Monitoring and Reporting Specialist

Job Title: Monitoring and Reporting Specialist

ORGANIZATION: UN Women

Location : Dakar, SENEGAL

Application Deadline : 17-Sep-23 (Midnight New York, USA)

Job Category : Gender Equality

Type of Contract : TA International

Post Level : P-3

Languages Required : English, French  

Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 01-Jan-2024

Duration of Initial Contract : 364 days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 articulates the entity’s strategic direction, objectives and approaches to support efforts to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, including women’s full enjoyment of their human rights. It outlines how UN Women will leverage its normative support functions, UN system coordination and operational activities in an integrated and mutually reinforcing manner in support of transformative results for women and girls. The key monitoring and reporting framework of UN Women is the Integrated Resources and Results Framework (IRRF).

The West and Central Africa region is comprised of 24 countries (17 in West Africa and 7 in Central Africa). At the regional level, the West and Central Africa Office of UNWOMEN (WCARO) acts as a knowledge hub that consolidates and shares data, surveys, good practices and develops practical tools, as well as hosts evidence on GEWE in 10 Country Offices (Cos) namely: COs: Cameroun, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Liberia, DRC, Sierra Leone, Mali, Senegal, Central Africa Republic (CAR) and Niger.

The monitoring and reporting function integrates 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. The RO works closely with the Strategic Planning Unit (SPU) in SPRED focuses on assisting UN Women in the region 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.

WCARO supports SPU as custodian of RBM as well as field- and HQ-level strategic planning and results-based monitoring and reporting in UN Women and accompanies the country offices in providing quality assurance on strategic planning and results monitoring and reporting exercises at the regional and field levels. It takes a collaborative approach to strategic planning and programmatic learning, creating space for innovation and enabling UN Women and its partners to be more effective, knowledge and data-driven, and driving higher quality UN Women programming. It is also charged with engagement on all planning inter-agency initiatives, supports strategic planning and results-based monitoring and reporting processes as well as data aggregation and analysis to communicate on results with stakeholders. This function of knowledge is also associated with capacity building including for that of staff. In the role of policy advisory services, with the recommendation that the support should span through the entire cycle from flagship formulation to support in monitoring and reporting in the following key thematic areas: 1. Women’s economic empowerment; 2. Peace, security and humanitarian action; 3. Political participation, leadership and gender responsive governance; 4. Gender based violence at regional office and at country office.

In order to enhance monitoring and reporting of strategic notes, projects and programmes in the region, and to better communicate results with stakeholders, UN WOMEN Regional office is hiring a Monitoring & Reporting Specialist with expertise in planning monitoring & reporting in order to effectively ensure that the Regional Office Is accountable and aligned with corporate requirements.

Reporting to the Deputy Regional Director , the Monitoring and Reporting Specialist will provide support to the Regional Office (RO) and Country Office (CO)/colleagues in incorporating monitoring and reporting into programme formulation as well tracking against Strategic Plan targets and the reporting of results to internal and external audiences. 

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide guidance and technical support to the country offices and regional office in incorporating monitoring and reporting into programme formulation

• Provide quality assurance of programme documents through review of results frameworks in order to meet SMART criteria;
• Manage the development of monitoring indicators, monitoring calendars, and field monitoring plans and quality assurance processes; ensure use of relevant evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations are incorporated to programme formulation;
• Coordinate annual work plan monitoring, reviews and reporting, and entry of the RO budget into  RMS;
• Ensure linkage of Annual Work Plans (AWPs) and corresponding Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MERP) Plans with the UN Women Strategic Plan;
• Provide technical support and  inputs to mid-term and annual review of annual work plan and strategic note
• Provide strategic guidance to partners/ COs/ RO in developing Performance Monitoring Frameworks (PMFs) and Baseline Surveys;
• Provide advice to country offices in the clearance of donor agreements and Programme Cooperation Agreements;
• Develop the capacity of staff at the regional and country level and implementing partners to understand Results Based Management (RBM) concepts and techniques;
• Ensure sufficient funds for monitoring, evaluation and reporting at country/ regional level.

2. Provide technical guidance to the Country Offices and  Regional Office  and oversee monitoring and tracking of results against country/ regional level targets and UN Women Strategic Plan as well as budgets

• Ensure data collection and analysis from field visits are coordinated and standardized across programmes;
• Provide coordination, quality assurance and ensure compliance by COs, and RO with corporate AWP monitoring requirements, such as correct entry into the Results Management System (RMS);
• Visit countries/ partners to support monitoring of results, planning processes, and delivery rates;
• Lead the review of financial reports, liaise with operations, based on contractual obligation;
• Monitor budgets at regional and national levels and identify unaligned resources for expedite correction by countries;
• Coordinate the monthly review of the RO budget and propose recommendations to the Senior Management; provide support to the coordination of the budget mid-year assessment;
• Develop the COs Monitoring, Evaluation, and Research Plan.

 3. Oversee reporting of results to Senior Management

• Coordinate and provide technical guidance to the country offices in meeting internal reporting requirements and deadlines, including annual reporting process;
• Provide quality review (both narrative and financial); ensure use of relevant evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations are incorporated into programme reporting;
• Review progress reports submitted by country offices/partners and provide feedback to improve quality and timeliness of reporting;
• Ensure the availability (including collecting and maintaining) of data for country, regional and global corporate reports, mid-term reviews, and final evaluations.

4. Provide technical support to donor reporting

• Maintain donor contract management system for the region and ensure that correct data and documentation is uploaded by country offices;
• Provide technical support to and ensure quality of results oriented narrative reports to donors;
• Liaise with the Finance Section in Headquarters for the timely preparation and submission of Financial reports to donors;
• Track the spending of donor funds and prompt the programme staff about seeking no-cost extension, as necessary, and in close collaboration with the Monitoring & Reporting focal points.

5. Contribute to knowledge building and capacity building

• Identify and disseminate good practices, lessons and knowledge; as identified through programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation activities;
• Develop capacity development tools, including training materials and packages;
• Manage capacity building opportunities of staff and partners in the region in the areas of Results Based Management (RBM), Monitoring and Evaluation;
• Promote the awareness and understanding of the shared responsibility of Monitoring & Reporting among all staff members through communication, training, learning and development activities.

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

Functional Competencies

• Strong knowledge of programme formulation and implementation and Results Based Management
• Strong knowledge of monitoring and evaluation, evaluation design, data collection and analysis, and reporting
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports
• Strong analytical and report writing skills
• Good knowledge of UN programme management systems

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Political or Social Science, Economics, International Development Studies, Gender/Women's Studies. Advanced University degree in Monitoring and Results Based Management considered an advantage.
• 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 monitoring and reporting of development projects/ programmes;
• Experience in the United Nations systems is desirable;
• Field experience is desirable.

Language Requirements:

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

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.

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 729 days.

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.

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