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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, hope…

The Office of Innovation (OoI) works to collectively catalyse the expertise and resources of UNICEF and a diverse partner ecosystem to ideate boldly and scale effective solutions swiftly for transformational achievement of the child-related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.  The OOIis doing this by advancing innovative partnership models, investing across a range of early stage and cutting-edge technology solutions, and continuously iterating and finetuning the most promising innovative solutions for results at scale for every child globally.

How can you make a difference? 

The Partnership Manager position will deepen collaboration with key Office of Innovation (OOI) stakeholders and be responsible for leading management of the OOI partnership portfolio of high value government and private sector donors. Additionally, the role will oversee the offices prospecting effort to drive increased resource mobilization for the office. S/He will also be responsible implementing best practice partnership management and prospecting across the OOI partnership network of colleagues.  S/He may also serve as focal point and resource for colleagues on specific thematic areas of strategic relevance for partnership development. The key result is to ensure greater visibility and scale for UNICEF OOI’s influence in support of its mission.

The Partnership Manager is an authoritative expert in the field of partnership development and resource mobilization. This position is responsible for the execution of managing broad and complex assigned work-plans, and responsible for regularly supporting senior management in strategic partnership direction and design. Subsequently, it is expected that the successful candidate develops original and innovative means to help advance the profession and also tackle highly complex matters that do not follow established patterns.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

• Support senior advisers and senior management in establishing the annual partnership work plan, setting priorities/targets and performance measurements.
• Monitor work progress for the partnership unit and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards.
• Lead the overall governance and relationship management of OOI’s high value partnerships portfolio of existing donors in coordination with the OOI partnerships network and other UNICEF colleagues as required. Including the development and implementation of annual partnership engagement and development plans.
• Seek and secure new partnerships, including resource mobilization, working with UNICEF colleagues to identify partnership and resource mobilization needs and broker dialogues and agreements to meet those needs.
• Develop and maintain deep knowledge and familiarity with current and prospective partners and relevant stakeholder ecosystems, contributing to OOI’s CRM system and building a pipeline of key opportunities.
• Establish clear individual performance objectives, goals and timelines for any team members; and provide timely guidance to enable the team to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently.
• Receive and screen inquiries from potential partners and facilitate communication with appropriate UNICEF staff. Scans and scout’s external environment within designated partnership area for opportunities and risks and shares information in a timely fashion with relevant UNICEF staff.
• Provide strategic, logistical, and programmatic support to OOI management and other UNICEF staff in partner engagement and interaction with assigned partners.
• Expand UNICEF’s network of key interlocutors, both internal and external, to build stronger relationships between UNICEF and governments, other key-decision makers, regional development institutions, foundations, civil society organizations, international financial institutions and/or other relevant constituencies.
• Act as a focal point for identification and pursuit of opportunities for outreach, engagement, policy influence and collaboration, including on how to anticipate and respond to partners’ concerns and priorities, ensure that UNICEF’s interests, perspectives, and knowledge are considered in relevant policy and institutional processes, and ensure that they are fully aware of UNICEF’s perspectives, policies, priorities and capabilities. Contribute to the development and management of initiatives for high-level outreach, including for UNICEF’s senior management.
• Contribute to the development of new partnership practices and approaches, including resource mobilization, by formulating recommendations for action based on on-going monitoring, analyzing current trends within designated partners and formulating recommendations for strategy approaches and message development.
• Contribute to strategies for engagement and the development of communications and advocacy products to enhance UNICEF’s visibility and influence with existing and prospective partners and key stakeholders by providing analysis of the current environment and trends and formulating recommendations for strategy approaches and message development. 
• Perform other related duties as assigned by the supervisor to ensure the success of the team, including guiding, training, and coaching short-term staff, including interns and consultants, as needed.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: JD Partnership Manager_P4_117606.docx

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

Minimum requirements:

Education: An advanced university degree is required in one of the following fields: international relations, political science, communications, international development, or another relevant technical field.

Work Experience: A minimum of eight years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: public affairs, programme management, resource mobilization, external relations, or other relevant area.

Skills:

• Diplomatic and convincing communication and negotiation skills to establish, maintain and grow trusted partnerships for achievement of shared objectives, close and effective working relationships with diverse stakeholders in the innovation/technology for international development ecosystem.
• Authoritative knowledge of international development issues and opportunities that are the mandate of UNICEF as well as procedures in cutting-edge international development cooperation. 
• Authoritative knowledge of best practices in partnership development, with a track record of managing high value public and / or private donors.  
• Demonstrates strong partnership prospecting experience with a variety of high value donor types and experience of securing six or seven figure financial contributions.  
• Ability to establish and manage efficient partnership structures and conduct sound analyses toward prioritizing management and exploration of partnerships.
• Ability to implement clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies, identify priority activities and assignments, adjust priorities as required.
• Skill in the identification of new opportunities or requirements to meet challenges in the field and propose changes.
• The ability to allocate appropriate time and resources for successful achievement of goals and foresee risks and allow for contingencies when planning.
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written.
• In-depth familiarity with political and governmental processes and/or the technology and innovation global ecosystem strong assets.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

Desirables:

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency. [Please do not remove this desirable; it should be present in all advertisements]

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…

Core Competencies

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (3)

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3)

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact (3)

(4) Innovates and embraces change (3)

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (3)

(6) Thinks and acts strategically (3)

(7) Works collaboratively with others (3)

(8) Nurtures, leads, and manages people (2)

Functional Competencies

• Analyzing 
• Persuading and influencing 
• Entrepreneurial Thinking 

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 measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, 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:

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.

In case of any questions, contact us at swe-ooi-recruitments@unicef.org