International - Innovation Consultant, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 6 months (For Non Ethiopian Nationals)
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Job no: 588421
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Addis Ababa
Level: Consultancy
Location: Ethiopia
Categories: Innovation
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 protection
Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa and is the second most populous country on the continent with an estimated population of 115 million. It borders six African countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, and covers 1,104,300 square kilometers. Approximately 85 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Ethiopia represents a melting pot of ancient cultures with Middle Eastern and African cultures evident in the religious, ethnic, and language composition of its people.
Over the past couple of years, children and their families across Ethiopia faced multiple and complex emergencies, such as the conflict in the northern Ethiopia and the drought, which resulted in millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. UNICEF has programmes in Child Protection, WASH, Health, Nutrition, Social Policy, and Education and serves over 15 million children in Ethiopia. Join UNICEF Ethiopia to contribute to improving the lives of children and women.
How can you make a difference?
- Provide technical support to coordinate the country office’s innovation portfolio with ECO programme sections, adapting and localizing prioritized digital solutions.
- Support the co-chair the Innovation Governance Committee
- Support the identification, design, piloting, and sustainability planning for innovative initiatives.
- Advise on sector digital roadmaps and strategies, ensuring coherent architecture and scalability.
- Provide implementation oversight, risk management, and troubleshooting for UNICEF innovation initiatives
(ii)Policy and Strategic Development for Digital-enabled Programming: Advise the team on the implementation of the innovation and DX strategy, tracking milestones, KPIs, and risk/issue logs.
- Advise the team to ensure adherence to the Principles for Digital Development and data security policies.
- Advise the Effective Use of Data Technologies:
- Advise on architectures and tools to unblock data bottlenecks, emphasizing re-use, open standards, and cost-efficiency.
- Strengthen data quality and use, incorporating frontier methods where relevant.
- Align with partners on data governance and investment cases, supporting donor advocacy for digital and data solutions.
(iii)Engage and Maintain Partnerships and Networks:
- Provide technical expertise to develop and steward partnerships to co-create, test, and scale solutions, catalyzing local capacity.
- Support ECO in providing technical inputs to the inter-agency/partner fora on digital development and innovation and UNICEF Regional and global innovation networks.
- Technically support the ECO team to facilitate skill transfer to counterparts and IPs to embed capacities for ongoing innovation-enabled programming.
- Maintain an up-to-date inventory of innovation initiatives and resources relevant to ECO priorities.
- Contribute to and draw from ESARO and global networks to share ECO’s programme results and evidence.
(v)Capacity Building:
- Build staff and partner capacity in data literacy and analytics.
- Co-create strategies with Section Chiefs on how innovation enables Country Programme priorities.
- Design and deliver trainings on innovation methodologies and governance processes.
- Build awareness of the ethical use of frontier technology within UNICEF’s safeguards.
Deliverables/Outputs:
- Overview of current innovation projects and upcoming innovation project plans and provide progress report.
- February progress report
- March progress report
- April progress report
- May progress report
- Final report
Notice for consultancy advert:-
Please note that applications submitted without a fee rate will not be considered.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Minimum requirements:
- Education: Master's Degree in Business Administration, Business Analysis, Data Analysis for Management, Digital Transformation, ICT Management, Computer Science, Science, Innovation, or another relevant technical field
- Work Experience: At least 5 years of professional experience in Information Communication Technology for Development in a large international organization or corporation is required.
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Experience in a large international organization or corporation is required.
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Experience identifying, designing and implementing solutions for large-scale projects with technical components – including supervising external vendors and software developers; responsibility for business analysis, budgets, contracts, project management and procurement, etc.
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Experience with ICT, mobile and web-based technologies, particularly designing or deploying tools appropriate to the region
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Exposure to UNICEF innovation and T4D areas, including UReport, Rapid Pro, Innovation, real-time monitoring initiatives, among others.
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Experience in applying technical solutions to address programmatic issues
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- Skills (optional): [Insert technical and non-technical skills].
- Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
Desirables:
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Experience in open source, mobile and emerging technology applied to UNICEF programme areas
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Experience working in T4D/ICT4D program design, service design, and field deployment/implementation in developing countries
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Experience with RapidPro, Primero, DHIS2, ODK and other global public good technologies, and deploying, maintaining and scaling these technologies
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Software programming experience, with focus on writing new code to deliver enhancements, new functionality, and defect resolution as well as proficiency with source code and continuous integration solutions (such as GitHub, Circle/Travis, Jenkins, etc.)
- 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
[add the 8th competency (Nurtures, leads and manages people) for a supervisory role].
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 female candidates and persons with disability 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.
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.
Advertised: E. Africa Standard Time
Deadline: E. Africa Standard Time