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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, innovate…
UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives.
The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection, where an organization that works on huge global issues meets the start-up thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions.
UNICEF’s Office of Innovation creates opportunities for the world’s children by focusing on where new markets, ideas and solutions can meet their vital needs. We do this by:
- Connecting children, adolescent and youth communities (or more broadly — anyone disconnected or under-served) to decision-makers, and to each other, to deliver informed, relevant and sustained programmes that build better, stronger futures for children.
- Provoking change for children through an entrepreneurial approach — in a traditionally risk-averse field — to harness rapidly moving innovations and apply them to serve the needs of all children.
- Creating new models of partnership that leverage core business values across the public, private and academic sectors in order to deliver fast, and lasting results for children.
The Global Innovation Strategy 2.0 strategy and aims to achieve critical shifts in the way UNICEF currently works on innovation, building on what has been successful, while also addressing lessons learned and capitalizing on new opportunities. These critical shifts are:
- Setting global priorities based on the needs of children and young people, focusing on those areas with the largest need.
- Focusing on scaling innovations
- Catalysing inventions where no known solution exists.
- Connecting the organization and convening critical stakeholders to solve the most pressing challenges facing children and young people.
These shifts will be enabled by:
- Establishing a portfolio management approach
- Innovative funding and financing and the application of financial engineering
- Ensuring rapid learning and fostering collaboration
- Building innovation culture and competence across UNICEF.
Our team
The Portfolio, Culture & Scale team is an interdisciplinary team tasked with driving the programme-based, problem-led portfolio approach and discipline to drive the innovation culture and scale in countries. With our partners and stakeholders, we focus on convening and collaborating with stakeholders, Programme Group, Regional and Country offices, we identify, validate and scale solution including global initiatives.
How can you make a difference?
Maintain the existing Adolescent & Youth innovation portfolio is supporting a pipeline of innovations, with an increasing number of innovations in the portfolio impacting over 1 million children (in line with UNICEF Strategic Plan Goal H6.1).
Key outputs
- Adolescent & Youth Innovation Portfolio Management: updated problem statement, programme-based innovation priorities, deliver on priorities identified as part of the recent portfolio review,
- Solution management and scale – A&Y solution catalogue, FunDoo progress, including successes, challenges, KPIs, and scale up next steps. Oversee Artificial intelligence Pilot and testing for Fundoo
- Adolescent & Youth Innovation Partnerships & Collaboration:
- Strategic support for new initiatives and solutions – Detailed concepts note and implementation plan for Adolescent Health and Sexual Reproductive Health stream.
- Development of a partnership action report inclusive of engagement strategies with internal and external private sector and development partners such as Gen U, EU etc.
- Lessons learned write- up/blog shared with communication team.
- Adolescent & Youth Innovation Standards & Technical Thought Leadership: Provision of a strategic guidance report focused on the adolescent and youth innovation for Office of Innovation based on institutional knowledge and lessons learned.
- Adolescent & Youth Innovation Advisory & Support to Regions and Countries: Targeted support to UNICEF RO & COs in their implementation and integration of A&Y innovations.
- Capacity development progress report, evidencing work with UNICEF country offices to implement and tailor youth and adolescent innovations.
Your main responsibilities will be:
You will work under the general direction of the P5 Senior Advisor, Innovation (Portfolio, Culture and Scale) and supervision of the P4 Head, Innovation Portfolios & Governance
You will work in close collaboration with other Portfolio Managers, Partners, thematic Programme Group relevant divisions, Regional and Country Offices. The A&Y Innovation Portfolio Consultant will:
- Act as global focal point for Adolescent and youth innovations and ensure close engagement with technical Solutions Leads (e.g., for FunDoo), regions and countries.
- Conclude the ongoing Portfolio Review Process as part of the portfolio evidence process to ensure corporate alignment of updated portfolio, problem statements, and solutions, while working closely with UNICEF Programme Division, MEELR, and relevant stakeholders
- Oversee and facilitate performance and solution management for the portfolio overall, and reporting for specific relevant solutions within the Adolescent & Youth Innovation Portfolio.
- Provide technical innovation support to the Adolescent Health – Sexual and Reproductive Health innovation along with Health Portfolio lead.
- Work with the Partnerships & Comms team to support resource mobilization and communications opportunities for the Adolescent & Youth portfolio.
- Engage with Country & Regional Offices regarding capacity development to adopt and adapt innovations in the adolescent and youth space – including through business modelling and prototype of solutions.
- Establish frameworks to identify adolescent and youth innovations ready for scale.
- Strategic support and other tasks for Office of Innovation around adolescent and youth Innovation.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- An advanced university degree (master’s or higher) in one of the following fields is required: Management, Public Administration, Business Management and related field.
*A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree. - A minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional experience is required at national and international levels in the areas of innovation and/or social and economic development and cooperation.
- Proven portfolio innovation experience in adolescent & youth programmes
- Demonstrated experience in innovation practice working for a UN agency.
- Experience working in UNICEF Innovation is a strong asset.
- Involvement with any of the ongoing adolescent & youth innovation work a plus.
- Experience of designing and managing innovation portfolios, partnerships and country scale is desirable.
- Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
- Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
Travel:
- The consultant is expected to travel to Stockholm Sweden (2 trips), Nigeria (1), Brussels (1) and New York (1) of the consultancy duration for a stay of five (5) nights each with a total of 5 trips. Note that this is dependent on work demands as less/additional trips and days may apply.
- The consultant is responsible for arranging his/her own travel, including visa and travel insurance.
Payment details and further considerations
- Payment of professional fees will be based on the submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.
How to apply:
- Interest applicant is required to submit a financial proposal with all-inclusive fee. Please find attached the financial proposal template
Consultancy Financial Offer template.docx - Financial proposal must include travel costs (economy class) and daily subsistence allowance, if travel is required as per TOR and any other estimated costs: visa, travel/health insurance.
- Applications without a financial proposal will not be considered.
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).
To view our competency framework, please visit here.
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.
UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.
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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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.
Remarks:
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
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.
The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.
Contact: For any queries, please contact: [email protected]
Advertised: 18 Jan 2024 W. Europe Standard Time
Deadline: 24 Jan 2024 W. Europe Standard Time
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