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 Division of Strategy, Planning, Resources and Effectiveness (SPRED), under the direct supervision of the Assistant Secretary General (ASG)/Deputy Executive Director Resource Management, Partnerships, and Sustainability, drives the areas of corporate strategy, planning, monitoring and reporting; enterprise risk management; organizational performance management; and internal governance.ย These elements function to strengthen of the organizationโs Second Line of Defense and Governance, Risk and Compliance efforts to support UN Womenโs work towards achieving the goal of Gender Equality and Womenโs Empowerment (GEWE) in line with the 2030 Agenda and the UN Women Strategic Plan.
The UN Women Risk Management Framework was developed as part of a corporate wide initiative to proactively support the organizationโs goals and protect its reputation through the identification, mitigation and management of risks at all levels.ย Risk Management provides a framework for identifying events or circumstances relevant to the organization's objectives (risks and opportunities), assessing them in terms of their likelihood and impact, determining a response strategy, and monitoring progress. By identifying and proactively addressing risks and opportunities, the organization is able create and sustain value for its stakeholders.
Under the direct guidance and supervision of the Director of the Strategy Planning, Resources & Effectiveness Division, the Enterprise Risk Manager will lead corporate efforts to further embed risk management practices across the organization while providing technical and functional support to Risk Focal Points for risk management processes. The Risk Manager will also effectively represent and communicate UN Womenโs strategy and position on risk management and assist Risk Owners and Risk Focal Points with aligning risk management efforts to planning and decision making, placing risk management at the center of goal setting and achievement.
The Risk Manager will independently support management in effective risk management and compliance, thereby improving the risk culture and integrity within UN Women. This will be carried out by reviewing the adequacy of the current risk management framework and capacities across the organization, making use of recommendations made for strengthening the institutionalization of risk management. The Risk Manager will work closely with Business Process Owners and with the Risk Management Committee to ensure that there is a coherent approach to identifying systematic and thematic risks and root causes that require a corporate-level response.
Key Functions and Accountabilities:
Manage and oversee the implementation of UN Women management practices:
Advise and technically support the Regional Offices, Business Process Owners and HQ Divisional Heads on risk management matters, while working with Risk Owners and Risk Focal Points towards discharging relevant responsibilities and accountabilities to manage risks collaboratively in compliance with policies and procedures. Provide technical guidance in the implementation of the organizationโs risk appetite statement and risk tolerance indicators suitable to UN Womenโs business model and needs, creating mechanisms for streamlining escalation protocols where key risks exceed the entityโs agreed upon risk appetite. Maintain a Risk Management Assurance Framework and related reporting mechanism that includes risk management indicators and targets as a basis for achieving the desired organizational risk maturity level. Prepare and/or deliver reports and presentations on ERM, including the annual update to the Executive Board on risk management and regular updates to the Risk Management Committee, Advisory Committee on Oversight, and other relevant bodies. Working with Lead Risk Owners, integrate strategic foresight into enterprise risk management processes by identifying emerging trends, weak signals, and long-term drivers of change that could impact UN Womenโs risk landscape, and use scenario-based approaches to anticipate future risks and inform proactive mitigation strategies.Oversee and manage initiatives to enhance risk governance, accountability and transparency:
Work with Regional Risk Focal Points/ Regional Strategic Planning Specialists and HQ Divisional Risk Focal Points to ensure that Strategic Note risk assessments and risk registers are completed and validated on a 6-monthly basis. Facilitate and/or participate in risk assessments for key business processes, high risk initiatives and large projects as requested. Provide technical support required to adequately identify, evaluate, mitigate, and monitor the organization's operational and strategic risks, including by supporting the escalation of significant risks to senior management. Contribute to UN Womenโs corporate efforts towards issuing a Statement of Internal Control by ensuring alignment between the enterprise risk framework and the Statement of Internal Control, and providing feedback on the identification, assessment and mitigation of risks in connection with this area of work.ยValidate data quality for reporting purposes and lessons learned:
Ensure that the Management Information System supports the identification, assessment, evaluation and reporting of risks, ensuring that this is effectively and seamlessly aligned with corporate planning, monitoring and reporting processes. Conduct data analysis and reporting to feed into the Quarterly Business Review (QBR) reporting on compliance with ERM framework requirements and identify and support the implementation of corrective actions, as needed, to address under-performance. Lead efforts to ensure that risk data and information clearly represent the risk profiles of risk entities, and that escalation protocols of key risks are triggered when necessary. Consolidate, disaggregate and report on risk data across all country and regional offices and HQ divisions by undertaking corporate qualitative and quantitative analysis of risks in order to review and determine a risk profile for the organization and to prepare risk management reports at various levels as required.Develop and implement knowledge management tools and mechanisms to strengthen risk management capacity:
Develop and roll out guidance and knowledge management products to Risk Owners, Risk Focal Points and other relevant personnel to support the risk management approach, in collaboration with risk management focal points. Identify and implement consistent and effective approaches to risk governance and control-based activities in collaboration with other teams. Build internal capabilities and competencies related to risk management and deliver risk awareness training and capacity building initiatives, including in collaboration with other Business Process Owners. Lead and co-ordinate UN Womenโs efforts on risk management to ensure that the organizationโs interests, internal functions, external entities and networks are adequately represented.Coordinate and oversee the implementation of UN Womenโs Anti-Fraud Programmeย
Serve as the technical focal point and knowledge repository for the Anti-Fraud Programme, promoting awareness and leading related capacity-building initiatives. Lead the organizationโs fraud risk management and implementation plan and provide guidance and quality assurance for the completion of fraud risk assessments, particularly in high-risk offices, major corporate initiatives and projects, and/or business processes. Monitor fraud risk management activities across UN Women, ensuring alignment with best practices and consistency across business units. Consolidate and analyze fraud risk data to maintain the corporate fraud risk profile and report annually on the implementation of the fraud risk management plan to the Risk Management Committee. Coordinate periodic updates to the Anti-Fraud Policy and advise policy owners and business process leads on the integration of fraud controls. Collaborate with other oversight functions (e.g., Internal Audit, Investigations, Legal Office, Ethics) to ensure coherence and effectiveness in anti-fraud governance and reportingOversee the implementation of UN Womenโs Policy, Procedures and Guidance (PPG) Frameworkย
Provide strategic direction to ensure the PPG governance portfolio aligns with the organizationโs risk management framework and internal control frameworks. Provide oversight to ensure that review and quality assurance mechanisms within the PPG governance framework support institutional credibility, operational integrity, and compliance; when needed, perform second-level reviews of priority policy frameworks. Review and advise on key risks, systemic issues, or strategic implications emerging from the PPG portfolio, escalating to senior leadership as required. Validate and endorse final outputs or major decisions regarding policy exception handling, extension approvals, and policy ownership disputes at a strategic level.The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.
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 visitย this linkย for more information on UN Womenโs Values and Competencies Framework:ย
Functional Competencies:
Affinity with UN Women mandate of gender equality and womenโs empowerment. Strong knowledge of risk management frameworks, particularly within the UN system. Strong conceptual and analytical abilities; Ability to efficiently and effectively analyze complex information and to abstract general conditions from specific information. Strong communication, presentation and facilitation skills, communicating effectively through speech and written work. ability to present issues and ideas in response to the needs of external and internal stakeholders through reports, procedures, instructions and guidance. Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to set and work towards defined goals, work well during transition, and able to help others adjust to change. Ability to develop and conduct organizational training and awareness with a diverse audience. Excellent organizational skills, sound judgment and attention to detail. Strong sense of initiative and ability to prioritize and work independently. Proven ability to develop and conduct organizational training and awareness with a diverse audience.Recruitment Qualifications:
Education and Certification:ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
โข ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Masterโs degree or equivalent in Accounting, Finance, Economics or Business management or related field is required.
โข ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย 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:ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
โข ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in organizational risk management, governance, compliance or related area required.
โข ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Experience in the development, design and enhancement of Management Information Systems is required.
โข ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Experience with working across functions in a multi-cultural environment in order to achieve common organizational objectives is required.
โข ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Experience in leading and managing personnel in international settings is required.
โข ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Experience in risk and organizational change management, particularly business process review, in a non-profitable international organization is desirable.
Languages:ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
โข ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Fluency in English is required.
โข ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย 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,ย and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age,ย ability, national origin,ย 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 toย UN Womenโsย policiesย and proceduresย andย theย standardsย of conduct expected of UN Women personnelย 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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