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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, Protection

UNICEF’s Office of Emergency Programs (EMOPS) which is located in New York, Geneva and Istanbul, is the focal point for emergency assistance, humanitarian policies, staff security and support to UNICEF offices in the field, as well as strategic coordination with external humanitarian partners both within and outside the United Nations system. EMOPS thus leads efforts to ensure that UNICEF’s role in complex emergencies and natural disasters is clearly defined, that the organization is properly equipped to fulfill that role, and that all levels of the organization are prepared to deliver our mandate. It aims to strengthen the ability of the organization to respond during times of humanitarian crisis.

The position is located in the Accountability to Affected Populations Section in EMOPS Geneva, which is one of the three teams along with the Global Cluster Coordination Section and the Inter-Agency and Humanitarian Partnership Section.

How can you make a difference? 

The Emergency Specialist - UNICARE Project Coordinator will support the Project Owner overseeing the development and rollout of the UNICARE system across UNICEF and its Partners.

To support fulfilling its responsibility to be accountable to its stakeholders – from affected people to donors, UNICEF is committed to realize the following vision: “UNICEF appropriately addresses all types of feedback and complaints from anyone, anywhere, to build a more accountable world for children and their families”. This is in line with UNICEF’s Core Commitments for Children (CCCs), Safeguarding Policy, Policy on Environmental and Social Safeguards and Sustainability, Policy on Personal Data Protection, Policy on Ethics in Evidence Generation and Procedure on Complaints, Feedback and Redressal Mechanisms (CFRM), as well as the IASC Guidance Note on Inter-Agency Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Referral Procedures, all of which require the establishment of mechanisms to securely, timely and effectively manage feedback and associated redressal processes.

To support UNICEF Offices and Partners operationalizing the above-mentioned commitments, a standardized corporate solution is being jointly developed through a cross-divisional collaboration. This solution, named UNICARE (UNICEF's Community-driven Accountability Response Ecosystem), will include comprehensive guidance, ready-to-use templates, an ICTD-endorsed digital platform, and HQ-level support. UNICARE will enable effective compliance with donor commitments and UNICEF’s Policies, Procedures, and Standards while, simultaneously, enhancing financial efficiency by mitigating duplicative efforts in the independent development of similar products across individual offices.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Project Management & Product Development

• Support the Project Owners and Sponsors overseeing the project implementation and coordinating with the other project governance structures.
• Coordinate the development and approval of the project documentation, including Project Charter, overall Project Plan, Resourcing Plan, and Financing Plan.
• Ensure that the daily activities undertaken on the project are in accordance with approved plans and strategies.
• Define Project Management Team responsibilities, organization and reporting lines to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of resources.
• Coordinate and arrange regular project meetings and ensure key discussion points, minutes, actions and decisions are well documented.
• Report to and communicate with the Project Board and Advisory Group as necessary.
• Track and report on project progress and performance including aspects such as timescales, costs, scope, quality, risks and issues.
• Escalate to the Project Owner whenever project objectives or performance measures are off target and recommend options for corrective action.
• Adjust the project plans as necessary to provide a complete picture of the progress of the project at any time.
• Manage interdependencies with other project managers and/or those managing related systems in the best interest of the project and the organization.
• Advise the Project Owner to close the project upon full execution of the project plans. Ensuring good project closure and handover of the final product to a Product Owner.
• Document and share lessons learned with the relevant stakeholders.
• Store and manage all project information and documentation on a UNICEF-authorized platform or tool which is protected by the UNICEF immunities and privileges and ensure traceability and sound records keeping.
• Coordinate the project cross-divisional governance structures, ensuring alignment and buy-in from all stakeholders at all stages of the project.
• Coordinate the development and implementation of a visual identity and communication plan for UNICARE.
• Oversee UNICARE field-testing in 3 pilot countries.

Fundraising

• Coordinate the development and implementation of UNICARE’s fundraising strategy.
• Coordinate with PPD and engage with public donors and international financial institutions to ensure the financial sustainability of the project.
• Coordinate with PFP and engage with private donors to obtain additional resources, including talent, to support product development and innovation.
• Coordinate the drafting and submission of project proposals and reports to donors.
• Advocate internally within UNICEF for the allocation of the necessary core resources to provision the feedback management governance structures across the organization.

Partnerships Building

• Coordinate the establishment of inter-agency partnerships with UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes, the ICRC, IFRC, and International NGOs working across the Humanitarian-Peace-Development nexus to foster collective approaches to community feedback management, including by joining forces to develop and deploy UNICARE.
• Coordinate the establishment of partnerships with country-level humanitarian-peace-development interagency coordination fora to place UNICARE as a viable option for collective approaches to community feedback management. 
• Coordinate the establishment of partnerships with civil society organizations, academic institutions and think thanks interest in advancing the current practices around community feedback management.

UNICARE rollout and ongoing support, maintenance, and system improvement

• Oversee the rollout of UNICARE across interested contexts and organizations, including supporting country assessments, community and partners consultations, establishing governance structures, drafting feedback management SOPs, deploying UNICARE digital solution and establishing feedback collection channels, training feedback managers and collectors, as well as documenting best practices and lessons learned.
• Act as L2 technical support for any issues and queries related to feedback management.
• Coordinate with ICTD and vendors to adjust and improve the system based on users’ feedback.

Other

• Perform any other duties and responsibilities appropriate to the purpose of this post, as assigned by the supervisor.

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

Requirements:

• Education: An Advanced University degree in the area of international relations, humanitarian affairs, management, information technology or similar.
• * A first level university degree with an additional two years of experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree
   
• Work Experience: At least eight (8) years of relevant experience, including having worked with the UN and/or NGO with specific focus on coordination and program management.

• Practical field experience in coordination and information Management in humanitarian contexts, including L3 emergencies.
• Experience operationalizing Accountability to Affected Populations and Communication and Community Engagement, including feedback and complaints mechanisms.
• Proficiency in Project Management, especially in Agile methodologies.
• Experience developing and deploying corporate digital solutions.
• Experience coordinating regional and/or global projects.
• Experience administrating RapidPro, InForm and/or Primero systems
• Previous experience with the UNICARE or similar projects is an advantage.
• Strong knowledge of the IASC guidance, tools and processes.
• Working knowledge of Information Security and Data Protection.
• Proven experienced in data analysis and visualisation. 
• Experience in business analysis to verbalise requirements and transform in systems.
• Software: Microsoft Office 365 apps, including SharePoint, Planner, Project and PowerBi; UNICEF platforms, including Vision, Fiori, E-Tools, Primero, U-Report/RapidPro, InForm, Hope, CICA, etc.
• Language Requirements:  Fluency in English (verbal and writing). Strong working knowledge of of another UN language would be an advantage.

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. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates of all underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

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.

In this role, you will collaborate with colleagues across multiple locations. For effective collaboration, we encourage flexible working hours that accommodate different time zones while prioritizing staff wellbeing.

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.