SWEDD Project Director WCARO, Dakar Senegal, D1

The position:

The SWEDD Project Director oversees all project activities under UNFPA’s responsibility and serves as focal point for interface with the Regional and Continental Governing bodies and key partners. She/He manages and oversees UNFPA’s Technical Assistance to member countries and regional/continental partners.

The SWEDD project seeks to improve women and adolescent girls’ empowerment and their access to quality reproductive, child and maternal health services in selected areas of the participating west and central African countries, through improving regional knowledge generation and sharing as well as regional capacity and coordination. Initially targeting Sahelian countries, it has now expanded to include other countries in West and Central Africa.

The project Director will work closely with UNFPA representatives of participating countries, UN partner agencies, the World Bank, WAHO and the African Union Commission.

The primary functions of the Project Director are: 

• Effective program coordination
• Building and nurturing high-level relationships with implementing partners and participating governments
• Provision of high quality technical advisory services
• Management of Regional Technical Secretariat
• Management of financial resources
• Knowledge management

• Managing SWEDD ‘s regional human resources.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations, and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire, and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Qualifications and Experience:

Education:

Advanced university degree in international development management, public policy or administration, Political Science, economics, sociology, demography, public health, or equivalent development management areas.

Knowledge and Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in the management of complex, donor-funded and multi-partner programmes including five years at the international level.  Experience in the public policy sector is desirable.
• Work experience in a developing country context in Africa.
• Evidence of political acumen and partnership building.
• A track record of extensive national/international working experience with increasing managerial responsibilities in the development area, preferably with experience in gender, eVAWG and/or SRHR programming.
• Experience in leading/managing knowledge product development and dissemination.
• Experience in leading/managing communications product development and dissemination.
• Experience of working closely with the AU/AUC, the Word Bank Group is preferred.
• Strong track record of leadership and management, and proven ability to produce demonstrable results.
• Ability to build and motivate / lead cross-cutting teams to produce client-oriented results.

Languages:

Strong verbal and writing communication skills in English and French is required.

Knowledge of other official UN languages is desirable.

Disclaimer:

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Notice to applicants: In accordance with the rules of the United Nations, persons applying to posts in the international Professional category, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, are required to renounce such status upon their appointment.  Exceptions to this rule are very limited and can be made only for: (a) stateless persons; (b) newly appointed staff members who have applied for citizenship by naturalization, when such citizenship will be granted imminently; (c) acting staff members in the General Service and related categories with permanent residency status, on promotion to the Professional category; (d) staff members appointed under a temporary appointment. Please understand that UNFPA is not in a position to provide advice on or assistance in applying for any citizenship.