Current vacancies

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.

For every child, hope.

For more information about our programme, please visit our website:www.unicef.org/esaro/

How can you make a difference?? 

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Regional Political Contextual and Socio-Political Analysis
2. Strategic Advisory Support
3. Stakeholder Mapping and Regional Strategic Engagement
4.  Coordination Support
5. Knowledge management and information sharing

1. Regional Political and Contextual Analysis

• Monitor and analyze political, governance, legislative, and socioeconomic developments across countries in the region, including tracking shifts in political leadership, governance frameworks, legislative agendas, public policy debates, and broader socioeconomic dynamics that may influence the operating environment for UNICEF. This includes maintaining situational awareness across multiple country contexts and identifying cross border or regional trends of relevance to UNICEF’s work.
• Assess the implications of regional and country level political trends, elections, policy reforms, and governance shifts for UNICEF’s mandate, programmes, partnerships, and operations, translating complex political developments into clear analysis of potential impacts on programme delivery and organizational positioning. This includes advising on both risks and opportunities arising from changes in the political and policy landscape.
• Produce high-quality regional political briefs and scenario analyses for the Office of the Regional Director, synthesizing country level and regional insights into concise, decision-ready products.

2. Strategic Advisory Support

• Provide evidence based political advice on emerging risks and opportunities, including anticipating political shifts, advising strategic positioning and engagement options, and proposing risk mitigation or opportunity leveraging measures to support informed decision-making at regional and country levels.
• Support the Office of the Regional Director in preparing for high level engagements with key stakeholders, including by synthesizing political and contextual analysis, and preparing concise, decision ready briefing notes, talking points, and background materials for meetings with governments, UN system leadership, development partners, and other strategic counterparts. This includes coordinating inputs across relevant sections, COE and global divisions as necessary to ensure coherence of messaging, clarity of strategic objectives, and alignment with UNICEF’s regional priorities and positioning.
• Flag emerging political risks affecting programme delivery and UNICEF’s reputation, and propose mitigation measures, This entails assessing the likelihood and potential impact of such programmatic risks for Country Offices and recommending practical mitigation and engagement strategies.
• Support engagement with the Regional Coordination Platform (RCP) by contributing political analysis and strategic insights to inform the development, alignment, and implementation of coherent regional positions. This includes ensuring that political considerations, risks, and opportunities are reflected in RCP discussions, and supporting coordination.
• Provide strategic analysis and advice on UN reform processes, including UN80, by assessing implications for UNICEF’s mandate, positioning, and operating model at regional and country levels. This includes supporting leadership in navigating reform-related shifts, identifying risks and opportunities, and ensuring UNICEF is proactively positioned in inter-agency discussions and evolving UN system architectures.

3. Stakeholder Mapping and Regional Engagement

• Conduct regional stakeholder mapping and political economy analyses, identifying key political influences/policy makers, regional, multilateral and emerging actors, their interests, influence, power dynamics, and relationships. This includes analyzing how stakeholder positions and incentives shape policy decisions, governance outcomes, and the operating space for UNICEF across countries in the region.
• Support regional engagement strategies with governments, regional bodies, UN entities, development partners, and diplomatic missions, as appropriate, by providing politically informed analysis to guide positioning, sequencing engagements, and messaging. This includes advising entry points for dialogue, potential sensitivities, and opportunities to advance UNICEF’s priorities and partnerships at regional and country levels.

4. Coordination Support to the Deputy Regional Director

• Develop Briefing Notes, prepare material, strategic papers, though pieces   for the ORD’s high-level engagements (e.g UN system coordination, regional management team, government and partner meetings), ensuring materials are politically informed, coherent, and decision ready.
• Draft and quality assure talking points, briefing notes, and strategic correspondence, ensuring clarity, factual accuracy, and alignment with UNICEF’s positioning
• Serve as a focal point for rapid synthesis of inputs across sections, including gathering and integrating analysis from relevant leads to support timely decision making and senior engagements.
• Serve as a coordination focal point for follow-up on agreed actions and decisions arising from meetings and engagements, liaising with relevant internal stakeholders to support timely implementation and information flow.
• Support coherence between political analysis, programme priorities, and management considerations by ensuring that relevant risks, sensitivities, and contextual insights are reflected in materials prepared for the ORD.
• Support preparation for official missions and priority meetings by coordinating with relevant internal stakeholders to ensure the ORD has complete background information, risk sensitivities, and key asks.
• Provide liaison support, as requested, with internal and external counterparts (e.g., other UN entities and senior offices), ensuring politically consistent messaging and follow through on agreed actions.

5. Knowledge Management and Information Sharing

• Maintain regional political analysis tools, trackers, and knowledge products, including developing and updating repositories, dashboards, and analytical frameworks that consolidate country level and regional political insights. This ensures consistency, comparability, and ease of access to political analysis across the Regional Office and Country Offices.
• Ensure timely dissemination of key political insights and political economy to relevant regional and country level stakeholders, including the ORD, Regional Management Team, Deputy Representatives, Regional Advisers, and selected Country Office leadership, through regular briefs, updates, and targeted analytical notes that support decision making, planning, and risk management.
• Capture lessons learned and contributed to institutional knowledge on regional political economy analysis, including documenting good practices, emerging patterns, and contextual insights from across the region, and integrating these into regional guidance, planning processes, and knowledge sharing platforms.

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

Minimum requirements:

Education: Advanced university degree in Political Science, International Relations, Public Policy, Development Studies, Law, or a related field.

A university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

Work Experience:

• Minimum eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in political analysis, governance, policy advisory, international development, or a closely related field.
• Experience providing substantive, strategic, and confidential advisory support to senior level officials, including the preparation of policy briefs, analytical reports, briefing notes, and high-level correspondence on sensitive and politically complex issues, to inform management decision making and external engagement.
• Proven experience in providing high level coordination support, including managing and synchronizing inputs across multiple sections and offices; overseeing workflow systems, monitoring tools, and tracking mechanisms; and ensuring timely follow up and implementation of priority actions and senior management decisions in complex, multistakeholder environments.
• Experience in data analytics to support evidence-based analysis, risk assessment, and decision making is desirable.
• Experience working with or within the UN system or a comparable international organization is an advantage.

4. Language Proficiency [ III ]

Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of French and Portuguese is 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)

Functional Competencies

• Political judgment and regional contextual awareness
• Analytical thinking and synthesis
• Diplomacy and stakeholder engagement
• Clear, concise policy and briefing writing
• Strategic coordination and executive support
• Discretion, confidentiality, and sound judgment

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. AtIn UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

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’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children.

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.

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.