Current vacancies

Contract Duration – 4 months

Working arrangement: Remote

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.

                                                         TERMS OF REFERENCE

UNICEF ESARO is developing Scaling What Works for Children: Compendium of Good Practices in Eastern and Southern Africa to support implementation of the UNICEF Strategic Plan 2026–2029, which calls for a shift away from fragmented, small-scale efforts toward government-led policies and programmes that deliver results for children at scale through differentiated pathways. The compendium will help Country Offices learn from and prioritize system-embedded solutions and will also support partner engagement by demonstrating UNICEF’s value-add in enabling measurable results at scale through policy support, systems strengthening, partnerships, and evidence generation.

The compendium will focus on policies and programmes in Eastern and Southern Africa and will be structured around the five Strategic Plan Impact Results, with three illustrative good practice programmes per Impact Result for approximately 15 cases. Each case will be documented using a standardized FSID-based format to support comparability and practical use for Country Office planning and policy dialogue, complemented by a cross-cutting synthesis of patterns, enabling conditions, and strategic trade-offs.

A short-term consultant is required to augment ESARO capacity to deliver the compendium, ensuring continuity across evidence scanning, coordination, documentation, and consolidation. This consultancy is intended as capacity augmentation and is not a substitute for staff functions. ESARO will retain strategic leadership, analytical judgement, and final decision-making authority for case selection, framing, and validation.

This consultancy contributes to the ESARO Evaluation Section Annual Work Plan 2026 knowledge products and evidence use priorities linked to the Strategic Plan 2026–2029.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:  Good Practices in Eastern and Southern Africa.pdf

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Advanced university degree (Master’s) in evaluation, public policy, international development, social sciences, public health, education, economics, or a related field.
• Work experience: Minimum 8 years of relevant professional experience (P4 equivalent) supporting evaluations, evidence synthesis, systems-oriented programming analysis, and UNICEF or UN knowledge products.
• Language requirements: Excellent analytical, drafting, and written communication skills in English.
• Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:
• Demonstrated experience producing concise case studies, briefs, and synthesis products for decision-makers, with strong drafting and editing skills.
• Experience with Microsoft Copilot tools is an asset.
• Strong understanding of systems change and scaling pathways in development programming, including government-led policy and programme scale-up.
• Knowledge of UNICEF programming, particularly in the ESA region.
• Practical experience in evidence scanning, documentary review, and structured synthesis.
• Ability to apply an analytical framework.
• Demonstrated skill in coordinating with multi-country stakeholders, including facilitating structured consultations with Country Offices and technical staff.
• Able to utilize AI tools or large language models to support evidence processing, with appropriate safeguards, verification steps, and documentation of source provenance.
• Familiarity with UNICEF programme planning and evidence products (Country Programme Documents, explanatory notes, Situational Analysis, Country Programme Evaluations, thematic evaluations, internal reviews) is a strong advantage.
• Must exhibit the UNICEF Core Values of:
  • Care
  • Respect
  • Integrity
  • Trust
  • Accountability
  • Sustainability

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

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 reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. 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.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal, TMS (Talent Management System):

• An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• A separate financial proposal  Financial proposal for Good Practices in Eastern and Southern Africa.docx

Remarks:  

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.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.