

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 large-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation is having a devastating effect on women and girls. More than 1.8 million women and girl are internally displaced. Since 2022, women’s unpaid care work responsibilities have increased, negatively impacting women’s access to employment opportunities and in extension their families. 82 % of people registered as unemployed are women. There’s indirect evidence that the gender pay gap has widened during the full-scale war: by the end of 2024, the gap in job-seeker salary expectations had widened to 25%, up from 15% since the full-scale invasion. The gap increases with age and experience, peaking among those aged 36–45, driven by male concentration in higher-paid sectors such as IT and production. Women represent nearly half of the entrepreneurial sector: approximately 48% of individual entrepreneurs. According to Open DataBot, 61% of all newly registered businesses in 2025 were women, they tend to start businesses in trade, education, and the beauty industry.
Since 2025, Ukraine CO has been implementing its Strategic Note 2025-2029 which contributes to the UNDSDCF 2025-2029 priorities and is aligned with UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2025-2029. The CO implements its programming under three SN Outcomes: 1) Leadership, governance and WPS; 2) Women’s Economic Empowerment; 3) Humanitarian response and coordination. Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE), as one of UN Women’s four main impact areas, aims to advance the economic empowerment of women so that they have income security, decent work, and economic autonomy. The CO works closely with the government, WROs, private and public sector companies to 1) promote women’s access to labour market especially in male-dominated sectors such as transport, energy and digital sectors and 2) to support women entrepreneurs through skills development, market driven trainings, community and networking events.
The CO continues its programmatic intervention and resource mobilization efforts to expand its SN Outcome on women’s economic empowerment. Namely, the CO invests in the reskilling initiatives dismantling structural gendered barriers in the traditionally male-dominated sectors, enabling women to obtain professional licenses and secure professional certifications, and seek further employment. This outcome area also entails further support through the ongoing partnerships with over 60 private companies in Ukraine that have signed on to the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and are committed to advancing gender equality through their workplace and value chain practices.
The CO will continue its advocacy and communications campaigns in collaboration with the Government to increase women’s confidence in their economic potential and challenge biases about women’s roles in the economy, including in traditionally male-dominated sector.
The expanded WEE work will further leverage the Ukraine CO’s efforts to advance gender equality rights within the EU-related reform agenda in Ukraine, linking to the EU’s standards on decent employment, gender equal pay, gender-responsive procurement, and women’s leadership, as well as the EU’s Care Economy Strategy.
Reporting to the Deputy Representative/Head of Programmes, WEE Programme Specialist will function as the team lead with the responsibility for leading the planning, implementing, and managing the Ukraine CO’s WEE interventions. The Programme Specialist will work in close collaboration with the other programme teams and operations team, UN Women HQ staff, Government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation under portfolio.
Key Functions and Accountabilities
1. Design and develop programme strategies in the area of Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE)
2. Manage the implementation and management of the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) programme
3. Manage technical assistance and capacity development to project/programme partners
4. Manage the monitoring and reporting of WEE programme/ projects
5. Manage the people and financial resources of the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) programme
6. Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies
7. Contribute to inter-agency coordination on Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) to achieve coherence and alignment of UN Women programmes with other partners in the country
8. Manage advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts
9. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.
Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities:
Incumbent will lead a team of 4-6 personnel, including programme analysts and an associate.
Competencies :
Core Values:
Core Competencies:
Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework:
Functional Competencies:
Recruitment Qualifications
Education and certification:
Experience:
Language Requirements:
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.)
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.