UN Women Business Function Specialist - Planning and Results

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 Strategy, Planning, Resources and Effectiveness Division (SPRED) of UN Women was established in late 2019 as a part of the change management process in UN Women HQ. The division is to integrate corporate strategy, resources and performance measurement to improve decision-making in order to manage for results while increasing transparency and accountability to its Governing Bodies and Stakeholders. Specifically, the Division will formulate corporate strategies aligned to the corporate objectives, ensure internal controls and risk management are fully in place, and that resources from all sources to budget plans and the organization priorities. Additionally, the Division will monitor and report on corporate programmes and budget implementation to ensure coherent achievement of results in keeping with the Corporate Strategic Plan and Strategic Framework.

The Strategic Planning Unit (SPU) in SPRED focuses on assisting UN Women and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links strategic planning and Results-Based Management (RBM) with more effective and new ways of working. The SPU is the custodian of RBM as well as field and HQ level strategic planning and results-based reporting in UN Women. SPU is also the leading unit to develop and implement the business processes on the Planning, Monitoring and Reporting of the Strategic Plan, Strategic Note and Work Plan, under the Planning, Monitoring and Reporting (PMR) Policy. This includes the continuous enhancement and management of the UN Women corporate online system, the Results Management System (RMS).  RMS enables UN Women to plan, monitor and report at Strategic Plan, Strategic Note and work Plan levels, but also to align its results with the financial resources through integration with Quantum, the Enterprise Resource Management (ERM) system, which was rolled out in January 2023. 

SPU continues to contribute to the roll-out of Quantum ensuring the integration of Quantum and RMS. As the business owner of strategic planning and results management workstream, SPU also leads the enhancement of RMS and contribute to the broader system improvement and system integration at the corporate level in close collaboration with other business owners, IST and key end-users, under the overall guidance of ERP/ICT Board of UN Women. Enhancement of internal corporate systems is also crucial element to strengthen corporate transparency initiative as RMS is the main source of data for the to showcase results and financial data against Strategic Notes and Strategic Plan. 

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Programme Specialist – Results Management, with overall guidance from the chief of SPU/SPRED, the Business Function Specialist will manage the planned RMS enhancements required to ensure a systematic approach to the implementation of the new Planning, Monitoring and Reporting policy; contribute to the long-term system solution for UN Women corporate systems; and provide support to the effective roll-out of system enhancements.

The Business Function Specialist works in close collaboration with the rest of SPU team members, including the Business Process Specialist and Programme Analyst – Business Support, as well as the rest of SPRED team members, key business owners, RMS focal points in Regional Offices, and end-users, and IST to ensure successful implementation of the system enhancement that responds to business needs and users’ expectations. 

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Coordinate the business and functional requirement gathering process for the enhancement and development of the UN Women Corporate System for the implementation of the Planning, Monitoring, and Reporting Policy

• Develop the Requirement Management Process to ensure full coordination and cooperation with the key business owners and end users for the development of the Business and Functional requirement Documents.
• Implement the requirements management process through a consultative process for the business and system requirement gathering process.
• Conduct a business functional analysis in full coordination with different workstreams to ensure the business and system requirements are aligned with PMR Policy and UNSDCF processes, including, but not limited to, the RMS Quantum System Integration for results and indicators mapping and the UN Info integration.
• Coordinate with UN Women IST team for the integration of project level data within the Search, Dashboards and Reports generated at the Strategic Note/Work Plan level.
• Coordinate with UN Women IST team for the development of the system requirements while identifying issues related to system quality, assumptions, risks, use cases.
• Regularly update key business owners and end users on any issues related to the system requirements to ensure a full understanding on gaps and risks associated with the development of the system solution. 
• Finalize the Business and System Requirement Documents in full cooperation and collaboration with the business owners and end users and through coordination with IST.

2. Coordinate with IST on the development of the system enhancement based on the Function and System Requirements:

• Ensure that IST technical personnel fully understand the system requirements for the PMR Policy implementation.
• Regularly follow up with IST technical staff on the development of the system enhancements in accordance with the system requirement documents and the planned timeline.
• Fully test the developed enhancement and ensure that it meets the system requirements and corresponds with the function requirement and the use case.
• Analyze risks associated with enhancements and assess the impact of these risks and make changes as necessary
• Update and inform key business owners and end users throughout the process of development of the enhancements.

3. Contribute to the development of other corporate systems and integration of corporate systems

• Actively participate in the discussion related to UN Women Corporate System integration with focus on the requirement related to Strategic Plan (SP), Strategic Note (SN) and Workplan (WP), Quarterly Business Reviews (QBR), Enterprise Risk Management, and Project monitoring/reporting.
•  Coordinate and liaise within SPU and other Key stakeholders and end users for prioritization of system developments related to the long-term solution based on corporate priorities, open audit, evaluations, and/or assessment, and end users requests.
• Document the business requirements for the integration of UN Women Corporate Systems in line with the requirements of planning, monitoring and reporting.oordinate and liaise with IST technical staff for the development of system requirements based on the prioritization exercise.
• Coordinate and liaise with IST technical staff for the development of system requirements based on the prioritization exercise.

4. Provide business support to effectively roll-out the new/enhanced system for planning and results management work stream

• Develop and execute a comprehensive socialization plan and workshop series to facilitate the effective roll-out of the new/enhanced systems.
• Provide support in monitoring the end-to-end business process risks related to the roll-out of the new/enhanced systems.
• Ensure that the RMS repository in SharePoint is user-friendly and promotes its usage.
• Ensure effective use of project level activity mapping with the SN/WP to ensure resources are linked with results.
• Continue to provide necessary support and advice on the ERP – RMS System integration taking into account the lessons learned after the first year of roll-out of the newly developed ERP System.

5. Contribute to Organizational Improvement

• Contribute to system-related meetings and coordination within SPU, SPRED and with other business owners, including managing weekly RMS meetings in SPU, regular coordination/communication with RMS focal points in Regional Offices and RMS Working Group. 
• Contribute to the work of PPG Workstream in SPU and SPRED, providing insights from the system’s perspective.
• Support the implementation of the relevant management responses and actions for pending audit and evaluation recommendations related to this area of work, and provide necessary updates and data to the audit and evaluation coordination teams.
• Share relevant data and information from RMS to feed into ongoing evaluations and audits, upon request.
• Contribute to the preparation of background documents, talking points and presentations for meetings with senior managers, ERP/ICT Board, and internal and external auditors in this area of work. 

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:

• 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:

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Strong knowledge of UN Corporate system and understanding of strategic planning at the inter-agency level
• Good understanding of the application of RBM in strategic planning, programming, monitoring, reporting and evaluation
• Good knowledge of knowledge management and learning in the areas of RBM
• Ability to link key institutional processes and policies to promote overall organizational effectiveness
• Ability to go beyond established procedures and practices, introduce new approaches and strategic innovations.
• Team player
• Strong organizational skills
• Strong knowledge of the UN system policy, procedure and guidance related to planning and results management
• Strong analytical skills
• Ability to provide advice and support.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in in development related disciplines, statistics, economics, business administration, information system, computer science, ICT, or other social science fields.
• 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:

• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience at national, regional and/or international levels in results-based planning, monitoring, and/or reporting is required.
• Minimum 2 years of relevant work experience in coordinating business and functional requirements gathering processes in the areas of results-based planning, monitoring and/or reporting for development and/or enhancement of corporate results management systems within the UN system is required.
• Minimum 2 years of experience in using corporate systems such as results management systems and/or Oracle Cloud based ERP systems or similar for results-based planning, monitoring and/or reporting is required.
• Experience working in gender equality and women’s rights at the national, regional and/or international levels 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.

Languages:

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

Special 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. This temporary appointment is budgeted for a maximum term of 364 days.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from:    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.