Vacancies at UNICEF

The Health Specialist (PHC, CHS) supports the development and preparation of the health programme and is responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and reporting the programme progress of a sector of the health programme (PHC, CHS) within the country programme. The Health Specialist (PHC, CHS) provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the administration and achievement of concrete and sustainable results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM), organizational Strategic Plans and goals, standards of performance, and accountability framework.

• Support to programme (PHC, CHS) development and planning
• Support and contribute to the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis for the sector(s) to establish a strategic plan for development, design and management of health-related programmes (PHC, CHS). Keep abreast of development trends to enhance programme management, efficiency and delivery.
• Participate in strategic programme (PHC, CHS) discussions on the planning of health programmes. Formulate, design and prepare a sector of the health programme proposal, ensuring alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, the Country Programme, as well as coherence/integration with the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDSCF), regional strategies, and national priorities, plans and competencies.
• Establish specific programme (PHC, CHS) goals, objectives, strategies, and implementation plans based on results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare required documentations for programme review and approval.
• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies, and to determine national priorities and competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results (PHC, CHS).
• Provide technical (PHC, CHS) and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programmes/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.
• Programme (PHC, CHS) management, monitoring and delivery of results
• Plan and/or collaborate with internal and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators, and other UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurements to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the assigned sector in health programmes (PHC, CHS).
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme (PHC, CHS) reviews and annual sectoral reviews with the government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare and assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths and/or weaknesses in programme management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Actively monitor programmes/projects (PHC, CHS) through field visits, surveys and/or exchange of information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks, potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Monitor and verify the optimum and appropriate use of sectoral programme (PHC, CHS) resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity, ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Prepare regular and mandated programme/project reports (PHC, CHS) for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.
• Technical and operational support to programme (PHC, CHS) implementation
• Provide technical guidance (PHC, CHS) and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the interpretation, application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, and best practices and approaches on health-related issues to support programme development planning, management, implementation and delivery of results.
• Participate in discussions with national partners, clients and stakeholders to promote health (PHC, CHS) and development issues, especially in the areas of gender, emergency preparedness, maternal and neonatal health, and child survival and development.
• Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme (PHC, CHS) materials for management use, information and consideration.
• Participate in emergency preparedness initiatives for programme (PHC, CHS) development, contingency planning and/or to respond to emergencies in country or where designated.
• Networking and partnership building (PHC, CHS)
• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with health sector (PHC, CHS) government counterparts, national stakeholders, as well as global partners, allies, donors, and academia. Through active networking, advocacy and effective communication, build capacity and exchange knowledge and expertise to facilitate the achievement of programme goals on child rights, social justice and equity.
• Prepare communication and information materials for CO programme (PHC, CHS) advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships/alliances, and support fund raising for health programmes (maternal, neonatal and child survival and development).
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) discussions and planning on health-related issues (PHC, CHS) to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNSDCF planning and preparation of health programmes/projects, ensuring organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNSDCF process in development planning and agenda setting.
• Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building (PHC, CHS)
• Apply and introduce innovative approaches and good practices to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders, and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
• Keep abreast and conduct research to provide evidence for implementation of best and cutting edge practices in health.
• Assess, institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects.
• Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of stakeholders to promote sustainable results on health-related (PHC, CHS) programmes/projects.

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

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: public health, pediatric health, family health, community health (CHS), primary health care (PHC), health policy and/or management, epidemiology, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of five years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: community health, primary health care, public health, health policy, planning and management.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as 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.

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…
Core Competencies

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (1)
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
• Works Collaboratively with others (2)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drives to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

Functional Competencies

• Analyzing (2)
• Deciding and Initiating action (2)
• Applying technical expertise (3)

Deadline: 14 Jan 2024 

go to method of application »

• This proposal will support all facets Goal Area ‘Safe and Clean Environment’ particularly the outputs related to water, climate resilience and environmental sustainability ’UNICEF ESARO aims to strengthen the enabling environment for climate resilient social infrastructure and services, and to access climate funds through development of a pipeline of projects for different countries in the region, and hence reduce the transaction costs and enable engagement with the private sector. This work therefore falls under the region’s flagship area of climate resilience and is implemented under the Climate and Environment Pillar.

Activities And Tasks

• Coordinate inputs from GCF, DBSA, UNICEF, and other relevant stakeholders to inform the review and re-submission of the CN for the CF4C
• Facilitate a focused dialogue between GCF, DBSA, and UNICEF and other stakeholders in response to the comments/feedback from GCF.
• Based on the feedback, and discussions, develop a response matrix (in GCF format) to the feedback received, and revise the CN to incorporate the feedback.
• Linked to Facility priorities, identify, and prioritize all relevant stakeholders to engage with and capacity and capability required by DBSA and UNICEF for implementation of the Facility.
• Describe the degree to which the Facility can catalyze impact beyond a one-off project investment including scaling and replication, knowledge sharing and learning, creation of an enabling environment, regulatory framework and policies, contribution towards climate resilient development pathways consistent with relevant National climate change action strategies and plans.
• The revision of the CN will also include inter-alia.
• Review and develop the description of, and justification for, the proposed CF4C.
• Review and develop climate rationale for the CF4C, which include strengthening the proposed use of the Children’s Climate Risk Index, as a tool for vulnerability assessments and targeting, including describing the most likely scenario (prevailing conditions or other alternative) that would remain or continue in the absence of the proposed interventions
• Review and describe barriers (social, gender, fiscal, regulatory, technological, financial, ecological, institutional, etc., as relevant) to climate investment that need to be addressed.
• Review and describe the proposed set of components, outputs and activities that lead to the expected fund-level impact and outcome results.
• Review and describe the theory of change and provide information on how it serves to shift the development pathway towards a low-emission and/or climate resilient direction.
• Use a results chain of inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact statements, and identify the how and why of causal relations to deliver the Facility’s expected results.
• Review the implementation arrangements by describing the implementation structure, outlining legal, contractual, institutional, and financial arrangements between the GCF, the DBSA, UNICEF and/or other Executing Entity(ies) (EE) or any third parties (if applicable) and beneficiaries. This should include the design of the governance arrangements (supervisory boards, consultative groups among others) set to oversee and guide the implementation of the Facility. Provide a composition of the decision-making body and oversight function.
• Review and describe the financial flows and implementation arrangements (legal and contractual) between the DBSA, UNICEF or any third party and beneficiaries. Provide a diagram(s) or organogram(s) that map such arrangements including the governance structure, legal arrangements, and the flow and reflow of funds between entities.
• Review the Justification for GCF funding request: motivate the reasons for the Facility requiring GCF funding.
• Review and justify why the level of concessionality of the GCF financial instrument(s) is the minimum required to make the investment viable. Additionally, how does the financial structure and the proposed pricing fit with the concept of minimum concessionality? Who benefits from concessionality? of the AE (DBSA), and how they will be managed by the AE or the implementing agency.
• Review and develop the results log frame according to the GCF performance measurement framework.
• CF4C Project Preparation, with the inputs from the DBSA and UNICEF
• Compile a full application for the Project Preparation Facility (PPF) Funding, informed by/making use of all the work/CN developed above, according to GCF requirements and templates. This will be done in consultation with the DBSA, UNICEF, and relevant stakeholders from participating countries.
• Develop the total budget and financial structure of the Project Preparation Facility Funding (with input from DBSA and UNICEF ESARO) and all main cost categories at the input level corresponding to all outputs and activities.
• Liaise with DBSA and UNICEF to identify potential co-financing from other donors to maximize the impact of the Facility and crowd in other sources of donor finance.
• Work closely with the DBSA and UNICEF provide technical support to operationalize the implementation arrangements, which will include review/description the financial flows and implementation arrangements (legal and contractual) between the DBSA, UNICEF or any third party and beneficiaries.
• In co-ordination with UNICEF, DBSA, compile background information (secondary data) on climate resilience baseline for each country - climate change problem (climate hazards and associates risks based on impacts, exposure, and vulnerabilities); and the linkages to the adaptation and mitigation needs for the social infrastructure and services sector that the Facility should address.
• In co-ordination with UNICEF and DBSA, describe any recent or ongoing regional or national interventions that are related to the proposal from other domestic or international sources of funding, such as the Global Environment Facility, Adaptation Fund, Climate Investment Funds, etc., and how they will be complemented by the Facility (e.g. scaling up, replication, etc.). Also identify current gaps and barriers regarding recent or ongoing projects and elaborate further how this programme complements or addresses these.
• On the basis of the CN, and submission of PPF, provide technical inputs in the development of the detailed ToRs in alignment with GCF requirements for the following, (a) Prefeasibility CF4C Project Pipeline, (b) CF4C Vulnerability Assessment, (c) CF4C Funding Proposal Development

Desired Competencies, Technical Background And Experience

• Education: At least a master’s degree in the fields of engineering, water resource management, climate change, economics, finance, or any other relevant field.
• Demonstrated technical capacity and expertise, supported by at least 10 years of relevant professional experience in an international environment, in at least one of the following technical specialties:
• Risk analysis of projects/programmes, particularly for the management of financial and
• operational risks;
• Experience with fiduciary and procurement processes, particularly as they apply to national and/or international finance institutions; and
• Experience conducting similar assignments with multilateral supported climate change adaptation and/or mitigation bodies such as GEF/LDCF/other donors, especially with the GCF is an asset.
• Familiarity with technical issues related to adaptation and mitigation, methods of cost-benefit analysis for adaptation and mitigation options, identification of multiple benefits of adaptation and mitigation, including, environmental, economic, social and gender-related.
• Excellent written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize relevant collected data and findings for the preparation of high-quality reports.
• Languages Needed: Full proficiency both oral and written English. Fluency in French and/or Portuguese will be an added advantage.

Must exhibit the UNICEF Core Values of:

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability
• Sustainability

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness
• Works Collaboratively with others
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships
• Innovates and Embraces Change
• Thinks and Acts Strategically
• Drives to achieve impactful results
• Manages ambiguity and complexity