Head of Division - Women and Gender Policy & Development at the African Union (AU)

The African Union (AU) is a continental body consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African Continent. It was officially launched in 2002 as a successor to the Organization of African Unity (OAU, 1963-1999). We are an Integrated, Prosperous and Peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Head of Division - Women and Gender Policy & Development

Req Id: 2346
Locations: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Reports to: Director, Woman Gender and Youth Development
Directorate/Department/Organ: Woman Gender And Youth Development
Division: Women and Gender Policy & Development
Number of Direct Reports: 2
Number of Indirect Reports: 3
Job Grade: P5
Number of Positions: 1
Contract Type: Regular

Purpose of Job

• Directs and manages the daily operations of the Women and Gender Policy & Development Division in order to achieve the strategic objectives of the directorate and the AU’s overall goals.

Main Functions

• Designs and implements policies, programs, and projects to achieve the directorate’s strategic objectives.
• Manages and supervises employees within the division, ensuring the timely delivery of the directorate’s goals and effective staff performance evaluation.
• Designs policies, strategies, and programs to contribute to the effective implementation of relevant AU Policy Organs Decisions.
• Ensures the delivery of the division’s annual targets in line with the directorate’s overall goals and ensures robust and timely monitoring and reporting.
• Provides technical leadership and ensures efficient functioning of all Units within the Division.
• Manages the work of the Division and supervises direct reports to ensure their effective performance in line with the organization’s performance management policy and system.
• Engages stakeholders within Members States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs)/Regional Mechanisms (RMs) and relevant international organisations in designing and implementing strategies.
• Maintains thematic partnerships in support of the mandate of the Division.
• Maintains regular working relations with senior stakeholders in Member States and partner institutions in the execution of the Division’s mandate.
• Represents the organisation and communicates its position at conferences.
• Contributes to the preparation of periodic financial and budget execution reports and monitors budget execution at division level.
• Ensures the effective management of funds contributed to the organization.
• Manages risk within the division and recommends mitigation strategies.
• Contributes to the development of the departmental business continuity plan and ensures implementation at division level.
• Maintains a positive work environment that facilitates collaboration and information sharing and is conducive to attracting, retaining, and motivating diverse talent.

Specific Responsibilities

• Manages all activities within the Division and works closely with other members of the Directorate to ensure successful outcomes of the annual plan of work and other expected results.
• Supervises the work of staff within the Division by providing leadership, technical guidance, and professional development support.
• Designs strategies and efforts in implementing the gender strategy for the AU and mainstreaming it into the organization’s work in the short, medium, and long term, including defining programmes of work, resources, and budgets for the stated periods.
• Creates tools and methods of work to enable the Division and Directorate to stay abreast of emerging issues, forecast future needs, focus its efforts on strategic and transformational initiatives, and create targeted and strategic relationships based on complementary areas of strength.
• Provides technical support and guidance to the Commission, Member States, and Regional Economic Communities in defining actions and developing synergies with existing policies required to successfully implement the AU’s commitments set forth in Agenda 2063, other existing policy instruments, and in relevant Decisions and Declarations from Policy Organs.
• Advises the Division as well as the Directorate on initiatives that further the implementation of the gender strategy including campaigns, media engagements, strategic relationships, policy and research papers, technical and financial support.
• Prepares substantive inputs (quality briefings, discussion papers, and policy documents) into key strategic AU documents and ahead of statutory technical and consultative and other officially approved meetings through comprehensively analyzing and researching issues under review as well as the political, social, and economic situation on the continent and in Member States from a gender perspective.
• Develops and recommends initiatives that boost sharing of experiences and cross-organizational learning and strategy design to advance the gender agenda and ensure all issues are comprehensively addressed.
• Prepares substantive policy guidance notes, contributes to advocacy and communications materials highlighting trends and developments on gender equality and women’s empowerment at global, regional, and continental levels.
• Manages and establishes partnerships with other experts and stakeholders (e.g., governments, research institutes, academia, UN system and other international organizations, NGOs, the private sector, etc.) to discuss emerging topics related to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Academic Requirements and Relevant Experience

• Master’s Degree in gender and development, political science, anthropology, social science, project management, policy planning and management, and economics.
• A minimum of twelve (12) years of appropriate experience in the relevant field of the job with strong knowledge of African Development context at national, regional, or international level, of which at least seven (7) years should have been served at the managerial level and five (5) years at the supervisory level.

Required Skills:

• A demonstrated ability to initiate and promote collaborative approaches between geographically and culturally disparate partners.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations both internally and externally.
• Ability to develop and delegate clear program goals, plans, and actions, including budgets, that are consistent with agreed strategies.
• Ability to effectively lead, supervise, mentor, develop, and evaluate staff.
• Proficiency in one of the AU working languages (English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, or Spanish), fluency in another AU language is an added advantage.

Leadership Competencies:

• Strategic Perspective
• Developing Others
• Change Management
• Managing Risk

Core Competencies:

• Building Relationship
• Foster Accountability Culture
• Learning Orientation
• Communicating with Impact

Functional Competencies:

• Conceptual Thinking
• Job Knowledge and Information Sharing
• Drive for Results
• Fosters Innovation

Application Closing Date
13th September, 2024.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online