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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.

The Private Sector Fundraising (PSFR) section within the Private Fundraising and Partnerships Division (PFP) works with National Committees and UNICEF regional and country offices to maximize income and drive income growth. The role of the Global Foundations team within the PSFR section is to drive income growth among global and national foundations and to cement long-term partnerships based on a shared commitment to advancing the rights of children. The Global Foundations team manages several partnerships directly and provides strategic guidance and support to colleagues based in headquarters, country and regional offices, and priority National Committees.

For every child, a Champion

Under the general guidance of the Partnerships Manager (Foundations), the incumbent will support development of new foundations pipelines and management of existing high-profile foundation partnerships. S/he will facilitate securing, managing, developing, coordinating, negotiating, and monitoring partnerships with foundations. The incumbent will support ongoing implementation of UNICEF’s Global Foundations Strategy, working closely with key technical teams and country/regional office colleagues, including a strategic framework for engaging with foundations, strengthening internal coordination and information sharing, capacity building, and overseeing grants management functions.

How can you make a difference?

1. New partnerships and capacity building:

Support efforts to identify and prioritize prospective partners, obtain buy-in within the UNICEF family (HQ, regional/country offices, and National Committees) on partnership-specific and foundation community-wide approaches, and increase the number and quality of partnerships. Further, support continuing efforts to build the capacities of HQ and regional/country office colleagues to increase knowledge of the foundations landscape and ways of working and provide strategic guidance on technical engagement with priority foundations. Provide guidance in developing, negotiating, and implementing partnerships with foundations in line with UNICEF policies and guidelines and the Global Foundations Strategy.  Provide key knowledge management inputs and ensure information and insights on Foundations are up to date.

2. Existing partnerships:

Strengthen, deepen, and maintain existing foundation partnerships, including supporting the development and implementation of partner-specific engagement plans, establishing, and maintaining information flows and ensuring key data and information is relevant and available, reviewing and assessing existing partnerships, and renewing partnerships and collaborations, with a particular focus on U.S.-based foundation partners.

3. Strategic framework for foundations and internal coordination and information flows:

Support the Global Foundations team’s efforts to develop, implement and monitor strategic plans for engaging with foundations. Further, support efforts to ensure that vertical and horizontal coordination and information flows around specific foundation interactions are established and followed up; the former focuses on the Office of the Executive Director and UNICEF senior leadership, the latter on colleagues within HQ Divisions, regional/country offices, and National Committees.

4. General foundation support and institutional priorities:

Facilitate interactions with foundation partners and respond to UNICEF and National Committee queries on foundation issues. Further, remain informed of key institutional priorities in order to position the Global Foundations team to proactively engage with existing and potential partners around such priorities.

5. Communication, Knowledge Management and Capacity Building:

Provide Knowledge Management and comms support to the Foundations team that contributes to the best use of data and information for strategic decisions and partnership opportunities.  Help maintain key databases and drive the best application and use of UNISON or other KM systems in support of the work.  Support knowledge management by capturing and sharing best practice experiences of working effectively with global, high-level partners. Facilitate capacity building work with Regional Offices and Country Offices and key National Committees.

6. Business analysis:

Undertake and support financial analyses of foundations income, including projections and actuals, inform market-specific financial analyses and opportunities, and stay informed on pertinent trends and influences within the foundation sector.

7. Grants management:

Where applicable, oversee the grants management functions of the team, including proposal development, agreements, funds management, monitoring of programme implementation, and reporting.

8. Philanthropy networks and convening events:

Facilitate the organization of UNICEF participation in foundation/philanthropy networks and other key events such as UNGA and WEF and help to organize thematic roundtables and convening events as needed, with a view to adding UNICEF’s voice, expertise, and thematic content to the global dialogue on issues affecting children.

9. Coordination:

As appropriate, serve as focal point on communications and joint planning and reporting issues between the Geneva-based and NY-based Global Foundations Team.

10: Other duties:

Due to the nature of this post, the candidate may be assigned other duties and responsibilities. As required, the incumbent provides backup for the Partnerships Manager (Foundations).

To qualify as a Champion for every child you will have…

Education:

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: international development, public administration, business management, communication, or another relevant field.
• A first-level university degree in a relevant field combined with two (2) additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in a United Nations or other development institution, private foundation, and/or other institutional public or private grant-making body or organization is required.
• Experience in a country office context is required.
• Development or emergency programme experience in one or more UNICEF-aligned sectors, or direct and sustained exposure to and engagement with such programming through country-level experience, is required.
• A demonstrated expertise in developing and maintaining complex datasets and knowledge management tools and processes is required.
• Project management experience and in-depth knowledge of reporting, monitoring, and evaluation practices for institutional partners is required.
• Direct experience in developing strategies for building relationships and facilitating technical engagement with and managing large-scale strategic partnerships with technical partners is required.
• A proven track record of meeting deadlines is required.
• The ability to work independently and manage competing priorities is required.
• Strong communication and excellent writing skills are required.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) is an asset.

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...

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drives to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1) are required.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: our competency framework. 

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 benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, 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 delivering the best results for children.

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

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.

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.