Current vacancies

Contract Duration - 4 Months

Working arrangement: Office based

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.

                                                         TERMS OF REFERENCE

Eastern and Southern Africa (ESAR) is among the regions most exposed to climate-related shocks, protracted crises, and recurrent public health emergencies. These risks are increasingly predictable in nature, reinforcing the importance of Anticipatory Action (AA) as a core component of UNICEF’s emergency preparedness, climate resilience, and nexus programming.

This consultancy will support ESARO to clarify its strategic positioning, comparative advantage, priority entry points, and operational roadmap for AA, while ensuring alignment and complementarity with a parallel global initiative on Return on Investment (RoI) and Value for Investment (VfI) for preparedness and anticipatory action.

 Objectives

The specific objectives of the consultancy are to:

1. Identify where and how UNICEF ESARO can play a leading role on Anticipatory Action at regional level, including strategic partnerships, convening roles, and funding opportunities.

2. Identify priority entry points, gaps, and bottlenecks for scaling up AA in the ESAR region, and articulate where UNICEF brings clear comparative advantage and added value.

3. Translate UNICEF’s global Anticipatory Action and preparedness commitments into a coherent, regionspecific approach tailored to ESAR risk profiles and operational realities. 

4. Develop a practical and operational roadmap for 2026-2027 with clear actions for the Regional Office and Country Offices.

5. Ensure ESAR AA strategy alignment and complementarity with the global return on investment initiative on preparedness and AA, avoiding duplication and identifying areas of mutual reinforcement

If you would like to know more about this consultancy on the detailed deliverables and expected outcomes, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:  TMC0001252 External ToR.pdf

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Master`s degree in Humanitarian Studies, International Development, Public Policy, Economics, Climate / Environmental Studies, Disaster Risk Management, or a related field
• Work Experience: Relevant university degree combined with a minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience, including senior-level leadership of Anticipatory Action (AA) portfolios in humanitarian and development settings. Demonstrated expertise in designing and operationalizing Anticipatory Action frameworks, including trigger development, early action protocols, risk analysis, forecast-based financing, and integration of AA within humanitarian coordination and national systems.
• Skills:
• Strong understanding of UNICEF programming architecture, including CCCs, and humanitarian development nexus approaches, with experience embedding AA into planning, budgeting, and resource mobilization processes. Substantial regional or global experience, with proven ability to translate strategic direction into operational guidance and provide advisory support to senior management and multiple Country Offices.
• Excellent analytical and drafting skills, with demonstrated ability to produce concise, strategic, and decision-oriented outputs.
• Provide at least one recent sample of analytical and/or strategic work on Anticipatory Action (e.g., framework, policy note, early action protocol, trigger design document, strategic brief, or donor facing concept note) authored by the candidate.
• Good understanding of Eastern and Southern Africa humanitarian and development contexts
• Solid experience engaging with partners and donors on anticipatory action including climate related financing
• Strong facilitation and stakeholder engagement skills, with experience convening multi-sectoral processes and guiding institutional strengthening initiatives.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English required
• Technical requirement: A brief technical proposal (5 pages max) showing understanding of the ToRs of the assignment, the proposed methodology and feasible workplan

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

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 reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities 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 promoting 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 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.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal (Talent Management System):

• An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• A brief technical proposal: (5 pages max) showing understanding of the ToRs of the assignment, the proposed methodology and feasible workplan.
• A separate financial proposal  TMC0001252 Financial proposal template.docx

Remarks:  

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.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.