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.

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

For every child, an education

Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa and is the second most populous country on the continent with an estimated population of 115 million. It borders six African countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, and covers 1,104,300 square kilometers. Approximately 85 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Ethiopia represents a melting pot of ancient cultures with Middle Eastern and African cultures evident in the religious, ethnic, and language composition of its people.

Over the past two years, children and their families across Ethiopia faced multiple and complex emergencies, such as the conflict in the northern Ethiopia and the drought, which resulted in millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. UNICEF has programmes in Child Protection, WASH, Health, Nutrition, Social Policy, and Education and serves over 15 million children in Ethiopia. Join UNICEF Ethiopia to contribute to improving the lives of children and women.

How can you make a difference

Roles and responsibilities:ies:yuuyk? 

Provide programme management advisory support at regional level.

• Provide inputs and coordinate with national and regional authorities during the development of annual workplans, continency plans and emergency response plans, including developing strategies and determining priorities/targets for performance measurement in coordination with the programme colleagues at national level.
• Coordinate work progress monitoring and ensure results for the education programme in Tigray are achieved according to schedule and performance standards and report to Chief of Education and Chief of Field Office, critical issues for timely action.
• Provide technical assistance/advice to colleagues in the Section on all aspects of programming and implementation for the education in emergencies response, recovery and system strengthening, to ensure integrated programming with other sections and enable colleagues to achieve program/performance objectives.
• Provide advice and inputs to the chief of section and senior management in providing quality assurance for proposals, donor reports and management of strategic partnerships for the education programme.

Program Development and Planning

• Plan and/or provide technical assistance and operational support to the preparation/design and conduct/update of situation analysis to ensure that current comprehensive and evidence based data on EiE, accelerated education, distance and digital based learning, early education system recovery, education in emergency, non-formal skills development, disability and inclusive education issues (among others) are available to guide UNICEF’s strategic policy advocacy, intervention and development efforts and set program priorities, strategies, design and implementation plans.
• Keep abreast of national/regional/international development priorities on education, peace-building education, skills development for out-of-school adolescents and young people and digital learning technologies.
• Spearhead and coordinate efforts to develop alternative learning pathways for OOS A&Y people to access secondary and non-formal vocational skills training, in coordination with the protection, SBC and other UNICEF programme sections.
• Formulate, design and prepare inputs for programs/projects proposal related to education in emergencies and system recovery for the sector, ensuring alignment with the overall UNICEF’s Strategic Plans and Country Program and coherence/integration with UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDF), regional strategies and national priorities.
• Coordinate with national colleagues to establish specific goals, objectives and strategies and implementation plans for the Education programme using results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare required programme documents with implementing partners for program review and approval.
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies and to determine priorities/competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete planned results for the Education programme.
• Provide authoritative technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of the education programs/projects in Tigray and Northern Ethiopia with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

Program management, monitoring and quality control of results.

• Plan and/or collaborate with monitoring and evaluation initiatives to establish benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN cluster system indicators, to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence, and delivery of concrete and sustainable results in education in emergencies programs.
• Participate in rapid assessment exercises, major monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual reviews with implementing partners and other counterparts to assess progress and to engage stakeholders to take required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare/assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths/weaknesses in program and management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Monitor programs/projects to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Plan, monitor and control the use of program resources (financial, human, administrative and other assets) certifying/verifying compliance with organizational rules, regulations and procedures, donor commitments and standards of accountability and integrity. Ensure timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Submit/prepare program/project reports related to education the Education Programme in Tigray to donors and other partners to keep them informed on program progress and critical issues.

Advisory services and technical support

• Provide technical advice to key government officials, NGO, implementing partners, Education cluster partners, UN system and other country office partners on policies, strategies, best practices, and approaches on education in emergencies, early system recovery, and harnessing the humanitarian-development nexus (among other related issues) to support program development planning, implementation and delivery of results.
• Coordinate/ensure the availability of technical experts (with Regional Office/HQ) to ensure timely support throughout all stages of programming/project processes.
• Participate in strategic discussions to influence policy and agenda setting for combating poverty and all forms of discrimination against women/children by advising on and advocating strategies and approaches to promote universal access to and equitable and inclusive education for children in Tigray and Northern Ethiopia, with a focus on the humanitarian affected children.
• Prepare policy papers, briefs and other strategic program materials on education and education in emergencies for management use, information and consideration.
• Participate in annual planning exercise with the Regional Education Bureau and provide technical advocate and leadership to ensure emergency preparedness and disaster risk reduction, and contingency planning is reflected within both UNICEF and sector plans at regional level to ensure proactive and appropriate response are in place to meet onset of emergencies nationally or other designated locations.

Advocacy, networking, and partnership building

• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking and advocacy with local/national governments, UN system agency partners, donors, internationally recognized institutions, NGOs, funding organization, research institutes and private sector to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities to promote goals and achieve sustainable and broad results on education.
• Prepare communication strategies and implementation plans and activities for maximum communication impact and outreach to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances for sustainable results and support fund raising for UNICEF and Country Office education programmes and emergency interventions.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in Inter-Agency (UNCT) discussions and planning on education in emergencies and related issues to ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UN planning process in the humanitarian planning and agenda setting. Collaborate with Inter-Agency partners/colleagues OCHA, UN clusters planning and preparation of programs/projects including emergency preparedness.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Promote critical thinking and innovative approaches and good practices for sustainable education in emergencies programs/projects initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory services and promoting the HDN.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce and implement best and cutting-edge practices on education in emergencies, early recovery, accelerated education, disability inclusion, and management and information systems. Institutionalize and disseminate best practices and knowledge learned.
• Contribute to the development of policies and procedures and introduce innovation and best practices to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programs and projects.
• Organize/plan/implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders to promote sustainable results on education in emergencies and related programs/projects.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  JD- Education Specialist P3.docx

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Masters' degree in a subject area relevant to the education programme needs, education, primary education, teacher training or social sciences.
• Work Experience: At least At least 5 years progressively responsible humanitarian work experience with UN and/or NGO, including programme management and/or coordination in the first phase of a major emergency response.
• Specific substantive and technical experience in emergencies programme planning, management, and/or research in education at the international level, some of which preferably in a developing country is required.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset. 

Desirables:

• Good understanding of the overall global development context, including issues such as: poverty, conflict, and the impact of these factors on education and vice-versa; and inter-sectoral approaches to address such issues in collaboration with other sectors (including Social Policy, Child Protection, Nutrition, WASH, Health, and Communications within UNICEF).
• Good knowledge of global developments in education in emergencies and international engagement strategies, including the application of the equity lens and human rights perspectives to programming.
• Good ability to support policy dialogue: translation of analytical findings and evidence into development programmes and policy discussions around equity and learning with partners, including government, development partners, CSOs and academia in relevant areas.
• Good education in emergencies and policy sector analysis capacity, including understanding of the Core Commitment for Children (CCC), core education data sets, indicators, tools for analysis of equity, determinants of student access and learning, budget, cost and financing, education system management, UN Cluster system, political economy, and application to education in emergencies and strategic planning.
• Good ability to support engagement with partners (e.g. Sector Wide Approaches, Global Partnership for Education, Education in Emergency Clusters and Technical Working Groups, Education Donor Groups, Delivering as One, Inter-sectoral partnerships such as in ECD and adolescent skills development), as well as networking with other key partners.
• Good education in emergencies planning knowledge/ability, including the range of modalities for delivering education in emergencies, linkages between different sub-sectors (e.g. ECD, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Inclusive Education), key institutional structures, components, and processes, as well as governance issues.

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…

Builds and maintains partnerships (1) 

Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (1)

Drive to achieve results for impact (1)

Innovates and embraces change (1)

Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

Thinks and acts strategically (1)

Works collaboratively with others (1) 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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 measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, 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. For this position, eligible and suitable a female candidates and persons with disability 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.

Visa residence requirements: i.e.: UNICEF shall not facilitate the issuance of a visa and working authorization for candidates under consideration for positions at the national officer and general service category.]

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.