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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, … an advocate….!

In 2021, UNICEF adopted a Gender Policy and Gender Action Plan 2022-2025 (GAP), to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in key areas of UNICEF's work. The GAP specifies five targeted priorities for adolescent girls – adolescent health and nutrition; education and skills; preventing child marriage and violence; menstrual health and hygiene and social protection. It also provides a gender focus on key results in the life course sectoral areas of UNICEF's work: health and nutrition; education; child protection; water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and social protection and also describes a series of actions to establish more gender transformative workplaces in UNICEF, including rolling out family friendly policies and achieving gender parity at all levels of staffing.

At Headquarters (HQ), UNICEF has created a core cadre of gender equality experts dedicated to supporting programmatic and other teams to achieve the targets of the GAP and its successive strategies from 2026 and beyond. This technical and learning hub is in place to provide real-time technical advisory, including generating evidence and lessons learned on good practice approaches; applying tailored guidance on gender transformative programming within existing sectoral programmes; amongst others..

How can you make a difference?

Join UNICEF as a Senior Advisor for Gender Equality, where you'll play a pivotal role in advancing gender equality outcomes for women and girls under the strategic guidance of the Associate Director. Collaborating closely with sector teams in immunization, nutrition, health, WASH, and climate, you will analyze and address gender barriers, empower community frontline workers, and promote solutions to combat malnutrition and reduce maternal and child mortality. You’ll oversee gender equality initiatives in humanitarian contexts and drive resilience against climate impacts, all while mobilizing resources and ensuring rigorous evaluation of effective strategies. If you're passionate about making a meaningful difference in the lives of women and girls, we invite you to apply!

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

 Technical advisory to strengthen design and implementation of priority equity-based programming with a gender lens.

• Provide organizational strategic guidance and technical advice to advance gender integration in sectoral programmes in line with GAP results and Strategic Plan priorities.
• Collaborate with different sectoral programme and other teams in UNICEF to advance girls’ and women’s nutrition and health through gender transformative approaches.
• Oversee UNICEF’s gender and climate action contributions in line with UNICEF’s Sustainable Climate Action Plan (SCAP).
• Provide coordination and guidance to UNICEF’s gender in humanitarian action portfolio.
• Mobilise and nurture partnerships for gender equality in health, nutrition and WASH programming.

• Develop and lead systematic efforts to document outcomes, lessons learned and best practices of gender equality results within key sectors.

• Facilitate learning and knowledge sharing across countries and regions, building on existing communities of practice and knowledge hubs.

Leadership of global partnership, advocacy, communications and innovations for gender equality

• Advance organizational strategic partnerships with key global stakeholders in health, Nutrition and WASH programmes and position UNICEF as a trusted and key thought leader agency in integrating gender across life course results.
• Enhance the integration of gender in sectoral programmes proposals, concept notes and programme guidance for internal and external partners.
• Contribute to UNICEF advocacy priorities relevant to life course results, support the dissemination of research results, and shape UNICEF contributions in key advocacy opportunities (including GAVI board meetings , SUN and Nutrition for Growth meetings , ASWA meetings, Women Deliver, other) 

• Coordinate gender inputs towards the development of key UNICEF frameworks, policies, reports and strategies as they related to gender equality.

Program Oversight:

• Oversee the design and implementation of gender-focused programs and initiatives, ensuring they are evidence-based and effective.
• Monitor and evaluate the impact of gender programs, making recommendations for improvement and scale-up.

Policy Development:

• Lead the formulation and revision of gender equality policies, ensuring alignment with international standards and commitments.
• Conduct thorough research and analysis on gender issues to inform policy decisions

The following minimum requirements:

Advanced university degree in public health, nutrition, economics, sociology, public administration or other social sciences field is required.

Work Experience:

A minimum of 10 years of solid professional experience at national/and or international levels in advancing development outcomes for children and women, including with a gender perspective. is required.

Previous experience in creating program technical guidance or implementation requirements is also required.

 Desirables/Assets:

• Strong track record in leading and managing programs and projects for success, including effective resource mobilization and fund management.
• Demonstrated success in developing proposals and securing resources for initiatives with a strong gender component.
• Leads people and teams with maturity, generosity and empathy; inspires supervisees to deliver high quality results and creates a collaborative, energised work environment.
• Experience managing programs for results in the Global South, including in fragile or humanitarian settings.
• Proven rigor in analytical, conceptual and programme design skills relevant to gender and development with an understanding of theory of change and path from intervention to results.
• High level of initiative and independence in ability to undertake complex tasks while proactively seeking relevant input, cooperation, and guidance from key constituents.

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.

 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…

• Builds and maintains partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Works collaboratively with others 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children.

All selected candidates will 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.

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:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.

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.

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.