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.

UN Women has worked in Kosovo since 1999 to foster gender equality and women’s empowerment.  UN Women contributed to the existing legislation on gender equality and women’s empowerment and to the establishment of gender mechanisms at local and central levels.

By leveraging its triple mandate— normative support, UN system coordination, and operational activities—UN Women ensures gender equality remains at the core of policies and programs.

UN Women coordinates the UN Kosovo Team’s efforts to deliver on its gender equality commitment. 

UN Women Kosovo Office aims to drive forward progress on gender equality through a strategic and collaborative approach with primary focus is strengthening partnerships with government entities, local institutions, NGOs, and private sector actors, expanding collaboration with international bodies like the EU and UN agencies. This approach is aimed to enhance advocacy efforts for critical issues, especially around prevention and elimination of gender-based violence (GBV), Women Peace and Security economic empowerment, and rural women’s development. Special emphasis will be given to marking the upcoming important anniversaries such as Beijing +30, 25^th anniversary of UNSCR 1325, etc.

UN Women Kosovo office currently is working on:

• Economic Empowerment of Women through the technical support for institutions on macroeconomics and social protection, localizing global norms and standards, employment support for women in rural areas, direct engagement with private sector, Decent Work and gender sensitive OSH, normative support through the Gender Responsive Budget at local and central level and advocacy with partners 
• Women Peace and Security – engaging with President of Kosovo, Agency for Gender Equality, relevant institutions, CSOs, youth etc.
• Governance and planning- inclusive planning, tracking & financing for Gender Equality, Accountability for Gender Equality, analytical support for Gender Sensitive Public Sector Reform etc 
• Gender Sensitive Transitional Justice with focus on CRSV
• Gender Mainstreaming in EU accession process- working with institutions at central and local level as well as EU delegation in ensuring that through the EU accession process, gender equality is mainstreamed across sectors, and the gender equality mechanism is strengthened, with the ultimate result of more equitable socio-economic development outcomes for women and men, girls and boys.

As part of its mandate, UN Women in Kosovo coordinates UN Kosovo Team efforts to deliver on its gender equality commitments. UN Women chairs the UN Gender Theme Group (now Results V Group), which provides guidance for mainstreaming gender into joint programs. It promotes sharing of information, knowledge, and experiences on best practices for gender equality and women’s empowerment. The United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) mainstreams gender across every outcome area while also incorporating a dedicated outcome on UN System Wide Gender Equality Scorecard (UNCT-SWAP) assessment conducted on 2025, and UN Women will support with implementation of the recommendations towards GEWE and implementation of the Gender Accelerator Plan women’s empowerment.

UN Women also chairs the multi-stakeholder Security and Gender Group (SGG), established in 2007, that provides a platform of coordination and information sharing on gender equality. Its current members include civil society and women’s organizations, international organizations, embassies, and relevant Kosovo institutions. 

Overall, UN Women Kosovo Office will support the effective implementation of national and international legal frameworks on GEWE, mainstreaming gender equality into national and sectoral policies and UN-led processes and programmes and strengthening the national institutional mechanism for gender equality in line with international standards and best practices.  It will provide support for enhancing coordination and monitoring of gender equality policies and measures in the short to longer-term, and securing implementation/application of gender equality legislation, policies and standards through policy dialogue, technical expertise and guidance, development and sharing of good practice, and strategic partnerships and cooperation.

Reporting to Deputy Regional Director, Country Programme Manager, Kosovo is responsible for the strategic positioning of UN Women as a leader in Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Kosovo .The Country Programme Manager is responsible for leading and managing the Country portfolio and for translating UN Women’s Strategic Plan in line with regional and national priorities, into development initiatives and results by developing, implementing and managing programmes; and developing effective partnerships with government counterparts, UN system agencies and organizations, civil society organizations and with bilateral and non-traditional donors in order to promote inter-agency partnerships, support for UN report, mobilization of visibility and resources to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Key Functions and Accountabilities:

1. Manage programme management in Kosovo 

• Manage the development, implementation, and monitoring of the country programme annual workplan, including budget and results framework;
• Manage delivery of the day-to-day programme activities to ensure prompt and adequate delivery of results;
• Ensure effective use of resources and compliance with UN Women rules, policies, and procedures as well as donor/fund requirements;
• Manage the preparation for programme audits and implementation of its recommendations.

2. Manage technical support and capacity development to project/programme partners

• Lead the provision of substantive technical advice to the proct/programme partners; develop policies, products and other technical documents as required
• Oversee relationship building with national partners to support implementation and expansion of the country programme; respond to any potential problems;
• Oversee and manage capacity building opportunities and initiatives of key institutions and mechanisms; 
• Provide timely advice on programmatic areas;
• Provide partners with technical advice, training, and capacity development initiatives.

3. Oversee the implementation of programme activities through monitoring and reporting

• Oversee the establishment of an effective monitoring system for the delivery of programme results;
• Finalize the preparation of quarterly and annual progress reports and donor reports and organize progress reviews as necessary;
• Oversee the organization of field missions and finalize reports.

4. Oversee people and financial resources of the programme 

• Manage programme budget; and office operations;
• Finalize financial reports  in accordance with UN Women procedures and submit the reports to UN Women HQ and donors;
• Supervise and coach programme and operations staff and manage performance; 
• Ensure programme team is well-staffed.

5. Oversee inter-agency and country coordination 

• Participate in country level Comprehensive Country Assessment (CCA)/United Nations Development Cooperation Assistance (UNSDCF) processes and similar exercises related to the Resident Coordinator system;
• Provide leadership and guidance to the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in supporting enhanced response to national partners in advancing gender equality and women's empowerment; 
• Oversee the writing of progress reports on UN Women’s programme experiences in support of UN women inter-agency coordination role;
• Collaborate with the Regional Office, provide coordination support to UN Agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and national authorities to promote gender equality and women empowerment activities in Kosovo. 
• Identify and inform the RO of joint programming opportunities and participate in the development of UN joint programmes;
• Ensure that UN Women is strategically placed with the UN planning processes, joint programmes and other inter-agency initiatives.

6. Oversee partnership building and resource mobilization strategies 

• Establish and maintain partnerships with other UN agencies, governments, donors, civil society organizations and stakeholders;
• Coordinate existing civil society platform and networks in organizing joint efforts;
• Conceptualize, design and implement resource mobilization strategies;
• Plan and oversee the implementation of advocacy and awareness campaigns and fund raising events, as required.

7. Oversee knowledge building and sharing and communications and advocacy

• Oversee the development of knowledge management strategies and methodologies; oversee the development and implementation of communications/advocacy initiatives;
• Manage the process of identifying and synthesizing of best practices and lessons learned that are directly linked to the implementation of the programme and contribute to their global dissemination;
• Introduce innovation and best practices to enhance programme performance.

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

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: The position supervises all affiliate personnel which currently includes 17 staff, 1 International UNV and 25 consultants. 

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:

• Excellent programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them 
• Excellent knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Excellent knowledge of gender equality and women's empowerment
• Strong knowledge of country and/or region
• Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation
• Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising 
• Strong people management and leadership skills, ability to create a productive working environment

Recruitment Qualifications:

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, human rights, gender/ women’s studies, international development, 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.
• A project/programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience at the national and/or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects is required.
• Experience in establishing inter-relationships among international organization and national governments is required.
• Experience in the in the field of gender and human rights of women is desirable.
• Experience in administrative systems and UN system norms is desirable.
• Experience in country and/or region is desirable.
• 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.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Albanian is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).
• Knowledge of Serbian is desirable. 

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.