Regional Portfolio Specialist - Africa (UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women)

Job Posting Organization:
UN Women was established in July 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly as part of the UN reform agenda to enhance gender equality and women's empowerment. The organization merges the work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system, focusing on eliminating discrimination against women and girls, empowering women, and achieving equality between women and men. The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and Girls, established in 1996, is the first global UN funding mechanism dedicated exclusively to providing direct grants to civil society organizations working to prevent and end all forms of violence against women and girls. Since its inception, the UN Trust Fund has supported 725 initiatives across 140 countries and territories, contributing to sustainable efforts to end violence against women and girls. UN Women operates with a mission to ensure that every woman and girl lives free from violence and discrimination, with a strong institutional foundation and field support through a global network of country and regional offices.

Job Overview:
The Regional Portfolio Specialist for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and Girls (EVAW/G) is responsible for managing a portfolio of grants across the Africa region. This role involves providing strategic and technical support to grantee partners throughout the grant lifecycle, ensuring high-quality feminist-informed programming, effective risk management, and compliance with UN Women and UN Trust Fund requirements. The Specialist will work closely with various stakeholders, including civil society organizations, women's rights organizations, and UN entities, to strengthen portfolio coherence and generate practice-based knowledge. The position requires a strong understanding of gender equality, women's rights, and the socio-political context of the Africa region, as well as the ability to provide high-quality technical advice on EVAW/G programming.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead comprehensive support to grantees on the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of EVAW programs and initiatives. Provide tailored programmatic advice on feminist-informed and survivor-centered programming approaches, safeguarding, ethical data collection, and partnership strategies. Promote feminist learning and adaptive management to strengthen grantee sustainability. Support grantees in enhancing institutional systems related to program management, monitoring, and reporting. Contribute to capacity development initiatives and support the identification of institutional capacity gaps. Monitor grantee compliance with UN requirements and develop guidance notes and learning resources. Undertake missions to support program development and verify project implementation. Identify gaps in grantee program design and provide technical guidance.
• Manage and monitor a portfolio of UN Trust Fund grants, ensuring high-quality program implementation and compliance. Provide substantive technical review and feedback on proposals and budgets. Coordinate operational processes related to assigned grants and monitor grantee performance through systematic reviews. Support grantees in identifying and mitigating operational risks. Ensure grant implementation aligns with UN Trust Fund policies and proactively identify significant risks.
• Contribute to regional grant selection and quality assurance processes, providing programmatic analysis and recommendations on applicant proposals. Undertake partner assessments and contribute to institutional risk analysis. Support engagement with stakeholders during grant selection and portfolio oversight processes.
• Contribute to knowledge generation and strategic learning across the regional grants portfolio by analyzing grantee reports and identifying emerging trends. Support monitoring missions and contribute to strategic reporting and communications materials.
• Strengthen regional coordination and partnerships with UN Women offices and stakeholders, acting as the primary liaison between regional stakeholders and the UN Trust Fund headquarters. Maintain strong working relationships to support portfolio coherence and collaboration. Represent the UN Trust Fund in relevant regional meetings and consultations.

Required Qualifications:

• In-depth knowledge of gender equality, women's rights, and ending violence against women and girls programming.
• Familiarity with the socio-political context and EVAW/G landscape across the Africa region.
• Strong knowledge of feminist grant-making, program management, and monitoring and evaluation approaches.
• Ability to provide high-quality technical advice on EVAW/G program design and implementation.
• Familiarity with budget planning and monitoring.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to synthesize complex information into actionable recommendations.
• Ability to manage complex grant portfolios across multiple countries.
• Strong relationship management and partnership-building skills.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including drafting analytical reports. 1
• Ability to work effectively in a decentralized structure and manage relationships across multiple locations.

Educational Background:
A Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Political Science, Development, Public Administration, Gender Studies, or a related field is required. A first-level university degree combined with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree. A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage.

Experience:
At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in program management, including program design, coordination, monitoring, evaluation, donor reporting, and capacity building in the area of ending violence against women is required. Experience working directly with civil society and women’s organizations in Africa is essential. Experience in setting priorities, budgets, work plans, and participating in program development and monitoring is required. Experience managing complex multi-country portfolios and working across diverse operational contexts is desirable. Experience providing technical assistance and institutional strengthening support to civil society organizations is highly desirable.

Languages:
Fluency in English is required. Fluency in French and other UN languages is desirable.

Additional Notes:
The position involves management responsibilities, including overseeing one Programme and Finance Associate. The role is full-time and may require travel within the region. UN Women is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and adheres to a zero-tolerance policy on conduct incompatible with the aims of the United Nations.