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, a new idea
The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.
How can you make a difference?
The T4D Specialist is directly supervised by the Regional T4D Business Analyst but works closely with Programme staff and in close liaison with the ICT Division and UNICEF Innovation where applicable. The T4D Specialist will work with programme sections to build a preferred set of solutions with the aim to reduce the complexity of entry into projects and increase solution portability.
Purpose for the job :
Under the overall guidance of the Regional Chief of ICT, and direct supervision of the Regional T4D Business Analyst, the T4D Specialist provides professional, technical, operational and administrative support in the identification, assessment, and integration of ICT into UNICEF programming. The T4D Specialist is responsible for coordinating and facilitating the mainstreaming effort, and for strengthening internal capacity to lead and support Technology for Development (T4D) related projects, identifying and engaging with key partners, identifying reusable and replicable technical building blocks and maximizing potential for T4D scale-up and roll-out.
Summary of key functions/accountabilities :
1. Policy and Strategy Development :
- Provide support to the digital development and technology innovation strategy for the country offices; including assessment of T4D gaps, opportunities and scale-up strategy in support of the Regional priorities ;
- Support the Integration of digital development and technology innovation into the programme planning lifecycle. Align with programme priorities (AWP etc.) ;
- Oversee development and quality assurance during planning and deployment of T4D initiatives; participate in establishing and maintaining standards, documentation and support mechanisms for T4D ;
- Convene T4D Governance Committee and ensure compliance of T4D initiatives with the Principles for Digital Development (http://digitalprinciples.org/) and UNICEF T4D best practices.
2. Technical Support to Programmes :
- Manage Business and Programme Relationship services to define high-level requirements; document and match requirements and guide the design, development and deployment of appropriate T4D solutions ;
- Lead deployment of enterprise technologies prioritised for UNICEF programming (eg. Global Goods and Accelerators) ;
- Provide support and technical assistance to the Country Office in the identification, selection, concept design, deployment and sustainability of T4D interventions to address bottlenecks towards the achievement of programme results ;
- Assist programme sections to identify and assess new T4D initiatives, or new phases of on-going initiatives, with immediate potential to improve UNICEF programming in service delivery and/or monitoring evaluation ;
- Assist the review of technical solutions to ensure UNICEF standards are followed; contribute to project management processes, generation and review of terms of reference and vendor selection ;
- Advisory and assistance with implementation strategy of digital technology initiatives. Including technical oversight, troubleshooting and the documentation of challenges and resolutions ;
- Support human/user-centered design methods to enable user-acceptance testing, evaluation, documentation and analysis
3. Capacity Building :
- Build capacity of programme staff in analyzing the large amounts of data generated through T4D initiatives including the use of data visualization techniques and analytics tools ;
- Work directly with countries and section chiefs to co-create strategies on how technology and innovation can support the country programmes ;
- Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies, capacity and knowledge within the programmes on digital development; train UNICEF staff, partners, government counterparts and other end users in digital development and technology innovation ;
- Develop capabilities within Country Offices on appropriate use of frontier technology and innovations such as UAVs, wearables, IoTs, mobile money, blockchain etc.
4. Partnerships :
- Develop partnerships and networks with local solution providers, innovators, NGOs, cultural and religious organisations, the private sector, local media and academia to build and provide a space to nurture and test new and innovative technologies and build local capacity ;
- Identify opportunities for resource mobilisation and new partnerships and lead proposal and partnership development efforts in close collaboration with Country Offices and the Regional Office ;
- Provide technical and operational support to a wide range of stakeholders and partners on UNICEF policies, practices, standards and norms on technology for development ;
- Work with stakeholders to help develop standards, procedures and partnerships for T4D interventions and their transition to relevant Government and Civil Society Institutions ;
- Develop a catalogue of potential regional T4D partners and their profiles/areas of engagement to promote and enhance UNICEF goals for outcomes for children through the use of Technology for Development.
5. Knowledge Management :
- Identify, capture, synthesize and share lessons learned from T4D for integration into broader knowledge development planning and management efforts including from other countries via the global and regional networks available within UNICEF ;
- Maintain an inventory of Digital Development and Technology Innovation interventions, assets, resources and networks ;
- Ensure documentation and clear monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for innovation and T4D projects including baseline data collection, on-going monitoring, as well as first phase data collection and analysis ;
- Contribute and share to regional and global digital development and technology innovation networks and activities.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have :
- Education : An Advanced University degree in information technology management, business administration, international relations, community development or other related social science field ;
A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with seven years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree ;
- Experience : At minimum of five (5) years professional experience in designing and implementing solutions for large-scale technical projects – including supervising engineers and software developers; responsibility for budgets, contracts and procurement, etc. Experience in supporting and coordinating social development analysis and programming activities across large organizations and with other international partner organizations. Experience with ICT hardware, mobile phones and web-based technologies, particularly designing or deploying tools appropriate to low-bandwidth environments. Experience with RapidPro, OpenSRP, DHIS2, ODK and other global public good technologies, and deploying, maintaining and rolling out these technologies is highly desirable. Experience in a UN organization is an asset ;
- Language Requirements : Fluency in French and English is required.
For every Child, you demonstrate :
Candidates who already applied to previous advertisement do not need to re-apply.
UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.
The functional competencies required for this post are :
- Analysing (II) ;
- Relating and networking (II) ;
- Applying technical expertise (II) ;
- Planning & Organizing (II).
View our competency framework at : UNICEF_Competencies.pdf
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.
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 :
- Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service ;
- Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.