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. Afghanistan remains one of the world’s most complex and protracted crises. Afghan women and girls face severe restrictions on their rights and participation in public life, compounded by humanitarian and economic challenges. UN Women Afghanistan remains committed to supporting Afghan women and girls and ensuring their leadership and participation in all response efforts. The Country Office focuses on five programmatic pillars: (1) Integrated Programming and Localization; (2) Women’s Civil Society; (3) Policy and Research; (4) Economic Resilience and Empowerment; and (5) Coordination, Access and Humanitarian Response. The office operates from Kabul with sub-offices in Balkh, Bamyan, Herat, Kandahar, and Nangarhar.

The Programme Management Support Unit (PMSU) supports quality assurance, compliance, and performance monitoring across the Country Office’s programme portfolio. This includes oversight support of programme partner selection, monitoring and management; adherence to corporate policies and procedures; and capacity development support for UN Women and programme partner personnel.

Reporting to the PMSU Manager and under the overall guidance of the Deputy Country Representatives (Programmes and Operations), the Project Management and Monitoring Specialist will provide technical surge capacity to strengthen, standardize, and institutionalize programme partner management and monitoring processes. The role will focus on technical quality assurance and compliance oversight with UN Women policy, guidance, and procedure; Programme Appraisal Committee (PAC) process support; and structured capacity development for both UN Women personnel and programme partners on monitoring, data collection, and partner and results-based management. This position will work closely with, and mentor, a national position, to ensure sustainable knowledge transfer and institutional continuity.

The position ensures compliance with UN Women policies while strengthening partner management systems, monitoring and data reporting, and institutional capacity across the Afghanistan Country Office.

III. Scope of Work:

1. Support Capacity Development for UN Women Programme Teams

• Identify capacity development needs and design and deliver structured capacity development sessions for UN Women Programme Teams on programme partner selection and management processes and results-based management.
• Support compilation/development of standardized onboarding materials for new staff.

2. Capacity Development for Programme Partners

• Identify capacity development needs and develop and deliver orientation and compliance sessions for Programme Partners on: UN Women partner agreement requirements; monitoring and narrative reporting standards; data collection and ethics and safety procedure; beneficiary data management; and risk management expectations.
• Provide guidance to partners in developing Performance Monitoring Frameworks (PMFs) and data collection tools (e.g. baseline/endline surveys; beneficiary tracking tools; Focus-Group Discussion Guides; KOBO forms; etc.)
• Drawing on existing materials, develop partner-facing guidance materials and compliance toolkits.

3. Technical Oversight of Programme Partner Selection and Agreements

• Provide substantive technical guidance and quality assurance for programme teams on programme partner selection and agreement amendments, including review of partner performance (results) monitoring frameworks, indicators, and monitoring plans.
• Review and strengthen partner selection and partner agreement amendment documentation and compliance frameworks.
• Liaise with Regional Office and Headquarters on processes and policy interpretation, as required.

4. Strengthening Programme Partner Management and Monitoring

• Review partner agreement management documentation and develop tools to track and ensure compliance thereof with UN Women policy, procedures, and guidance.
• Provide technical support on partner risk assessments and risk mitigation measures.
• Manage the development of monitoring indicators, monitoring calendars, and field monitoring plans and quality assurance processes; ensure relevant monitoring findings are incorporated into project implementation. 

5. Manage Local Programme Appraisal Committee (LPAC) and support Regional and Global PAC Processes

• Manage LPAC processes for both partner agreement and donor project documents.
• Review submission packages for completeness and compliance.
• Support organization of PAC reviews (meeting or virtual), circulate documentation, and ensure compliance with corporate timelines.
• Support draft minutes capturing decisions, conditions, and follow-up actions.
• Support documentation quality assurance and alignment with corporate standards.
• Strengthen procedural workflows for PAC-related processes in alignment with corresponding procedures.

6. Institutional Strengthening and Knowledge Transfer

• Support establishment of structured internal knowledge repositories.
• Mentor and onboard personnel to ensure sustainability of systems and processes.

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

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:

• Ability to priorities work, work independently, and to multi-task;
• Ability to administer and keep track of multiple processes and transactions;
• Strong web based management skills;
• Ability to extract, interpret, and present data;
• Risk management affinity. 

V. Minimum Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Political Science, Development, Public Administration, Gender, or equivalent 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 in project management within an international organization or national non-governmental organization, including experience in programme partner management, results-based management, and monitoring is required.
• Demonstrated experience in applying organizational policies, procedures, and compliance frameworks to programme partner agreement management and risk oversight processes is required.
• Experience in monitoring and development of data collection tools required.
• Experience providing technical guidance and capacity development to multi-functional teams is highly desirable. 
• Experience supporting or managing internal review bodies (such as appraisal committees, grant review panels, compliance committees) is desirable. 
• Experience in gender equality, women’s empowerment, or related thematic areas is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.

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.