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 Strategic Partnerships Division (SPD) works to strengthen UN Women’s position as a partner of choice for gender equality and the empowerment of women (GEWE) among governments, inter-governmental actors, and private sector actors around the world. The division is doing this by positioning GEWE in the intergovernmental and multilateral fora and engaging with governments and public and private institutions as policy, programme and resource partners. A key premise for SPD is that engagement with countries should be holistic based on multiple aspects of partnerships, including policy advocacy and resource mobilization. 

Under the supervision of the Director, Strategic Partnership Division, the Head of the Nordic Liaison Office will oversee external relations and the overall partnership portfolio of an assigned group of countries, in addition to managing the office. The Head of the Nordic Liaison Office will focus on a government partner portfolio that includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the Baltic States. The Head will also facilitate growth of private sector partnerships in the assigned partner portfolio of countries, including by coordinating action within the Strategic Partnership Division and/or the corresponding National Committee/s for UN Women.  
 

Key Functions and Accountabilities:

1. Lead and manage the development of external relations and overall partnership strategies of assigned funding partner portfolio 
   • Identify, develop and implement partnership, advocacy and resource mobilization strategies and workplans for assigned government funding partners in coordination with different UN Women divisions, Regional and Country Offices, and National Committees;
   • Implement and manage resource mobilization activities with the objective of increasing unrestricted Regular Resources and flexible and predictable earmarked Other Resources from both public and private sector donors.
   • Monitor and evaluate existing resource mobilization channels to ensure achievement of UN Women resource mobilization goals to meet the objectives and financial targets of the Strategic Plan, including by best leveraging and growing the private sector;
   • Monitor global trends in development cooperation and aid, resource partner development policies, budgets, systems and procedures, and revise UN Women partnership and resource mobilization strategies, activities for assigned resource partners as required; take appropriate action and/or advise UN Women senior management;
   • Advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment and UN Women normative, coordination, and operational work in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals and UN Women’s Strategic Plan with portfolio partners.

   • Proactively develop partnership, advocacy and resource mobilization opportunities at the inter-section of public and private sectors to amplify UN Women’s impact.
2. Manage and lead the external relations and overall partnership relationship building:
   • Manage partnerships and resource mobilization activities with the objective of increasing unrestricted regular resources and flexible and predictable earmarked other resources;
   • Act as the strategic interface between partners and the Strategic Partnerships Division and other UN Women sections;
   • Identify and follow-up on possible sources of new and continued funding;
   • Facilitate and maintain high-level contacts with senior officials of missions to the UN and departments of assigned funding Governments and private sector entities to promote, advocate, mobilize and influence cooperation with UN Women to ensure the Entity’s resource base and the attainment of its outcomes and outputs;
   • Negotiate terms of agreements of funding consistent with UN Women Rules and Regulations, policies and procedures; 

   • Represent UN Women in meetings with other UN Agencies and liaise with other UN agencies on behalf of UN Women as needed.

3. Lead and manage the capturing and dissemination of partner intelligence:
   • Act as the central capacity for capturing real-time intelligence on partner policies and priorities for dissemination to offices globally, to promote win-win partner engagement;
   • Provide technical and policy guidance on priority issues for government, public sector, private sector in the Nordic region;
   • Finalize comprehensive and substantive briefs, reports, statistics, revenue projections and requirements for Executive Director's meetings with minister-level counterparts, senior funding government officials, senior parliamentarians, or heads of major institutions;
   • Oversee the sharing of knowledge on partnerships and resource mobilization with colleagues outside the Strategic Partnerships Division;

   • Work with other sections and offices in developing and implementing visibility products regarding partner enabling of joint results.
4. Proactively provide substantive support to field and HQ offices on resource mobilization and partnership opportunities:
   • Provide technical and coordination guidance to other sections of UN Women in developing strategic fund-raising proposals and proposal modalities as well as funding opportunities for Other Resources and in developing strategic partnerships with the Nordic countries and the Baltic states;
   • Guide and provide substantive advice to field offices in preparing and packaging programme proposals for assigned resource partners;

   • Coordinate and oversee donor assessments and field visits.

5. Manage the Liaison Office:
   • Manage the development and implementation of workplan and budgets;
   • Oversee the financial and operations management of the office in line with UN Women policies, rules and procedures, including special programme assigned to be managed by the office;
   • Recruit and supervise staff and consultants, ensure timely implementation of performance management process;
   • Promote a healthy working environment and supervise personnel, including by supporting personnel in the achievement of their career goals, ensuring appropriate learning, training and development, and actively participating in timely planning and
   • assessing of performance;

   • Manage the security requirements for the office.

6. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.
    

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:

• Affinity with UN Women’s mandate;
• Excellent knowledge of the resource partners country political system and key stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with government representatives of Member States;
• Excellent partnerships development, networking, interpersonal skills and ability to mobilize support from a range of resource Partners, including from the private sector;
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision;
• Excellent advocacy and negotiating skills;
• Knowledge and understanding of UN system and familiarity with inter-governmental processes;
• Excellent people management skills and expertise;
• Sound financial and administrative management skills.

Education and Certification:

• An advanced university degree (master’s or equivalent) in economics, business management, social sciences, public administration, international relations, communications, women's studies, or a related field 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.
   

Experience:

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in resource mobilization, communications/advocacy, and/or business development;
• Experience working with international institutions and government partners is required;
• Experience working on gender equality issues is an asset;
• Experience in working with the private sector is an asset;
• Experience working in the UN system is an asset;
• Experience managing an office, including people management, and financial and administrative oversight is required.
• Experience leading and coaching staff in international settings is required.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is required.
• Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable.
   

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Fluency in a Nordic language is asset.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is asset (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).
   

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.)

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.