Current vacancies

Contract Duration – 17 months

Working arrangement: Home 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

Public finance plays a critical role in advancing the rights and wellbeing of children. Transparent, equitable and effective allocation and utilisation of public resources are essential to ensure that children benefit from government budgets, policies and programmes.

This consultancy will support UNICEF’s ongoing efforts to strengthen public finance for children by improving transparency, strengthening analysis of government budgets and expenditure, and supporting advocacy and capacity building initiatives that promote increased and more effective public spending for children.

The overall objective of this consultancy is to support efforts to influence government to be more transparent, equitable and effective in how public funds are allocated and spent for children.

The consultancy is expected to support both confirmed and emerging priorities over the contract period, recognising that public finance reform and advocacy are dynamic and responsive to government processes, policy windows and opportunities.

The consultancy will aim to:

• Strengthen evidence generation by consolidating public finance data at national and regional levels.
• Support development of high quality, timely and accurate budget analysis.
• Support UNICEF’s policy advocacy by preparing materials for engaging policymakers, parliamentarians and academics.

The consultant will provide technical and analytical support across the following workstreams.

• Workstream 1: Budget transparency and advocacy through budget briefs
• Workstream 2: Public finance data systems and dashboards
• Workstream 3: Budget analysis
• Workstream 4: Child budget tagging
• Workstream 5: Desk research on Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG) adoption
• Workstream 6: Child participatory budgeting and capacity building
• Workstream 7: Other Research, Data Collection and Analytical Support

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:  National Consultant for Public Finance for Children.pdf

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Bachelor’s in economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Public Administration, Statistics or Data Science, or other relevant subjects
• Work Experience:
• Minimum of five years’ relevant professional experience.
• Language Requirements:
• Proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia (for analysis of budget documents and engagement with government) and English (for writing briefs and presentations).
• Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:
• Understanding of public finance management systems, budget cycles and fiscal frameworks in Malaysia.
• Understanding of social sectors, including child protection, social protection, and/or health systems in Malaysia.
• Strong interpersonal skills for direct engagement with ministries, agencies, parliamentarians, and academics.
• Strong proficiency in Excel for data cleaning, structuring, analysis and preparation of analytical tables and charts.
• Strong skills in report writing and PowerPoint and visual communication skills to develop presentations, charts and dissemination materials.

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 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.

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

• An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• A separate financial proposal  Financial proposal PF4C Consultant.docx
• Technical proposal: Work samples (optional but strongly encouraged): Applicants may submit up to two samples of previously completed work to demonstrate relevant experience and skills. Submissions should be drawn from past professional work and do not need to be newly prepared for this application.
  Suitable examples include:
  - An analytical report, budget brief, policy note or presentation related to public finance, budgeting or social sector analysis; and/or
  - An example demonstrating data analysis or handling skills (e.g. tables, charts or screenshots from Excel‑based analysis); and/or
  - A PowerPoint presentation demonstrating the ability to translate technical or analytical information into clear, visually engaging slides, such as policy briefings, budget analysis presentations, or internal strategy decks.
  Work samples may be extracts or redacted versions where necessary and should not contain confidential information.

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.