Education Specialist, P4, EAPRO, Thailand #103021

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, education! 

As Education Specialist, focus on Learning, you will be part of the Education Section of the UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand. You will be the lead person for the organization’s the learning agenda for the region, through addressing learning crisis, and promoting foundational learning including learning assessment, with emphasis on most disadvantaged children in the region. This will be done through support to UNICEF Country Offices in the region and collaboration with partners at the regional level.

You will report to the Regional Education Adviser and will work with other Education Specialists and ECD specialist of the section. You will also work with other programmes and sections in the office to ensure cross sectoral collaboration and coordination. You will also collaborate with UNICEF HQs on relevant issues.

How can you make a difference?

Under the overall guidance and direction of the Regional Education Adviser, you will be primarily responsible for work in the area of Learning , including learning assessment. You will provide guidance and high-level technical support to UNICEF country offices in the region to strengthen their education programme to address learning crisis, strengthen strategies and initiatives aimed at improving foundational learning as well as undertaking equity-focused learning assessment.

You will be the lead person for UNICEF regional initiatives and partnerships that aim at improving quality and learning, in collaboration with other organizations, such as Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO), ASEAN, as well as UNESCO, and other UN agencies, multilateral and bilateral partners at the regional level. This includes teacher preparation and development, curriculum and pedagogy, assessment, as well as addressing language, inclusive education, gender transformative education, safety in and around schools.

You will be the UNICEF lead for ‘Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics, a regional initiative on Grade 5 student learning assessment in 7 countries in Southeast Asia, co-led with SEAMEO, ensuring technical and financial management, as well as partnership management and resource mobilization. Your responsibility also includes guidance and support to COs and governments to use the data to inform their education policies and plans in order to expedite the learning recovery and accelerate children’s acquisition of foundational literary and numeracy, with a strong focus in equity and gender equality.

You will also work with other programmes and sections in the Regional Office (RO) to ensure the RO’s well-coordinated and effective support to COs with the view to improve learning of children especially different groups of disadvantaged children.

You will be expected to provide quality education support to COs on their Country Programme development and review, RO’s review processes, and reporting.

You will also support the Education section to operationalize its Resource Mobilization strategy, and work on donor proposal development, and report preparation,

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Management and advisory support to the Regional Education Adviser
2. Programme development and planning
3. Programme management, monitoring and quality control of results
4. Advisory services and technical support
5. Advocacy, networking and partnership building
6. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

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

• An Advanced University Degree in education, psychology, economics, sociology or other social science field is required. Given the specific focus on learning and quality education, in addition to the above, a post graduate qualification focusing on critical aspects of learning (e.g. standards, teacher education, assessment, quality assurance) is highly desirable.

• Minimum of 8 years of progressively responsible relevant work experience in programme planning, management, and/or research in education at the international level, some of which preferably in a developing country, is required. Experience working in the UN system agency or UN organization is an asset.

• Familiarity with the East Asia and Pacific region and working to enhance education quality are specific assets given the highly technical focus of this assignment.

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or a language spoken in the EAP Region will be 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

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 (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework 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.
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 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 promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. 

Remarks:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable male/female candidates from programme countries are encouraged to apply.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also 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 cancelled.

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.

Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government 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.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.