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 for as long as we are needed. 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 professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture., coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to innovation

UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives.

The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection, where an organization that works on huge global issues meets the start-up thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions.
UNICEF's Office of Innovation creates opportunities for the world's children by focusing on where new markets can meet their vital needs. We do this by:

• Connecting youth communities (or more broadly -- anyone disconnected or under-served) to decision-makers, and to each other, to deliver informed, relevant and sustained programmes that build better, stronger futures for children.
• Provoking change for children through an entrepreneurial approach -- in a traditionally risk averse field -- to harness rapidly moving innovations and apply them to serve the needs of all children.
• Creating new models of partnership that leverage core business values across the public, private and academic sectors in order to deliver fast, and lasting results for children.

The Office of Innovation specifically looks to form partnerships around frontier technologies (like drones and UAVs, blockchain, 21st century skills, urban technologies, new banking tools, wearables and sensors, or 3D-Printing) that exist at the intersection of $100 billion business markets and 1 billion person needs – and to identify how they can grow and scale profitably and inclusively.

Our team

UNICEF’s Innovative Finance Hub, based in Helsinki, aims to catalyze global capital in support of children to fill the SDG gap and radically accelerate progress towards the SDGs. It sits at a unique vantage point where an organization working on global issues meets the startup thinking, new ideas, and partners to turn this energy into scalable solutions.

A leading product of the Hub has been the development of Child-Lens Investing, a field to guide investors incorporating child-related considerations in decision-making. Since the publication of the Child-Lens Investing Framework in September 2023, the nascent field has seen significant uptake and interest by the investment community. As the Hub advances Child-Lens Investing through the Child-Lens Investing Framework (CLIF), a critical priority is ensuring that children are recognized as stakeholders within the current sustainable finance landscape. To achieve this, UNICEF will be represented on the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance by an IF Hub delegate. UNICEF is interested in ensuring that child considerations are reflected across existing EU sustainable finance regulations and frameworks; the representative will therefore participate to explore and, where appropriate, influence the integration of child-relevant considerations within these instruments and processes. Beyond influencing policy development, the Hub is also exploring how Child-Lens Investing Framework can be integrated across sustainable finance regulations and guidance to support coherent application in market practice.

The consultant will also work in collaboration with UNICEF’s office in Brussels. The UNICEF Office for Relations with the EU Institutions in Brussels engages with the European Commission and its Directorate-Generals (DGs) on their policies and programmes in all areas relevant to UNICEF’s mission, strengthening our joint commitment towards achieving the SDGs and realizing the rights of every child worldwide.

How can you make a difference? 

Under the direct supervision of the Senior Impact Analyst, the consultant will support UNICEF’s designated representative to the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance and contribute to the Innovative Finance Hub’s broader work on Child-Lens Investing. The consultant tasks will fall under three main areas: (1) support to the work of the Hub representative at the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance (2) targeted market research on EU sustainable finance frameworks and disclosure practices and (3) supporting the IF Hub on the implementation of its multiyear plan. Specifically, the consultant will:

• Support the work of the Hub representative at the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance
  • Overall - Build internal knowledge on EU sustainable-finance regulations and practices to directly support meeting preparation and submission documents. This can entail reviewing the relevant EU legal texts, delegated/implementing acts, published guidance, and prior Platform outputs linked to the tasks in section 2.1 of the call. Deliver findings as concise, source-linked memos or tables that can be inserted into the representative’s brief.
  • Before meetings - Prepare meeting materials for the representative to enable the Hub’s recommendations on the tasks set out in section 2.1 of the call. Pre-read official and working documents, identify the points likely to be discussed, and produce concise prep packs for the representative (briefing note, talking points, reference set). Ensure these materials are accurate and ready in advance of each meeting.
    Draft, proof-read and support on the written materials the representative may use or submit during the Platform mandate, focusing on documents that are discussed and formally submitted. This may include contributions to Commission-mandated recommendations for technical screening criteria for new activities and potential reviews of existing ones; analyses related to stakeholder requests under the Stakeholder Request Mechanism; inputs to the follow-up capital-flows report building on the Platform 2.0 methodology. The consultant will also ensure all texts follow Platform formats and length limits, and are delivered by the required deadlines.
  • After meetings - Analyse post-meeting outcomes to inform the next cycle of preparation and submissions. This will include reviewing the representative’s notes and any official materials; identify what was agreed, what remains open, and the implications for upcoming Platform tasks. Convert this into a next-meeting plan that (i) lists the preparatory materials to be developed (briefings, talking points, reference set) and (ii) specifies any documents to be drafted for discussion or submission to ensure the representative is always up to date.
• Conduct a structured mapping of global sustainable finance frameworks to identify where and how CLIF can align.
  • Review the major regulations, frameworks, disclosures and practices (including the EU alongside international and national frameworks) to keep an up-to-date picture of requirements and emerging changes.
  • Map areas of alignment, divergence, and gaps for CLIF across the relevant global sustainable finance regulations and frameworks; produce a report that turn this mapping into actionable guidance for advancing CLIF
  • Engage with NatComs, local country offices and/or centers of excellence to identify potential opportunities and entry points to influence these regulations, ensuring the mapping exercise reflects local realities and informs CLIF’s advocacy and engagement strategy.
• Engage with IF Hub workflows to ensure alignment and full context for the assignment.
  • Participate in the Hub’s weekly team meetings and ad-hoc check-ins to stay up-to-date on the Hub’s priorities
  • Provide ad-hoc support on internal deliverables that draw on the consultant’s expertise. These deliverables include but are not limited to develop concept notes, slide decks, one-pagers, talking points.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  TOR Consultant EU Platform on Sustainable Finance.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:api

• Education: An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in international development, finance, economics, public or business administration, or other relevant field.
  *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 5 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.

• Work Experience:
  • Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible experience at national and/or international level in sustainable finance, ESG policy/reporting, financial regulation, or advisory/consulting.
  • Expert knowledge of ESG standards and EU sustainable-finance architecture, including the EU Taxonomy Regulation and Delegated Acts (TSC, DNSH), CSRD/ESRS, and SFDR.
  • Broad, in-depth understanding of environmental, climate, and social disclosure requirements, with a proven ability to interpret legal/technical material.
    
    
• Skills : 
  • Strong analytical and writing skills under tight timelines; ability to synthesize complex materials into concise, accurate briefs.
     
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required.

Desirables:

• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.
• Familiarity with impact lenses (e.g., gender and climate) and their interoperability within investment and reporting frameworks is a strong asset.
• Good understanding of the rights-based programming environment for children is an asset.
• Experience in working with international organizations or corporations, UNICEF and other UN agencies is an asset.
• Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Travel:

• Travel will be considered for participation in key stakeholder meetings where the consultant will support the Hub with technical expertise and participate in internal and external-facing relevant events during the duration of the consultancy contract. Travel arrangements for 2026 will be determined at a later stage.

Payment details and further considerations

• Payment of professional fees will be based on the 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.

How to apply:

• Interest applicant is required to submit a financial proposal with all-inclusive fee. Please see the financial proposal template.  Consultancy Financial Offer template.docx
• Financial proposal must include travel costs (economy class) and daily subsistence allowance, if travel is required as per TOR and any other estimated costs: visa, travel/health insurance
• Applications without a financial proposal will not be considered.

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…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

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 is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce.

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.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

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.