Advisor on Gender Equality

Tiered Approach

In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:

• Tier 0 : UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
• Tier 1 : Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
• Tier 2 : UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
• Tier 3 or no tier indicated : All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates

Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.

Background

UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP's policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels, forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the Strategic Plan.

Within the GPN, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP's Strategic Plan. BPPS's staff provides technical advice to Country Offices, advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS works closely with UNDP's Crisis Bureau (CB) to support emergency and crisis response. BPPS ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP's development programmes. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results-based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working. BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts.

UNDP has achieved significant progress in making gender equality and women’s empowerment integral to its work on human development. The Gender Team-BPPS is currently leading the development of UNDP’s new Gender Equality Strategy (GES 2026-2029), in line with the new Strategic Plan (SP 2026-2029) that outlines four strategic objectives (Prosperity for all, Effective Governance, Crisis Resilience and Healthy Planet) and three accelerators (Digital and AI, Gender Equality and Sustainable Finance). Once the strategy is approved, the Gender Team will have the leading role in its implementation, including through the effective implementation of Gender Equality Global Programme.

Position Purpose

Reporting to the Head of Gender in New York, the Senior Advisor on Gender Equality is responsible for providing strategic policy advice and programme support; leading communications and knowledge management initiatives; strengthening partnerships, representation, and advocacy efforts; and contributing to management functions, corporate priorities, and resource mobilization.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provision of High-Level Policy Advice and Programme Support
   1. Coordinate and substantively guide GPN and HQ, regional and COs teams on integration of gender equality and women’s empowerment in policy and programming frameworks, strategies, and programmes.
   2. Develop innovative and effective models of collaboration with other teams to ensure integration of gender equality across their priorities and allocation of budgets. Lead smooth coordination, transfer of expertise and capacities, and promote sustainability of results.
   3. Initiate new innovative global flagships to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment around the world and within UNDP; and oversee ongoing ones, including the Gender Seal (Development, Public Seal and Private Seal).
   4. Provide guidance on corporate alignment of UNDP wor