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, a Champion.

As the UNICEF Corporate Partnerships Specialist, you will work as part of the European hub, helping corporations based in the region to take leading roles in advancing children’s rights globally. Specifically, you will work with UNICEF National Committees and with UNICEF PFP Geneva, to build the relationships, value propositions, and partnership structures necessary for successful long-term partnerships with global impact.

The Corporate Partnerships Specialist will be passionate about connecting the resources and capabilities of leading corporations in the region to the needs of children, enjoy the challenge of creating value for corporate partners and their key stakeholders, and be eager to push traditional boundaries of partnerships to maximize their impact.

The Corporate Partnership Specialist will work under the general guidance of the Corporate Partnerships Manager, Partnership Development at UNICEF PFP. The post holder will focus on growing existing partnerships that deliver to UNICEF’s strategic objectives by leveraging financial and non-financial resources and optimizing the reach and influence of the corporate sector.

How can you make a difference?

This post holder will be responsible for working with UNICEF National Committees in Europe region and UNICEF PFP to manage existing high-value partnerships strategically and effectively, expanding their scope and duration to include new geographies and impact areas, in line with UNICEF’s strategic priorities. This includes:

Effectively driving existing high-value partnerships in the region, ensuring programmatic content is activated in line with the partnership strategic framework, reports are delivered to a high standard and on time, fundraising campaigns including customer facing activations adhere to global guidelines and market regulations, partnership communication and advocacy plans are executed, partnership activities are coordinated with all participating UNICEF offices, and all relevant partnership information is shared with stakeholders.

Identifying and pursuing significant (USD 100K+) growth opportunities within existing partnerships, including working with UNICEF PFP, Programme Group, and Country Offices to develop new proposals, build a strong business case for the company, and harness UNICEF’s senior representative's influence to unlock these opportunities.

Working with UNICEF National Committees in the region to identify high-value partnerships that are up for renewal and support them to co-ordinate with internal stakeholders and processes to develop robust renewal strategies and proposals.

Supporting UNICEF National Committees in the region to unlock funding through corporate partnerships for emergencies.

Sharing relevant expertise and skills on challenges faced by UNICEF National Committees in the region on high-value international and national partnerships and filling in gaps in capacity and capability as needed to support the markets’ overall Corporate Partnerships results.

DELIVERABLES:

• Building strong relationships with partners in the region through day-to-day interactions such as answering ad-hoc requests and leading regular partnership calls as required.
• Efficiently coordinating with UNICEF National Committees in the region and UNICEF PFP to ensure successful management of existing partnerships, for example setting up regular internal planning meetings and managing partnership planning tools.
• Leading on wider internal coordination and liaising with UNICEF corporate research, legal, programme, and communications teams to ensure due diligence, proposal reviews. communication planning and contracting is undertaken effectively. Connecting the lead UNICEF National Committees in the region with other National Committees globally to successfully activate multi-country fundraising campaigns.
• Specifically for existing partnerships in the region deliverables include:
  • Coordinating reporting on key programmatic progress.
  • Identifying opportunities to promote the partnership at high visibility UN moments, multi-stakeholder platforms such as WEF, leading industry / B2B events, etc.
  • Coordinating inputs and approvals on global communication activations and materials
  • Developing expansion and renewal strategies and cultivating key influencers to grow partnership funding.
  • Facilitating co-creation workshops to identify new collaboration areas for existing partnerships.
  • Coordinating approvals on partnership contracts, such as amendments and renewals.
  • Coordinating timely updates and providing support to activating markets for multi-country fundraising campaigns.

• Ensuring all relevant partnership information is kept live on UNICEF’s partnership relationship management tool (Salesforce platform), prepare briefing notes when needed and communicate progress of the partnership with internal stakeholders regularly.

Estimated Duration of the contract:

• 364 days.

Reporting To:

• Corporate Partnership Manager, Partnership Development at UNICEF PFP, Rome.

Working Place:

• Geneva, Switzerland.

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

Education:

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: Business Management, International Relations, Social Sciences, Fundraising, or a related field is required.  
• Alternatively, a first-level university degree in combination with two years of additional work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.  

 Experience:

• A minimum of five years of progressively responsible professional work experience in roles that involve management of global programme based corporate/foundation diverse partnerships and an understanding of the corporate sector functioning in the region required. A minimum of two years in an international context is required.
• Proven experience and skills in delivering on proposal development, programme reporting, partnership communications, stakeholder management, and successfully growing corporate partnerships at a US$500K per year and above the funding value required.
• Proven experience working with corporate partnerships in the region is an asset.
• Experience working within corporate fundraising in an international organization and specifically on global customer fundraising/cause related marketing campaigns is an asset.
• Experience working within corporate fundraising in an international organization is an asset.
• UN/UNICEF experience is an asset.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

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...

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drives to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1) are required.

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: our competency framework. 

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 benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, 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.

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.