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For every child, the right to education
The UNICEF Country Office Development and Support (CODAS) section within the UNICEF Private Fundraising and Partnerships Division (PFP), based in Geneva, Switzerland, provides strategic and operational support to Country Offices (COs) and Clusters to strengthen Private Sector Fundraising (PSFR) performance globally.
To support a global initiative aimed at enhancing internal processes for the hiring of payment technology services for fundraising operations across multiple country offices, PFP is seeking a Project Manager Consultant. This project involves coordination across multiple regions, diverse stakeholder engagement, and adherence to strict timelines and budgetary constraints.
The Project Manager Consultant will support the work of the PFP Digital Transaction Group, a cross-cutting team set-up to enable UNICEF offices to use the best possible payment technology vendors. This role should ensure the alignment of the group’s activities with organizational objectives and best international practices. Given the project's complex global scope, the ideal candidate must possess extensive project management experience, excellent communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills, with proven experience in managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects across cultures in an international environment.
How can you make a difference?
Scope of Work:
Under the supervision of the Private Fundraising and Partnerships Division (PFP), the consultant will focus on strengthening the coordination and operational effectiveness of the Digital Transaction Group, the assignment will prioritize the continuous tracking of priorities and requests received from Country Offices (pipeline), the consolidation of progress through a results-oriented report with actionable recommendations, and the review and updating of relevant internal procedures and standards. Through close engagement with key stakeholders, the consultant will support timely decision-making, ensure alignment across functions and regions, and contribute to the ongoing improvement of processes related to payment technologies for fundraising operations. The consultant will:
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Coordinate Transaction Group activities, including organizing meetings, setting the agenda, providing meeting summaries and action items, deliverables and timelines. Develop and maintain internal procedures and standards, as needed.
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Engage with members of Transaction Group and key stakeholders, as needed, to solve issues, bottlenecks and prioritize action items.
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Deliver a Results Report assessing planned versus achieved outcomes of a sprint‑based execution cycle, including key results, gaps, bottlenecks, and recommendations.
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Support and update strategy/narrative documentation, such as presentations, guidance documents, SharePoint site, etc.
Work Assignments Overview - Deliverables/Outputs - Timeline
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Monthly project management review and facilitation of quarterly reporting
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Maintain monthly project presentation progress/activities to Digital Transaction Group.
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End of month – May 2026, June 2026, July 2026, August 2026, September 2026, October 2026
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Pipeline and priority list management
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Ongoing management of internal request pipeline and updates to Priority List of PSPs/APMs and Banks. – canalizing with Transaction Group or other stakeholders as needed.
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End of month – May 2026, June 2026, July 2026, August 2026, September 2026, October 2026
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Snapshot and Final Results Report on FSPs sprint
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Short interim report summarizing early progress, key gaps, and immediate recommendations. Full assessment of planned vs achieved outcomes, including bottlenecks and recommendations.
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Snapshot interim report by early June-July 2026. Full report by end of August-September 2026.
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Live PSPs/APMs status
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Development ‘live’ priority list and inventory using the best available internal system.
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Update internal channels and documentation in line with ‘agile activation’ (i.e. intranet pages) with documentation and processes, as define together with the transaction group.
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To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Education:
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Advanced university degree (Master’s level or equivalent) in Project Management, Business Administration, Public Administration, International Development, International Relations, Information Systems, or a closely related field.
Experience:
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A minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in senior project management roles, preferably in international, development contexts, is required.
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Strong expertise in project coordination, planning, tracking, and delivery, including follow‑up of pipelines, priorities, and action items.
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Demonstrated experience producing results‑oriented management reports, including analysis, identification of bottlenecks, and actionable recommendations.
Language:
- Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) 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
Remarks:
Please indicate your all-inclusive (lump sum) fees in USD against the deliverables listed above. If there is a need for business travel, the travel costs will be covered by UNICEF separately. The office selects the individual based on best value for money.
Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.
The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.
UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.
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. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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.