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This is a re-advertisement, candidates who have already applied do not need to re-apply.

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 for as long as we are needed. 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 professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

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

For every child, the right to a Future

How can you make a difference?

Climate finance is an essential enabler of children’s rights in a warming world. Rising climate risks — from floods and droughts to heat stress and water scarcity — are disrupting health, education, WASH, nutrition and protection systems, placing millions of children at greater risk. Yet, only 2.4 percent of global climate finance supports child-responsive adaptation, leaving critical services underfunded and underprepared. Programme Specialists (Climate Finance) in UNICEF CoEs provide technical assistance to governments and Country Offices on the design and implementation of climate-specific investment projects that enable realization of national climate policies, strategies and action plans. By supporting governments to access and programme resources from multilateral, bilateral and non-traditional sources — including the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Adaptation Fund (AF), and the new Fund for Responding to Loss & Damage — UNICEF helps ensure that climate finance delivers for children. These specialists play a critical role in making climate finance work for children by advising on the adaptation of child-critical sectors and supporting governments to realize their climate ambitions, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), in a child-sensitive way.

The Programme Specialist (Climate Finance), based in UNICEF’s Centre of Excellence in Bangkok, supports the development and coordination of a high-quality pipeline of climate change adaptation proposals and technical engagement with multilateral climate funds (with a focus on the GCF).

The incumbent will provide technical assistance to UNICEF Country Offices, governments and partners to strengthen climate finance readiness, design and implement climate finance projects, and align them with national climate policies and strategies. The role will oversee implementation monitoring and reporting, maintain corporate trackers, consolidate progress updates for senior leadership, and contribute to global and regional policy dialogues. It will also coordinate targeted capacity-building to equip Country Offices with the skills needed to prepare and deliver childsensitive climate finance investments at scale.

By unlocking resources, aligning expenditures with child-focused priorities, and improving efficiency of public spending, this role directly advances UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029 and the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (SCAP) 2024–2030.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

The Programme Specialist (Climate Finance) will be accountable for the following functions, in alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029, the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (SCAP) 2024–2030, and the programme offer of the Centre of Excellence for Climate Resilience: 

1. Technical Advisory on Strategic Planning, Policy Formulation and Review.
2. Evidence Generation and Knowledge Management.
3. Domestic Resource Mobilization and Government-Led Financing.
4. Technical Advisory Support and Capacity Development.
5. Cross-Sectoral Coordination and Policy Influence.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  JD_Programme Specialist_133006.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Climate Change, Development Studies, Environmental Science/Health, Social Science, Engineering, Climate science, Public policy and any other related fields.
  A Bachelor or equivalent (First Level University Degree)in a relevant area combined with 2 additional years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree. This is applicable to internal (FT, Continuing and Permanent) staff only.
• Work Experience: A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible work experience in climate change, environment, or disaster risk reduction project or programme management is required.  Proven track record working with global funding pipelines and developing funding proposals for multilateral climate funds, is required.   Demonstrated experience supporting the design of GCF investment projects, is required.  
• Skills: Climate Finance, Policy Advisory, Knowledge Management, Capacity Building, Strategic Planning, Project Coordination.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. 

Desirables:

• Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
• Climate-focused Programming, Project Management, Results-based Budgeting, Project Implementation, Project Administration, Finance Management.
• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

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

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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 is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates 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.

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

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF's Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

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.