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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 an Advocate

UNICEF’s Global Programme Division drives programme excellence by providing global strategic leadership, policy direction, technical guidance, and evidence-based solutions that connect global policy with country-level action. Through its Centres of Excellence in Nairobi, Panama, Amman, and Bangkok, UNICEF delivers high-quality, demand-driven technical assistance to Country and Regional Offices, governments, and partners across time zones.

The Child Poverty Centre of Excellence focuses on reducing multidimensional child poverty through social protection, livelihoods, and Public Finance for Children. UNICEF’s Public Finance for Children work helps ensure that public budgets and financial systems are transparent, inclusive, equitable, and child-sensitive, so that all children, particularly the most marginalised, can survive, develop, and thrive. This work contributes directly to UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029, Impact Result #3 on reducing child poverty, and to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 10. 

How can you make a difference?

As Social Policy Specialist (Public Finance for Children), you will strengthen UNICEF’s ability to address fiscal and budgetary barriers to child well-being across diverse contexts, including federal, decentralised, fragile, and humanitarian settings.

You will provide high-quality technical assistance and policy advice to UNICEF offices, governments, and partners to make budgets and financial systems more child-sensitive. You will support capacity development in Public Finance for Children, Financing for Development, climate and green financing, generate and share evidence to influence policy reforms and strengthen accountability, and build partnerships with governments, international financial institutions, United Nations agencies, civil society, and academia.

Through this role, you will help advance equitable and sustainable public finance solutions, strengthen national systems and institutional capacity, improve the use of fiscal evidence in decision-making and advocacy, and contribute to sustained investment in children and the reduction of multidimensional child poverty.

Join UNICEF’s Global Programme Division and help advance innovative public finance solutions that improve the lives of children worldwide. As a Social Policy Specialist (Public Finance for Children), you will support UNICEF offices, governments, and partners to strengthen child-sensitive public finance systems, promote equitable investments in children, and address multidimensional child poverty.

You will contribute to Technical Leadership and Policy Advisory Support, providing strategic guidance on public finance for children across diverse country contexts. You will lead Evidence Generation and Knowledge Management to inform policy dialogue and advocacy, and support Capacity Development and Institutional Strengthening to enhance national and subnational public finance systems.

The role also includes Partnership Building and Resource Mobilization, collaborating with governments, development partners, international financial institutions, academia, and civil society. In addition, you will contribute to Programme Planning, Monitoring and Quality Assurance, ensuring high-quality technical support and measurable results that advance UNICEF’s mission for every child.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  Classified Job Descriptions - Social Policy Specialist_00133860 PDF.pdf

To qualify as a champion for every child you will have… 

• Minimum requirements

1. Education: An advanced university degree (Master's or higher) in Public Finance, Economics, Public Policy, Public Administration, Social Policy, or another relevant field is required.
2. Work Experience: A minimum of eight years of progressively responsible professional experience in public financial management, sector financing, budgeting, or fiscal policy in national and/or international development settings is required.
   Demonstrated experience in using PFM evidence to influence budget and policy decisions for children at national or subnational level.
   Strong knowledge in budget analysis, costing, investment cases, and expenditure reviews (e.g., PERs, PETS) in social sectors such as health, education, nutrition, WASH, or social protection.
3. Skills: Excellent analytical and technical skills in public finance and equity-focused budgeting. Strong ability to translate complex fiscal evidence into actionable technical assistance, policy advice and advocacy messages. Proven experience in strategic communication and high-level policy dialogue with governments and partners. Strong writing and documentation skills, including publication of policy papers, research, or technical analysis.
4. Language Requirements: Proficiency in English and French is required.  

• Desirables
1. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.
2. Experience engaging with ministries of finance/planning, international financial institutions (IFIs), and development partners is highly desirable.
3. Familiarity with digital public finance systems, fiscal transparency initiatives, and/or climate financing is an advantage.
4. Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts. 

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 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 are conditional on the selected candidates willingness to comply with current or future vaccination requirements, should UNICEF mandate it for personnel. Failure to comply with such requirements, where applicable and without a duly approved medical exemption from the relevant UN authority, will result in the cancellation of the selection or may lead to other administrative measures, including separation from service.

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. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates are encouraged to apply.

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.

In this role, you will collaborate with colleagues across multiple locations. For effective collaboration, we encourage flexible working hours that accommodate different time zones while prioritizing staff wellbeing.

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

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.