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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.

Disasters, climate change, and environmental degradation present significant and escalating threats to the well-being of children globally, jeopardizing the progress achieved in child survival and development. Over a billion children are exposed to severe risks from climate and environmental hazards such as heatwaves, floods, and cyclones. Consequently, it is imperative for countries to establish climate-resilient, low-carbon social services encompassing water and sanitation, healthcare, education, nutrition, social protection, and child protection to tackle current threats and prepare for increasingly severe impacts.

In alignment with our commitment to protect children and young people worldwide, UNICEF launched its Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (SCAP) 2023 - 2030.  The SCAP prioritizes urgent climate action through systematic change in partnership with public and private sectors to prioritize the needs of children and young people and build their resilience to the climate threats at hand.  The SCAP strives to mainstream sustainability and climate action both internally and externally, through protecting the lives, health and well-being of children and their communities; empowering children with developmental opportunities and skills; and reducing emissions and the environmental footprint within UNICEF.

UNICEF is committed to ensuring that policies are inclusive of children and young people’s perspectives and rights and address their unique vulnerabilities to ensure that their health, safety, and well-being are protected now and in the future.

For every child, resilience.

The Programme Specialist shall be responsible for tracking and evaluating the implementation and progress of SCAP programming. This includes monitoring key indicators, assessing performance, and identifying areas for improvement to ensure alignment with strategic goals. Additionally, the Programme Specialist will report on progress and play a critical role in strengthening knowledge management and resource coordination, facilitating the sharing of best practices and insights, and supporting efficient resource allocation to ensure the successful implementation of SCAP initiatives.

How can you make a difference? 

Monitoring and Assessing SCAP progress:

• Develop and implement results frameworks and tools for monitoring UNICEF climate and sustainability programming
• Systematically monitor and review core strategic indicators reported by UNICEF country offices, ensuring they accurately reflect the progress and challenges in implementing the SCAP.
• Analyze these indicators to identify trends, gaps, and areas for improvement, providing actionable insights and recommendations to enhance programme effectiveness and alignment with strategic goals.

Reviewing Country Office Annual Reports:

• Conduct thorough reviews of annual reports submitted by UNICEF country offices, assessing the integration and effectiveness of sustainability and climate change strategies within their regional contexts.
• Evaluate the outcomes and impacts highlighted in these reports, comparing them against established benchmarks and objectives to gauge overall success and areas needing attention.

Compiling Progress and Annual Reports:

• Compile comprehensive progress and annual reports detailing UNICEF's global achievements and challenges in relation to the sustainability and climate change agenda.
• Ensure these reports effectively communicate the scope of work, key accomplishments, lessons learned, and strategic recommendations to both internal and external audiences, including stakeholders and partners.

Compilation of Best Practices:

• Gather and document best practices from various UNICEF programmes and initiatives focused on sustainability and climate change, creating a repository of successful strategies, methodologies, and case studies.
• Share these best practices internally to promote learning and replication of effective approaches across different regions and programmes.

Strengthening Knowledge Management and Decision-Making

• Support in enhancing knowledge management related to UNICEF's sustainability and climate change work, ensuring that crucial information, data, and insights are accessible and usable for staff across the organization.
• Support knowledge-sharing sessions, webinars, and workshops to disseminate key findings, innovative approaches, and new sustainability and climate action research.
• Actively engage in internal and external meetings, bringing a results-oriented and resource-focused perspective to sustainability and climate action discussions.
• Provide expert insights on resource allocation, efficiency, and the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives, contributing to strategic planning and decision-making processes.
• Collaborate with various stakeholders, including programme teams, regional offices, and external partners, to ensure that discussions and decisions are aligned with UNICEF's sustainability goals and resource capabilities.

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

Minimum requirements:

[Include the vacancy requirements aligned to the category and level of the position. You can see examples in the branded VA example.]

Education:

An advanced university degree in climate change, environmental science, engineering, disaster management, International Development, International Relations, Government, Public Administration, Public Policy, Social Policy or other relevant disciplines is required.

Work Experience:

A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in areas related to monitoring, evaluation, resource management and reporting is required.

Language Requirements:

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

Desirables:

• Familiarity with children’s rights in the context of climate change, environmental degradation and disaster risk reduction
• Knowledge on climate, environment, and DRR impacts, assessments, and adaptation solutions considered an asset
• Expertise in monitoring, reporting, evaluation, and developing related tools,  as part of a global/regional role in support of other country offices will be considered an asset.
• Experience working on CEED issues within UNICEF or other international development agencies is considered 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 (2)
• Works Collaboratively with others (2)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

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 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:

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

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.

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.

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.