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About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines fordeveloping countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

Consultancy: Personal Beneficiary Data Consultant

Duty Station: Programme Group, Social Policy – Humanitarian Cash Transfer

Duration: 1 Jan 2026 – 30 Dec 2026

Home/ Office Based: Remote

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

Undertake field support activities (remote and in country) to UNICEF francophone country offices (including but not limited to Mali, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Haiti, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo) on payment recipients' personal data management function to process individual cash transfers, for families affected by humanitarian crisis and Frontline workers.

Scope of Work:

The tasks below will be performed by the consultant for the country offices mentioned in the assignment above, in close collaboration and division of tasks with HOPE team field support members. The list of countries may be updated by the supervisor during the assignment:

•          Support the global HOPE rollout process and its complementary applications (e.g., Kobo, Aurora, RapidPro, Country Report, Country Workspace) for Frontline workers campaign and humanitarian cash transfers payment during the period of January to December 2026 (Included in deliverable 2 and 3). This includes in country support mission (up to 3 weeks).

•          Coordinate with the HOPE global team to provide tools that streamline the operationalization of cash transfer in countries of assignment. (Included in deliverable 1-2-3)

•              Ensure data protection and information security standards are upheld in the context of the consultant duties with CO. (Included in deliverables 1, 2 and 3)

•              Implement data processing solutions for household and individual information using global and local tools as relevant. (Included in deliverables 2 and 3)

•              Update and draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for data collection, consolidation, and analysis specific to Cash Based Assistance payments to families affected by humanitarian crisis and frontline workers. (Included in deliverables 2 and 3)

•              Conduct Training to UNICEF staff and partners with processes to ensure data quality assurance from A to Z in Cash Based Assistance payments to families affected by humanitarian crisis and frontline workers. (Included in deliverables 2 and 3)

•          Conduct in-country missions to fulfill the above-mentioned tasks as agreed with supervisor. (Included in deliverable 3)

•              Support UNICEF staff in consolidating, cleaning, and analyzing beneficiary and payment databases as per country operation requirements. (Included in deliverables 2 and 3)

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

Work Assignment Overview/Deliverables and Outputs/Delivery deadline

1.Map Country Offices Beneficiary Data Management needs to ensure timely payment of humanitarian cash transfers and frontline workers 

-  Beneficiary Data Management needs overview report

28 Feb 2026

2. Troubleshoot the preparation of payment plans, reconciliation and grievance redressal for frontline workers and families facing humanitarian crisis including updates of payment SOP. The  preparation of each payment plan entails (i) a coordination effort with programme colleagues and partners’ enumerators (ii) the development of registration forms including skip logic and validation for quality assurance (iii)post registration quality assurance to ascertain uniqueness of up to 100,000 payees per batch (iv) development of entitlement formula and targeting formula in python language (v) coordination with finance colleagues for Fund Commitment generation in zHACT1 as per payment plan amount (vi) accompany approval and authorization by relevant CO staff (vii) share encrypted payment list with FSP (viii) troubleshoot any unsuccessful transaction based on API errors and process follow up payment plans (ix) reconcile individual records of payment plan based on FSP data (x) prepare payment plan verification and complete it for representative sample (xi) support finance colleagues and complete zHACT liquidation of FSP advance or reimbursed amounts based on reconciliation and verification

- At least 40 payment plan Reports prepared

30 Dec 2026

3.  Deliver in person/in country data management training, including supervision of registration of payees, deduplication and payments issuance, reconciliation and verification using HOPE UNICEF open source software in at least two country offices.

-  At least 7 Mission reports and training evaluation reports

30 Dec 2026

Qualifications

Education:   

Master's degree in economics, Social Science, Database management, data analytics, computer science or related field is required. Bachelor's degree complemented with relevant industry certifications and two years additional work experience can be considered In lieu of Master degree.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *:

• Minimum 5 years of data and information management system experience, including with multiple stakeholders
• Experience in implementing cash-based assistance programmes in fragile and humanitarian contexts is desirable
• Experience in Beneficiary Data system for cash-based assistance programmes in fragile and humanitarian contexts at field level is desirable
• Experience in business operation environments with a proven track record of interfacing with multiple stakeholders (internal and external)
• Experience in working with UN agencies (UNICEF experience preferred) at interagency level is an asset
• Experience in using mobile data collection and processing applications (e.g.:ODK, Kobo, HOPE)
• Solid command of statistical software for data analaysis (Python, Stata, R or equivalent).
• Good communication & presentation skills (written & verbal) across multiple audiences with the ability to influence others while working in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
• Fluency in French and English
• High motivation, and dedication to deliver results within strict timeframes.
• Experience in programming language (Phyton, Visual Basic, Java) is an asset

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and

- Upload copy of academic credentials

- Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :

• • the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability

- Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.

- At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

- Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory 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.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

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. 

Remarks:  

Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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. Consultants 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.