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.

For every child, support

Background

The UNICEF Division of People and Culture (DPC) has reshaped its vision to enhance a people-centric approach as an enabler of the UNICEF Strategic Plan. The Global People and Culture (PC) Delivery Model places people at its center and looks at PC services from the individual staff member experience. It includes elements such as well-being, culture, policy frameworks, and tailored, people-centric solutions for workplace situations. It is founded on the UNICEF values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability & Sustainability.

The People Experience approach recognizes the psychology of work, staff physical and mental well-being, and respectful relationships as critical to the recruitment, engagement, development, and retention of staff. For the organization, this approach offers clear advantages: increased commitment, improved performance, and less counterproductive behaviors. For the individual staff member, it offers greater work-life balance and satisfaction, increased motivation/engagement, and better work relationships.

The model is targeted to enable a more dynamic, empowered, and competent workforce to deliver optimally for every child. It balances the needs of its workforce and those of the organization to attract and retain the right talent thereby making UNICEF the employer of choice.

Purpose

DPC has introduced several concrete initiatives to bring about transformational changes, including the engagement of external reviewers for performance rebuttal cases to ensure neutrality, objectivity, and efficiency.

In this regard, DPC seeks to contract a home-based consultant to review performance rebuttal requests, through the various available virtual platforms, as and when rebuttal cases are submitted by UNICEF staff members, based on an agreed fee. The contract may be up to three years in duration and drawn upon as needs for rebuttals arise.

The consultant will work primarily with a P&C Officer in the Performance Management, Retention and Recognition (PMRR) team, DPC and under overall guidance of P&C Manager in the PMRR team. A dedicated team member will liaise and coordinate with the consultant in facilitating the rebuttal process. The consultant’s work will be monitored and evaluated by DPC.

Objective:

In keeping with the UNICEF PC delivery model of ensuring people-centric service delivery, the Long-Term Agreement will facilitate an efficient and objective review of the rebuttals as and when received in support of enhancing better staff engagement and relations.

How can you make a difference? 

Key Tasks:

Under the overall guidance of the P&C Manager, and ongoing contact with the P&C Officer in PMRR team, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

• Review and assess rebuttal requests assigned in a timely manner,
• Review relevant documents submitted by the staff member and supervisor involved; and if    necessary, collect further information/documentation,
• Conduct interview(s) with staff member, supervisor, and any other relevant parties,
• Prepare a rebuttal report with findings and recommendations on the case to submit to the Director DPC,
• Advise the  Director PC on the observations made on performance management-related practices and/or other concerns in the cases reviewed,
• Suggest any changes/adjustments to UNICEF policy/process based on rebuttal review experience, and possibly with reference to other organizations’ policies and practices,
• Support DPC in preparing other report(s) on rebuttal, and documenting good practices and lessons learned in the rebuttal process,
• At the request of DPC, provide support to reviewing informal cases,

Deliverables:

• A rebuttal report covering the case background, review process, analysis of information, and recommendations to be submitted to DPC normally within 15 calendar days from receipt of rebuttal documents. The report should cover at minimum, the case background, review process, analysis of information and documentation collected/reviewed, and recommendations about the performance rating(s) and related comments (if any),
• Submit a summary of the good practices and lessons learned, where applicable,
• Inputs and contributions to DPC report(s) on rebuttals (if required),
• Advice to Director DPC on practices and/or concerns observed in specific cases,
• Suggestions on changes to the performance management policy/process,
• A brief report on support provided to ad-hoc/informal cases (if any). 

Duration of LTA:

The Long-Term Agreement will be for a duration of Two years with the possibility of extension for one more year (max. 3 years). The services of the consultants selected under the LTA may also be made available to other UN agencies.

Technical Evaluation

The selection of the consultant for the LTA will be based on technical evaluation and financial offer in the ratio of 80:20.

Criteria	Marks
	Min	Max
1. Relevant Education	7	10
2. Relevant years of experience.	14	20
3. Rebuttal Review Experience (UN experience as an added advantage)	15	30
4. Skills in people management	14	20
Sub-Total: Candidates will be shortlisted based on the review of sub-criteria 1, 2, 3 and 4 as listed above. Candidates who score an overall minimum score of 50 marks.	50	80
TOTAL TECHNICAL SCORE	50	80
Candidates who meet the overall minimum qualifying marks of 50 and score the minimum cut-off in each of the above sub-criteria will be considered technically responsive, and their financials will be opened for further review.
Financial Score                                                                                                                       The selection of the consultant will be on the basis of the technical evaluation and financial offer in the ratio of 80:20		20

Payment Schedule

The LTA to be signed will have a fixed fee rate reflecting deliverables and including daily fee for thirty-six (36) months. However, UNICEF does not guarantee that any quantity of services will be purchased during the term of the LTA as this will depend on forthcoming requests.

The consultant is expected to provide a quotation for the services he/she will provide during the application.

Contracts Created Against The LTA.

Whenever rebuttal reviews are required, details of the rebuttal will be presented according to the availability of the LTA holder.

Upon receipt of confirmation of availability and interest in the assignment, a contract will be issued with the prices/fees agreed in the LTA. The consultant must sign the contract prior to commencement of work.

Payment will be made after the completion of deliverables and submission of invoices for the actual work completed, subject to satisfactory performance.

How To Apply:

The application is to be submitted through the online portal and should contain three separate attachments:

1. A Cover letter explaining suitability for the position (to be uploaded online under the “Cover Letter” tab)
2. Curriculum Vitae (CV) (to be uploaded online under the “Resume” tab)
3. A financial proposal as per the template attached must be sent in PDF format to dhr-financial-proposals@unicef.org:.  Please do not forget to specify your name in the file while saving. 

Important Note: Please do not indicate financials anywhere else in the online application form, please mark "n/or 00", under the fee-related questions in the online application form.

Without all the above 3 documents, your application will be considered incomplete and invalid and may not be considered further.

• Any attempt to unduly influence UNICEF’s selection process will lead to automatic disqualification of the applicant.
• Joint applications of two or more individuals are not accepted.
• Please note, UNICEF does not charge any fee during any stage of the hiring process.
• Persons from all gender, ethnicity, and religious background meeting the requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds including persons living with disabilities to apply.
• General Terms and Conditions for the Consultancy Contract are attached, for your reference.
• Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

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

• Education: Master's degree or equivalent (Advanced degree) in People and Culture Management (or Human Resources Management), Psychology, Business Administration, Law, Public Administration, or a relevant social sciences field. A first university degree and additional 5 years of relevant experience may be considered in lieu of an advanced degree.
• Work experience: A minimum of three years of extensive experience handling sensitive and confidential matters in people management, including case management, performance management, rebuttals, and performance improvement plans.
• Excellent written and verbal communication in two UN official languages, English and French and/or Spanish and/or Arabic.

Desirables:

• Skills: Strong organizational, analytical, and interpersonal skills, good judgment, high sense of responsibility, tact, and discretion.
• Recognized professional certification in Human Resources Management is highly desirable,
• Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.
• Relevant experience at diverse cultural context, 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. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. [RM1] If you require any accommodation during the recruitment process, 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.

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.

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.