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.

Following the successful rollout of Phase-1 of the Oracle ERP platform (i.e. Quantum) in 2023-2024, UN Women is entering Phase-2 of the project to further enhance the rest of corporate systems ensuring the full integration with Quantum. The priority of Phase 2 is to have the new corporate system to support the strategic planning and results management functions associated with Strategic Plan, Strategic Notes, workplans and projects across the organization guided by the UN Women’s corporate policy on Planning, Monitoring and Reporting, followed by monitoring, reporting and other functionalities.

The Project Manager will be responsible for leading these efforts, focusing on the technical aspects of the new information system being developed. The project manager will develop strategies, manage project planning, and implement change management initiatives to transform business processes and improve efficiency in the scope of the new system. This role involves managing resources and risks, and ensuring a cohesive, cross-functional approach.

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women ERP Project Board and direct supervision by Chief Information Systems and Telecommunications (IST) & Chief, Strategic Planning Unit (SPU), the Project Manager will primary be responsible for the management of the ERP Phase 2 project. This includes aspects of organizational change and adaptation of the new system, with a focus to successfully finalize the business requirements, scope and rollout of the new information system at UN Women by Dec 2025.

The Project Manager will work in close consultation and collaboration with a wide range of clients and stakeholders across the UN Women including Business Process Owners, Information Technology teams, key end-users at the country, regional and corporate levels, as well as external partners. The goal is to promote critical thinking and innovation to design simplified and streamlined processes that will strengthen and enhance organizational performance and efficiency.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

1. Strategic and Technical Leadership and Project Management
   • Provide strategic vision and leadership in the continued technical implementation of the new system, in collaboration with the Chief, IST and Chief, SPU.
   • Act as a trusted and neutral project manager across all business processes and workstreams; oversee and facilitate process improvement discussions between business owners, build project momentum and manage escalations to the Senior leadership;
   • Engage and coordinate business owners and focal points across the Organization globally and provide them with updates on the project;
   • Ensure solutions are proposed and implemented that address the Organization’s goals and capitalize on UN System and industry best practices;
   • Identify technical issues, opportunities, and risks, and provide high-level advice to the leadership as needed.
   • Coordinate with the Project Board to drive technical optimization and simplification of business processes.
   • Monitor, track, and control technical outcomes to resolve issues, conflicts, dependencies, and critical path deliverables.
2. Project Planning and Coordination
   • Create detailed project plans, including timelines, milestones, and resource allocation.
   • Coordinate with various departments to ensure that all aspects of the project are aligned and progressing as planned.
   • Provide regular progress reports to ERP Board and other stakeholders as needed
   • Provide input to and review implementation plans, component plans, contingency plans, milestones, dependencies etc. attached to the project’s high-level deliverables;
   • Provide input to and review project budgets to ensure they are based on outputs and deliverables and clearly linked to milestones and project phases;
3. Stakeholder Engagement
   • Engage with stakeholders at all levels, including senior management, business process owners, and technical teams.
   • Ensure that stakeholders are informed, involved, and supportive of the project goals and progress.
4. Risk Management
   • Identify potential risks and develop mitigation strategies related to the implementation of the project.
   • Monitor risks throughout the project lifecycle and take proactive measures to address any issues that arise.
   • Monitor and report on effectiveness of project risk framework, related controls and indicators to the Project Board;
   • Help address dependencies among business streams as well as overall progress of the ERP project and resolve any issues during the project;
5. Resource Management
   • Ensure that the project has the necessary resources, including personnel, budget, and technology.
   • Manage these resources efficiently to avoid delays and cost overruns.
   • Plan efficient and effective deployment of human and financial resources including as necessary recruitment and procurement of additional resources;
   • Identify and integrate efficiency or effectiveness gains and cost reductions wherever possible.
6. Quality Assurance
   • Implement quality assurance processes to ensure that the project deliverables meet the required standards and specifications.
   • Conduct regular reviews and audits.
7. Communication
   • Ensure regular communication with the project team, project board, and stakeholders is essential.
   • Provide updates on project status, progress, and any issues that need attention.
   • Lead the preparation of project board meetings in collaboration with Chief IST and Chief SPU and other BPOs, and present reports to the Project Board and other relevant bodies.
8. Change Management
   • Manage changes to the project scope, schedule, and resources.
   • Ensure that any changes are documented, approved, and communicated effectively.
   • Manage and coordinate cross-functional design and implementation issues to ensure seamless and integrated processes and procedures are developed for the new/ existing systems
   • Establish and coordinate necessary collaboration with other UN System Organizations and UN Women partners.
9. Knowledge Management and End-User Training and Support
   • Lead the organization and facilitation of workshops and training to ensure ongoing business transformation, process changes, and system evolution is understood and appropriately used by stakeholders
   • Ensure that end-users are trained and supported during the rollout of the new system.
   • Coordinate training sessions and provide ongoing support to ensure a smooth transition.
   • Manage the dedicated site of UN Women Intranet to ensure all the relevant documents and training materials are available and accessible to all UN Women personnel in user-friendly manner.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel: This consultancy is office-based/hybrid in New York city.

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:

• Demonstrated technical leadership and team management skills in international and multi-cultural settings at the global level.
• Affinity with UN Women’s mandate.
• Excellent project formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation skills.
• Knowledge of Results-Based Management principles and approaches.
• Demonstrated capacity for strategic thinking and strategy development.
• Ability to innovate and provide technical solutions to complex issues
• Ability to develop a clear operational plan for business transformation, process improvement, and system implementation strategy.
• Ability to stay focused under pressure and to lead despite ambiguity.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships with strategic partners, with highly developed communication and negotiation skills.
• Ability to create a knowledge-sharing environment.
• Ability to ensure effective teamwork, with excellent managerial and technical leadership skills and the ability to delegate appropriate responsibility, accountability, and decision-making authority.
• Expert understanding of the technologies underpinning ERP systems and their capabilities.
• Excellent analytical skills and writing skills
• Knowledge of quality assurance and testing
• Knowledge of data integration across different technical platforms
• Knowledge of enterprise services like Microsoft 365, Oracle Cloud ERP (or any ERP platform), SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS models

Education and Certification:

• A Master’s degree in business administration, management, Information Technology, or another 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.
• The following qualifications are desirable:
  Project Management Certification (Prince2; PMI).
  Agile/ SCRUM Certification.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of experience that combines strategic and managerial leadership in complex IT project planning, design development, and implementation, in large and/or international institutions is required.
• Experience in successfully running software development and product implementation projects is required.
• Experience in organizational change management, risk mitigation, and conflict management is required.
• Experience in roles as a Programme Manager, Project Manager, and/or Business Analyst is required.
• Experience in the development and management of project budgeting, and tracking is required.
• Experience with leading a team is required.
• Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, Power Point, etc.), spreadsheet and database packages is required.
• Experience working within the United Nations or at a global/corporate level is highly desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required, including excellent drafting and editing skills.
• 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.)

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements