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UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, a future

How can you make a difference? 

Job organizational context:

In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030) and the UNICEF Strategic Plan (2018-2021), the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) is implementing the 2022-2025 Regional Office Management Plan (ROMP) in response to regional priorities. The 2022-2025 ROSA Management Plan is built around the five goal areas of UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and aims to deliver tangible results for children in the South Asia Region (SAR). It outlines the programming, strategic and management interventions, and strategic shifts where UNICEF needs to make greater investments during the four years of implementation.

Over the last decades, remarkable progress has been made by SAR countries to ensure that children survive during delivery and the neonatal period and develop healthily, free from preventable diseases and disability. The region has witnessed an unprecedented 67% reduction in maternal mortality ratio and 50% reduction in neonatal mortality rate, respectively. Health systems across South Asian (SA) countries are relatively diverse featuring some of the best health systems and health outcomes globally, as well as those that have made significant progress in recent decades.  Despite this remarkable progress, the region continues to experience high numbers of newborn deaths with over a million children dying each year before their 5th birthday accounting for 26% of the global burden. Children in SA continue to experience multiple deprivations such as poor nutrition, limited access to safe and clean water, in addition to challenges accessing basic primary health care (PHC) services. The region contributes to 36% of the global stunted children, 32% of still births, 34% of neonatal deaths, 15% of the un & under immunized children while 40% children do not have access to at least basic sanitation services, 50 million children are without legal identity -birth registration, and over 290 million child brides live in SA. Additionally, the burden of diseases in the region has become complex, with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on the rise due to urbanization and lifestyle changes. NCDs contribute to 65% of the overall disease burden in the region. SA continues to face complex political, economic, social and health challenges. Public health emergencies, natural disasters, political conflicts, and socio-economic crises have put the health systems in SA countries under unprecedented stress, leading to disruptions in the provision of essential health care and insufficient service coverage for the most vulnerable populations, including children, adolescents, and caregivers.  

In this context, the UNICEF SAR health agenda is driven by building and sustaining strategic partnerships and strengthening multisectoral coordination and investments to accelerate the Primary Health Care (PHC) agenda toward the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The programmatic focus is on accelerating the unfinished agenda on newborn, child and adolescent health, and immunization including polio, while tackling the risen burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and continuous threats from public health emergencies. While moving these agenda forward, investments will be made in health and community systems strengthening with a focus on building internal and local capacity for evidence generation and use to influence policies, plans, strategies, and priorities including sustainable health financing.

UNICEF’s approach to Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) and advancing Immunization explicitly focuses on the most marginalized children, women, and communities, as both an ethical and practical priority. UNICEF’s approach to HSS also focuses on the need for, and complementarity of, interventions at the national and sub-national levels and the centrality of district-level management to the overall performance of a national health system.

Purpose for the job:

The overall purpose of this post is to lead the Health Section’s strategic and technical work on HSS/PHC and Immunization in line with UNICEF Strategic Plan in the context of primary health care, including institutionalization of community health and nutrition.  S/he provides technical guidance and operational support throughout the programming process to facilitate the achievement of concrete and sustainable results, according to plans, allocation, results-based management (RBM) approaches and methodology, organizational Strategic Plans and goals, standards of performance, and accountability framework.

Under the general guidance and supervision of the Regional Health Adviser, the Senior Health Specialist –HSS-PHC and Immunization is responsible for positioning HSS/PHC and Immunization in the regional office and on UNICEF SA regional health agenda as a priority, seizing the opportunity of UNICEF commitment to revitalizing PHC and health systems strengthening.

The staff member will ensure that renewed and recognized UNICEF expertise authoritatively supports UNICEF country offices in advancing the HSS and Immunization agenda in the SAR.  S/he leads the overall coordination, management and administration in the development, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of UNICEF ROSA Health section initiatives and activities in HSS/PHC with a focus on Immunization in the context of child survival, development and thrive. S/he is accountable for effective partnerships, coordination, policy and technical leadership, management guidance and programme support to facilitate the application and adaptation of UNICEF policies and strategies to achieve programme goals with a focus on the expansion of UNICEF SAR HSS/PHC and Immunization interventions.

As a contribution to the overall management of the Health Section’s team, the staff member leads, coordinates, directs, manages, develops, and enables a competent team of professional and support staff under her/his supervision to achieve the strategic goals and objectives of UNICEF Health agenda, with a view to integrating gender equality across programme areas and improving convergence and cross-sectoral efforts.

The staff member contributes to strengthening and maintaining collaboration with key national, regional, and global stakeholders, partners, and donors, and influencing policies and strategies through her/his leadership role. Furthermore, she/he contributes to creating and maintaining synergy and partnerships with other organizations – including Gavi, WHO and other UN Agencies – prioritizing areas where UNICEF has primary responsibility or comparative advantage.

Key function, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

Strategic representation, advocacy, coordination, and partnerships

• Represent UNICEF ROSA in relevant partners coordination platforms, particularly the regional working group on immunization, meetings, events and fora at global, regional, and national levels to ensure UNICEF priorities and perspectives are adequately represented in relevant strategies and frameworks related to Health Systems Strengthening, Primary Health Care and Immunization. 

• Establish, strengthen, and maintain high level contacts and active collaboration with globally and regionally active partners and key stakeholders to coordinate activities to leverage technical and financial resources for Health Systems Strengthening, PHC and Immunization. This includes accessing and mobilizing donor resources at the global, regional, and country levels.

• As part of the regional team, lead the Health Section’s efforts to promoting synergies, programmatic linkages and broader convergence of Health Systems Strengthening, PHC and Immunization efforts with maternal, neonatal and adolescent health, nutrition, Social and Behavioral Change (SBC), Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH),Adolescent Participation, Skills, and Employability (APSE), child protection, gender and other relevant programme areas through relevant coordination platforms and mechanisms, exchange of information, meetings, documentation and dissemination of best practices.
• Prepare communication and information materials for programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships/alliances, and support fund raising for health programmes (maternal, neonatal and child survival and development).

Management and Supervision

• Provide guidance, leadership and support to staff under her/his supervision and evaluate performance for achievement of established goals and objectives.
• Submit periodic progress reports to supervisor and senior management.
• Oversee management and monitoring of the HSS-PHC-Immunization unit’s budget. Ensure the timely reporting and accounting of all related programme transactions.

Programme development and planning.

• Plan and provide technical support and guidance for the preparation, design and updating of situation analyses to establish comprehensive and updated strategic plans for development, design, and management of HSS, PHC and immunization related programmes. Keep abreast of development trends to enhance programme management, efficiency, and delivery.
• Prepare, coordinate and/or supervise the formulation of health system strengthening, PHC and immunization related programmes recommendations and related documentations as a component of the broader health programme, establishing clear programme goals, objectives, strategies, and RBM.
• Contribute to articulating clear alignment of ROSA’s health programme with UNICEF’s Strategic Plans and regional strategies as well as country priorities and plans.
• Participate in strategic programme discussions and planning to provide technical advice and to contribute to policy discussions and agenda setting to promote health and development issues especially in the areas of gender, emergency preparedness, maternal and neonatal health, and child survival and development. 
• Participate in emergency preparedness initiatives for programme development and contingency planning and/or to respond to emergencies in the region or where designated.

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

• Plan and/or collaborate with country and regional offices and HQ to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators, and other UNICEF/UN system relevant indicators and measurements to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence, and delivery of concrete and sustainable results.

• Participate in strategic moment of reflection, monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews to assess progress and to determine required (corrective) action/interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare and assess programme reviews, monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths and/or weaknesses in programme management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained to inform policy, strategic guidance, programming, and implementation of health programmes.
• Plan, monitor and verify the optimum and appropriate use of HSS, PHC and immunization programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity, ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Coordinate regular and mandated programme/project reports for management, donors, and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.
• Prepare policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and/or consideration.

Country support 

• Lead the provision of strategic, policy, and programming guidance and support to UNICEF Country Offices in their engagement with governments and other collaborating partners in defining priorities, formulating policies, strategies, methodologies, and identification of approaches for advancing the HSS, PHC and immunization agenda in the context of the SDGs, including in humanitarian context.
• Consult and collaborate with country, regional, and HQ colleagues and key partners to provide technical and operational support on programme planning, management, and implementation, and to ensure integration, coherence, and harmonization of programmes/projects with other UNICEF programme areas and sectors throughout all stages of programming processes.
• Coordinate support to countries for the development and implementation of strong monitoring and evaluation components for high-impact interventions for HSS, PHC and immunization related programmes. This includes guidance and technical support for capacity development and establishment of systems for Real-Time Monitoring including at the community, facility and district levels.
• Lead the provision of guidance and coordination to enable UNICEF country offices to prepare suitable HSS and immunization programmes related funding proposals that are of high technical quality and provide inputs to regional and global resource leveraging efforts as required.  

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Promote critical thinking, innovative approaches, and good practices for sustainable health programmes/projects initiatives focusing on HSS, PC and Immunization.

• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, and implement best and cutting-edge practices in health management and information systems. Institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned.

• Contribute to the development of policies and procedures and introduce innovation and best practices to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects.
• Work within the Health Section and coordinates with other Units, Sections within the Regional Office, UNICEF Country Offices and external partners to develop operational and academic research initiatives and projects that will contribute to positioning UNICEF as a global knowledge leader in HSS, PHC and immunization programme.
• Lead, plan and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of stakeholders to promote sustainable results on HSS, PHC, and immunization and broader health-related programmes/projects.

others:

• Carry out any other duties that may be assigned by the Regional Health Adviser and Regional Office Management from time to time.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

• Education: 

  Advanced university degree in in one of the disciplines relevant to the following areas: Medicine, public health, Health Research, global/international health, health policy and/or management, biostatistics, socio-medical sciences, epidemiology.

  Training in management, public administration, business administration or similar is an asset.
• Work Experience:

  A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in public health planning and management and/or relevant areas of child health including Immunization, health emergency/humanitarian preparedness, at the international level most of which preferably in developing countries is required.

  Knowledge and experience with operational and action research in low- and middle- income countries is strongly recommended.

  Relevant experience in health programme/project development and management in any UN system agency or organization is an asset. 
• Language Requirements: Excellent knowledge of English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Remarks:

• The vacancy announcement was reopened to expand the pool of applicants 
• Candidates who have already applied do not need to reapply. 
• Nationals of the country may be eligible for IP positions in a Regional Office (RO) if they possess at least two (2) years of international work experience as detailed above.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others 

(8)  Nurtures, Leads and Manages People

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. 

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.