical assistance and funding to advance the development of innovative models and strategic interventions in the area of ending violence against women and girls. To date, the UN Trust Fund has awarded US 215 million to 646 initiatives in 140 countries and territories.

Reporting to the Capacity Development and Grants Operations Manager, the Project Coordination Specialist is responsible for (1) coordinating the UNTF to EVAW’s operational side of the Grant-making Programme to ensure compliance with UNTF timelines, requirements and quality standards; (2) coordinating with national partners and other stakeholders in all operational aspects related to grant-giving and grant selection processes; (3) managing and maintaining grants management systems utilized by applicants and grantees to report on their projects to the UN Trust Fund; and (4) supporting activities at the UNTF-EVAW and UN Women corporate level as requested.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Coordinate end-to end operational aspects of the Grant-making Programme

• Implement operational aspects of the Grant-making Programme work plan according to UNTF-EVAW’s Call for Proposals timelines, Annual Work Plan document and in line with the UNTF-EVAW’s 2021 – 2025 Strategic Plan in close collaboration with the Grants and Programme Management Team;
• Manage financial resources for operational side of the Call for Proposals processes, including budgeting, and expenditure tracking and reporting;
• Prepare the Budget Guidance document and other finance and operations related documentation of the annual Call for Proposals, including through consultations and feedback from internal and external stakeholders;
• Manage the identification, selection and recruitment of external expertise required for the successful implementation of the Fund’s annual Call for Proposals, including translators, issue area experts and members of the Fund's Technical Review Groups (approximately 60+ technical experts in ending violence against women each year with various language skills and regional expertise);
• Maintain and update external consultant rosters for technical reviewers, translators, and technical assistance for database use during grant review as needed, including through targeted recruitment of new issue experts based on the specific focus of each grant-giving cycle;
• Oversee payments to the technical reviewers, translators, and GMS vendors.
• Coordinate finalization of Partner Agreement documents in compliance with UN Women rules and regulations: Review and edit the Partner Agreement documentation as needed; Coordinate the Partner Project Documents preparation, approval, and signatures;
• Oversee and monitor the allocation and disbursement of funds to new grantees under each grant-giving cycle.
• Ensure high-quality, timely and complete documentation and records management on all operational aspects related to the grants management programme;
• Provide inputs into yearly assessments of F
• Provide capacity development support to applicants through the preparation of easy-to-understand tips and tools (including webinars and FAQs) on how to complete their financial and operational requirements for application submission.
• Provide technical/system related guidance to potential grant applicants to support the completion of applications, including Concept Notes and Full-Fledged Proposals, to ensure compliance with Fund's policies and use of application technologies;
• Coordinate the NGO capacity assessment documentation request to the pre-selected applicants, as well as the quality assurance and records management of the documents received;
• Coordinate the review of the NGO assessments by UN Women RO/COs: identify capacity gaps and provide advice and support to offices to facilitate their timely completion of the with the NGO assessment exercise for pre-selected for grant organizations;
• Coordinate and conduct the NGOA assessments undertaken by the UN Trust Fund;
• Review completed implementing partner assessment forms (NGOA) and supporting documentation packages; conduct and disseminate the analysis of the results of the NGO capacity assessments.
• Ensure high-quality, timely and complete documentation and records management on annual NGO assessment processes.
• und's processes as related to the Grant-making Programme and compile lessons learned and best practices to increase the Fund's operational efficiency and efficacy.

2. Coordinate with national partners and other stakeholders in all operational aspects related to grant-giving and grant selection processes

• Provide capacity development support to applicants through the preparation of easy-to-understand tips and tools (including webinars and FAQs) on how to complete their financial and operational requirements for application submission.
• Provide technical/system related guidance to potential grant applicants to support the completion of applications, including Concept Notes and Full-Fledged Proposals, to ensure compliance with Fund's policies and use of application technologies;
• Coordinate the NGO capacity assessment documentation request to the pre-selected applicants, as well as the quality assurance and records management of the documents received;
• Coordinate the review of the NGO assessments by UN Women RO/COs: identify capacity gaps and provide advice and support to offices to facilitate their timely completion of the with the NGO assessment exercise for pre-selected for grant organizations;
• Coordinate and conduct the NGOA assessments undertaken by the UN Trust Fund;
• Review completed implementing partner assessment forms (NGOA) and supporting documentation packages; conduct and disseminate the analysis of the results of the NGO capacity assessments.
• Ensure high-quality, timely and complete documentation and records management on annual NGO assessment processes.

3. Manage and maintain grants management systems utilized by applicants and grantees to report on their projects to the UN Trust Fund

• Manage the implementation and maintenance of the UN Trust Fund’s Grants Management Systems (GMS), including monitoring of the timeline, deliverables, budget and expenditure;
• Prepare and present work-plans, periodic narrative progress reports and expenditures status reports related to GMS;
• Coordinate the technical support with external vendors to ensure the grants management systems are functioning smoothly;
• Coordinate the development and quality assurance of any subsequent enhancements of the Grants Management Systems (GMS), including through conducting the User Acceptance Test (UAT) for all modules in English, French and Spanish by using different roles/users.
• Coordinate online application system set up, refining, editing web related applications, coordinate translation of edits to the web application documentation and all system related changes with the vendors, as well as ensure quality assurance of each application cycle in the GMS in three languages;
• Serve as the main contact for the Helpdesk Support and provide webinars to a range of system users. Provide troubleshooting on technical issues reported to the Helpdesk: investigate into and report the issues in the Issue Register; verify the fix with the vendor and revert to the user.
• Conduct the application assignment process to the Technical Review Group Members (technical experts in ending violence against women) in the Grant Management System, provide training on their use of the online database system, and compile and analyze their feedback for further GMS enhancement and improved user experience;
• Update system user guides for grantees and fund users to reflect changes in the grants management systems and to improve the content and reader-friendliness based on feedback and suggestions from users.
• Support team members in running database reports and exports and ensure timely updates of call-related documentation on the system site as well as regular email status updates to applicants.
• Record and maintain documents on relevant activities, issues, and risks related to GMS.

4. Support other activities as required under the guidance and supervision of the CD and Operations Manager.

• Supervise and manage a team of affiliated administrative staff, review performance and provide guidance on operational aspects of grant-giving;
• Ensure documentation of the programme implementation process and products produced are in accordance with UN Women guidelines;
• Contribute to the exchange of information and knowledge products internally and externally of the programme;
• Support the organization of major events, trainings, workshops and knowledge products.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Timely and quality implementation of project activities against set workplans, timelines and budgets, in line with the Strategic Note
• Quality and timely reporting
• Attention to Detail
• Strong relations with internal and external partners and stakeholders
• Regular and timely monitoring of activities
• Enhanced best practices and lessons learned documented and circulated

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/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women- values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Strong coordination and programme implementation skills;
• Strong budget and finance skills
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports in order to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong analytical skills
• Good knowledge of UN programme management systems

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in public administration, law, human rights, gender equality, management, social sciences or other related areas 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 5 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in managing complex and multi-component programme interventions with national partners, preferably related to Grant-making and Operations;
• Experience in coordinating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development programmes and projects;
• Experience in Grants Management is required;
• Experience with databases and data management is required
• Previous experience working in the UN system is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of at least one other UN official working language is required.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. 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.

Note:

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.)

Potential interview questions