UN Women: Deputy Director, Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division (PPID), D-1 FTA - Nairobi, Kenya

UN Women · Nairobi

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 Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division (PPID) is responsible for coordinating and driving the delivery of UN Women’s development results under the Strategic Plan (SP) 2026–2029 through integrated intergovernmental, policy, programmatic and UN‑system support. PPID provides strategic direction, high‑quality substantive and technical guidance, data, knowledge and political analysis to Headquarters, regional and country offices across development, humanitarian, peace and security contexts. The Division leads UN Women’s engagement in global intergovernmental processes, supports Member States in upholding and translating international gender equality norms and standards into national laws and policies, and coordinates UN‑system thematic leadership on gender equality and women’s rights. PPID also plays a central role in results‑based management, knowledge management and organizational transformation, enabling coherent, effective and accountable delivery of UN Women’s mandate.

Under the general direction and broad strategic guidance of the Director PPID, and with significant delegated authority, the Deputy Director is accountable for (1) Providing strategic leadership for the planning and implementation of the Division’s strategy and delivery of the Strategic Plan results; (2) Ensuring SP development results coordination, monitoring and accountability at the global level; (3) Providing corporate stewardship of a knowledge management framework for development results; (4) Leading PPID’s engagement in corporate governance mechanisms and corporate initiatives; and (5) Leading the day-to-day executive management of the Division and its compliance with corporate policies and procedures, and (6) Providing leadership for Directorate workplanning, resources and personnel. The Deputy Director works in close collaboration with all HQ Divisions and Regional offices and supervises 5 staff within the PPID Directorate and directly oversees the Political Analysis and Programme Development Unit, the Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women.

The Deputy Director consults the Director on matters with institution-wide strategic, reputational or politically sensitive implications.

Key Functions and Accountabilities:

1. Provide Strategic Leadership for Divisional Planning and Delivery of UN Women Strategic Plan Results

Provide strategic leadership for the formulation, implementation and periodic review of the Division’s Strategic Note, ensuring clear strategic direction, prioritization and alignment with UN Women’s Strategic Plan and corporate commitments.
Oversee the coherence, integration, quality and strategic relevance of PPID’s policy, programme and intergovernmental work, ensuring that divisional priorities effectively position UN Women as a global leader on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Ensure that global programming frameworks, corporate policy inputs and strategic guidance developed under PPID translate intergovernmental mandates and emerging policy priorities into actionable, high-impact results at global, regional and country levels.
Ensure strategic interconnection between PPID Directorate and Regional Office leadership and timely support of PPID to country and regional offices, especially for crisis response.
Exercise delegated authority to ensure quality assurance, strategic oversight and risk management of PPID-led global and cross-thematic initiatives, including those involving multiple divisions and country and regional offices, and support strategic resources mobilization for divisional priorities.
Provide senior strategic guidance to the Political Analysis and Programme Development Unit to ensure forward-looking political analysis informs corporate decision-making, risk mitigation and organizational positioning.
Represent the Director, as delegated, in high-level intergovernmental, inter-agency and external forums, including with Member State delegations, and senior officials of multilateral institutions, advancing UN Women’s strategic policy and programmatic priorities.

2. Ensure Strategic Plan Development Results Coordination, Monitoring and Accountability at the Global Level

Provide strategic leadership for the coordination, monitoring and consolidation of Strategic Plan development results, ensuring organizational accountability, learning and evidence-informed management action including in collaboration with SPRED.
Oversee the establishment and institutionalization of global mechanisms that enable systematic tracking, analysis and synthesis of Strategic Plan results across outcomes, impact areas and thematic priorities.
Provide strategic oversight to global Outcome and Impact Leads and Indicator Managers to ensure coherence, analytical rigor and alignment across results frameworks, including the identification of risks, bottlenecks and corrective actions.
Lead, in partnership with relevant Divisions such as SPRED and DCA, the strengthening of corporate systems and capacities for results reporting, performance analysis and strategic communications to governing and oversight bodies and external audiences.
Ensure the provision of high-quality strategic briefs and analytical inputs to inform senior management decision-making, governance deliberations and external accountability processes.
Consult the Director on matters where results reporting has institution-wide strategic, reputational or governance implications.

3. Provide Corporate Stewardship of Knowledge Management for Development Results

Establish institutional standards and determine corporate priorities for the development and implementation of UN Women’s knowledge management strategy related to development results, ensuring it supports organizational learning, innovation and impact.
Champion a culture of evidence-based decision-making, ensuring that evaluations, research, data and lessons learned systematically inform policy positions, strategic choices and programme adjustments across the organization.
Oversee the establishment of corporate governance arrangements, quality standards and accountability mechanisms for knowledge products and platforms, clarifying institutional roles, incentives and performance expectations across headquarters, regional and country offices.
Ensure that knowledge generation and dissemination under PPID contributes to UN Women’s global normative leadership and supports Member States and partners with timely, credible and policy-relevant evidence.

4. Lead the Day-to-Day Executive Management of the Division

Act on behalf of the Director to provide strategic oversight of PPID’s day-to-day management, ensuring operational coherence, compliance with corporate policies, and delivery of divisional priorities. The incumbent is accountable for the Division’s operational performance and delivery against agreed results.
Oversee integrated planning, budgeting and resource management across the Division, ensuring alignment between strategic priorities, workplans, staffing and available resources, and proactively managing organizational and delivery risks.
Establish and sustain an effective divisional rhythm of business, promoting clear decision-making structures, cross-sectional coordination, accountability and transparent internal communication.
Advise the Director on organizational, structural and process improvements, and lead divisional change and transformation initiatives to enhance effectiveness, agility and institutional resilience.

5. Lead PPID’s Engagement in Corporate Governance and Organization-wide Initiatives

Represent the Division, as delegated, in corporate governance, oversight and coordination mechanisms such as the Business Review Committee and its Technical Review Group, Risk Management Committee, ICT Board, etc., contributing to organization-wide strategic, policy and management decisions.
Provide executive oversight of Trust Funds for which UN Women serves as Secretariat, exercising delegated authority to commit resources and represent UN Women in Trust Fund governance bodies, as assigned.
Ensure PPID’s strategic engagement in donor assessments, consultations, roundtables and other corporate resource mobilization and accountability processes.
Strengthen strategic collaboration with other UN Women divisions and external partners, including Member States, UN system entities, civil society and regional bodies, to advance coherent delivery of UN Women’s mandate.

6. Provide Leadership for Directorate Workplanning, Resources and Personnel

Provide overall leadership and accountability for the Directorate’s bi-annual workplans, annual reporting and performance against agreed objectives.
Exercise delegated authority for financial and human resource management, ensuring sound application of internal controls, effective stewardship of resources and compliance with UN Women and UN regulations.
Lead and model an inclusive, respectful and high-performing work culture, promoting teamwork, staff development, talent management and accountability for results.
Ensure effective performance management of personnel under supervision, including coaching, feedback and compliance with organizational performance management standards.

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

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: The incumbent leads a team of 9, which includes 5 direct reports (3 P4s, 1 P3, 1 P1). The incumbent also supervises the Chief of Political Analysis and Programme Development Unit (P5) and the Chief of the Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (P5).

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:

Deep knowledge of strategy development and implementation, design of performance management systems of goals, targets and monitoring processes;
Demonstrated strength in systems thinking, structured problem solving and strategic business planning, with the ability to synthesize disparate information and critically analyze development challenges;
Adept at project management, including critical path thinking, setting priorities and planning, particularly in a resource-constrained setting. Ability not only to establish priorities but also to adhere to priorities in a thoughtful way;
Strong experience in driving Change Management processes within large, complex development organizations, including the ability create an enabling work environment;
Excellent people management and team building skills. Skilled at growing teams through maturity stages (e.g. start-up to establishment). Ability to bring a “coach” mindset to teams, with demonstrated capacity to indirectly leverage human resources and to guide teams to effectively achieve clear, yet complex goals and objectives;
Demonstrated negotiating, cultural sensitivity and diplomatic skills;
Skilled in group problem solving and collaboration to resolve problems with complex concepts in a dynamic setting;
Strong interpersonal, and communication skills;
Ability to fluidly switch from strategic to tactical tasks;
A highly cultivated sense of resilience: ability to accept and recover from setbacks, to be flexible and adjust to changing circumstances;
Ability to leverage information technology, executive information systems, management techniques and tools for optimal office performance;
Strong knowledge of UN Women’s mandate of gender equality and women empowerment.

Recruitment Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

Master’s degree or equivalent in international development, public administration, public policy or other relevant social science fields 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 15 years of extensive experience in programme management and/or policy development is required.
At least 10 years of hands-on experience in design, monitoring and evaluation of development strategies or programmes related to gender equality and women’s empowerment, preferably with multilateral agencies is required.
At least 10 years of hands-on experience leading and managing personnel in international settings is required.
Experience with change management and transformation initiatives within large international institutions is required.
Experience in developing strategy and implementation plans is required.
Experience in Results Based Management is required.
Experience in knowledge generation and management, research, normative support and integrated policy advice to governments and other development actors is a strong asset.
Country level development and management experience is an asset.
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).

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.

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