Organizational Context
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.
UN Women’s Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division (PPID) provides global support to UN Women offices at Headquarters and in all field locations to deliver results in support of UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2026-2029 and internationally agreed goals on gender equality and women’s empowerment, including the Beijing Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Division provides intellectual and strategic leadership on normative support and the delivery of integrated policy and programme advice, including through research, gender data production and dissemination, policy analysis and gender mainstreaming. The Division leverages innovation, knowledge management and cutting-edge technical expertise to support UN Women programmes and to build the capacity of partners to deliver results on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Under the guidance and direct supervision of Deputy Chief of R&D, the Research and Data Specialist is responsible for implementing key elements of UN Women’s Research and Data strategy, in particular by substantively leading the research for UN Women’s flagship reports, including the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development and Progress of the World’s Women, building and maintaining research partnerships and networks, and using gender research substantively to inform and support intergovernmental normative processes. In doing so, the Research and Data Specialist will contribute to the overall impact of the organization by supporting UN Women’s position as a thought leader on gender equality, building the credibility and substantive leadership of the organization.
The Research and Data Specialist supervises and leads Programme Analyst, and various affiliate personnel.
Key Functions and Accountabilities
- Lead on the preparation of the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development report, including commissioning background research, designing and convening expert group meetings, drafting chapter and maintaining overall editorial leadership over the report.
- Provide substantive leadership in the research design, content development and writing of Progress of the World’s Women reports, in collaboration with the Section’s Deputy Chief, the research team and the data team;
- Lead the UN Women peer reviewed policy brief series, including identifying topics for briefs, commissioning authors, and maintaining editorial oversight.
- Keep abreast of emerging development issues to galvanize UN Women’s analytical capacity to respond;
- Commission and manage research on key cross-cutting issues and in order to help UN Women to forecast and respond to emerging research issues;
- Contribute substantively to the development and implementation of peer review and quality assurance mechanisms for UN Women’s research products;
- Support the preparation of reports for inter-governmental bodies (e.g. Secretary General Reports for CSW), mapping existing work on gender research and data, etc.;
- Co-lead the development of the Beijing review reports every five years, including liaising with the Intergovernmental Support Division, Regional Commissions and UN Women’s regional and country offices, developing and fielding a survey for Member States on their implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, and drafting the chapters of the Secretary General’s report.
- Lead preparation for processes such as an Expert Group Meetings, consultations and advisory group meetings to identity research and policy priorities and gaps;
- Expand R&D’s research networks in countries in the Global South, particularly through the commissioning and coordination of country-level research;
- Strengthen R&D’s partnerships with research institutions and sections across the UN system though concrete collaboration where interests overlap (Unicef/Innocenti, UNRISD; ILO; etc.);
- Convene groups of key thinkers on gender to input, advise and steer UN Women’s research and data agenda.
- Support colleagues across the organization to translate research findings into programmatic approaches and tailored policy advice.
- Play a leading role in internal and external outreach for UN Women’s research and data outputs, including flagship reports, through participation in events, conferences and webinars.
- Contribute to resource mobilization efforts by networking with donors and developing fundable proposals for gender equality research and data initiatives that can inform policy.
- Input research insights into briefings for UN Women senior leadership on key gender equality issues, with a particular focus on new and emerging issues.
- Supervise staff and consultants, and oversee their performance;
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.
Functional Competencies
- Substantial knowledge and expertise at the intersection of gender and public policy, in at least one of the following areas: economic empowerment, social or environmental policy, governance, and/or policies to end violence against women;
- Advanced analytical skills with a firm disciplinary grounding in relevant social science disciplines;
- Ability to conduct research and analysis and draft high quality clear and concise outputs;
- Proven record of in-depth research using qualitative and quantitative research methods, particularly in relation to gender;
- Familiarity with statistical analysis and indicators, especially gender-related statistics and indicators;
- Ability to develop and maintain partnerships with UN agencies, donors, academics and NGO partners;
- Proven excellent written and oral communication skills;
- Proven analytical and problem solving skills;
- Excellent strategic planning, goal-setting and prioritization skills.
Education and Certification
- Master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant social science discipline, with a substantial gender component is required.
PhD is a strong asset.
Experience
- At least 7 years of progressively responsible work experience in carrying out research and analysis in a development policy and/or research context with a strong focus on gender equality is required.
- Experience in research, peer reviewed publications and writing on gender and development issues is required.
- Experience in coordinating and designing cross-country comparative research projects is required.
- Experience in coordinating global or regional research reports is desirable.
- Experience leading and managing personnel in international settings is required.
- 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.
- Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable.
Languages
- Fluency in English is required.
- Knowledge of another official UN language is an asset (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.)