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.

How can you make a difference

Own and drive the end-to-end Data Platform (Azure Databricks) as a product, ensuring it delivers scalable, secure, and high-quality data services aligned with Supply Division strategy. Take full ownership of data pipelines (ETL/ELT), data integration, and data lifecycle management across the organization. Translating business needs into robust, production-grade data products and pipelines, ensuring reliability, performance, and maintainability.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

1. Data Platform Ownership

Act as Product Owner of Azure Databricks platform, including: Workspace architecture, cluster strategy, cost optimization, Data lake / lakehouse design (bronze/silver/gold layers). Define and enforce platform standards, best practices, and reusable patterns. Own platform roadmap: stability, scalability, security, and performance improvements. Ensure platform operational health, including: Platform-level monitoring (clusters, jobs, storage, performance). Capacity planning and performance tuning. Governance of incident management processes across the platform.

2. ETL / ELT & Data Pipeline Ownership

Own end-to-end lifecycle of all data pipelines (batch & streaming). Define and enforce: ETL/ELT standards (naming, layering, orchestration, error handling). Data transformation logic ownership and versioning. Ensure pipelines are: Reliable (SLA-driven with defined uptime and latency targets), Observable (monitoring, alerting, logging, lineage tracking), Resilient (fault-tolerant with retry, fallback, and recovery mechanisms), Efficient (cost & performance optimized). Establish and own: Centralized monitoring framework (pipeline health dashboards, alerts), Automated alerting and escalation mechanisms, Standardized error handling patterns (retry logic, dead-letter queues, failure isolation).Take accountability for: Incident management for data pipelines (L2/L3 ownership), Root cause analysis (RCA) and permanent fixes, Reduction of recurring failures and technical debt. Drive migration from: Legacy scripts / fragmented pipelines → robust, monitored Databricks-native pipelines.

3. Data Architecture & Integration

Define and maintain enterprise data architecture for Supply Division. Establish: Data integration patterns (APIs, event-based, batch ingestion), Interoperability standards across systems (SAP, external partners, internal apps) Ensure single source of truth principles via governed data models. Ensure all integrations are: Traceable (lineage), Monitored end-to-end, Recoverable in case of failures.

4. Data Governance, Catalog & Purview Ownership

Own implementation and evolution of: Microsoft Purview for data catalog, lineage, and governance Define and enforce: Data ownership & stewardship model. Data classification, access control, and compliance standards. Ensure: End-to-end data lineage visibility. Integration of monitoring with governance (data quality + pipeline health). Auditability of data flows and transformations.

5. Data Quality & Reliability Engineering (Strengthened)

Define and implement data quality controls embedded in pipelines Establish: Automated validation rules (schema, completeness, consistency). Data SLAs and quality KPIs. Ensure: Continuous monitoring of data quality metrics. Automated detection of anomalies and failures. Proactive incident detection and alerting. Own: Root cause analysis and resolution of data quality issues. Feedback loops into pipeline improvements. Prevention of downstream impact (fail-fast or controlled degradation).

6. Product & Project Management

Own and project manage data platform backlog (Azure DevOps): Priorities features, operational stability, technical debt, and platform improvements Manage delivery across onshore/offshore data engineering teams Ensure adoption of: Agile Project Management / DevOps / DataOps practices, CI/CD for data pipelines and infrastructure. Embed: Operational excellence into delivery (monitoring, logging, alerting as mandatory deliverables). Balance: Short-term delivery vs long-term platform reliability and maintainability.

7. Stakeholder Engagement & Translation Layer

Act as bridge between business and engineering Translate business needs into: Data models. Pipeline requirements, Data products. Communicate: Data availability, incidents, and risks transparently to stakeholders. Impact of pipeline failures on business processes.

8. Documentation & Standards

Ensure all platform components are well-documented and reusable Maintain: Architecture diagrams, Data flow documentation, Pipeline specifications, Runbooks for monitoring, incident handling, and recovery Drive: Standardization of operational procedures across all data initiatives.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  Project Officer (Data Platform Owner)_P2

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Bachelor or equivalent (First Level University Degree) in software engineering, computer science, business administration or other related social science field is required. Candidates with a Master’s degree in the above field are preferred.
• Work Experience: 2 years of relevant work experience in business/functional requirements eliciting and documenting, project management in the context of implementation of Data engineering and web application solutions are required. Candidates with 5 years and above of relevant experience in business/functional requirements eliciting and documenting, project management in the context of implementation of Data engineering and web application solutions are preferred. Minimum 2 years of experience writing code in Python for data transformation and data ingestion. Proven experience in being an owner and architect of a Data Platform based on of Azure Databricks is required. Experience in working on all levels with Azure DataBricks – from hands-on creating notebooks to defining the platform strategy and managing other Data Engineers. At least 2 Project management certifications – one more general like PMP or IPMA and more specific for IT projects like Prince 2 Practitioner is required. Software development experience is required. Previous knowledge of digital supply chain systems is required. 
• Skills: Azure Databricks, Apache Spark, Python Programming, ETL, Data Engineering, Data Governance
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. 

Desirables:

• Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
• Experience is modern Azure DevOps and Azure cloud deployment practices are considered an asset
• Proven experience in managing IT offshore teams, data teams, and experience in IT vendor management is considered an asset
• Previous experience of working with digital applications within UNICEF or UN system is an asset
• Experience working in a multi-cultural geographically distributed team is an advantage
• 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

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.

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.