Innovation Specialist at UNICEF

Job Number: 513781
Work Type: Fixed Term Staff

For every child

• Despite substantial efforts to advance children's rights, children still face poverty, disadvantage, and the impact of the crisis.

How can you make a difference?

• Under the supervision of the Programme Specialist (Field Results), the Innovation Specialist will be required to work both within the M4R team and with a wide range of UNICEF staff from all programme sections and field offices, with civil society and government partners, and with technical service providers. In addition, the Innovation Specialist will work closely with the Global Office of Innovation Unit and the Regional Office, as well as with wider UNICEF global innovation network to ensure that the Country Office is actively engaged with the network and also to leverage the experiences from other Country Offices

This will involve
Specifically the following objectives have been identified for the Nigeria Country Office:

• Under the supervision of the Programme Specialist (Field Results) and guidance of the Chief M4R and Deputy Representative, and in cooperation with programme teams, coordinate and provide support on overall innovation strategy/action plan for UNICEF Nigeria, including formulation, design, planning and implementation in close collaboration with the Global Office of Innovation Unit and Regional Office.
• Coordinate and support development and testing of innovation products and processes to strengthen and improve efficiency and effectiveness of UNICEF’s programming, monitoring and evaluation, advocacy and communication. More specifically, provide technical support for continued improvements to U-Report, and deployment of RapidSMS/RapidPro - UNICEF’s latest mobile phone based system for real-time data collection, including negotiations with mobile network companies and other service providers. Support to implementation of AcitivityInfo for partner reporting and linkages with other platforms such as ODK, and Mapping (as needed).
• Proactively scout for new innovative ideas and opportunities that promote and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of UNICEF Nigeria’s programme objectives.
• Identify opportunities for resource mobilisation and new partnerships for innovations in close collaboration with the Global Office of Innovation and Regional Office.
• Develop partnerships and network with local innovators, youth organizations, 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 ideas, develop the next generation of thought leaders and build local capacity.
• Train UNICEF staff, partner staff, government counterparts and other end users in the country in the use of innovation products and processes.
• Document tested innovation projects and processes and ensure effective sharing and generation of knowledge around innovations in the Country Office as well as with UNICEF global innovation network.
• Together with the Chief M4R, represent the Country Office in the UNICEF global innovation network for information sharing and leverage experiences of innovation colleagues in other Country Offices as well as at the global level.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Computer Science or related field such as Information Technology, Information Systems, Engineering or Statistics.
• 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 Five years of relevant professional experience in
• 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.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

• UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.