Job Vacancies at the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

Job No: 554861
Location: Bichi, Sumaila, Gwarzo and Gabasawa Local Government Areas (LGAs) - Kano
Contract Type: Consultant
Level: Consultancy
Categories: Nutrition

For every child, Nutrition
How can you make a difference? 

• The first 1,000 days of life (from conception to 2 years) represents a ‘critical window of opportunity’ for the promotion of optimal growth, health and development. Most instances of stunting set in during the first thousand days with complementary feeding playing a significant role.
• Within Nigeria, Kano is the most populous State with a projected population of about 15.4 million people including 927,731 children aged 6-23 months.
• Despite the prevailing poor level of complementary feeding practice nationally, the 2018 NDHS revealed that the situation in Kano State is even lower than the national average, with only 20.4%, 35.9% and 9.9% children 6-23 months meeting MDD, MMF and MAD respectively.
• The consumption of iron-rich/fortified foods among children 6-23 months is 21.6% which is almost half of the national average.
• It is therefore not a surprise that stunting affects 56.9% in Kano (as against the national average of 36.8%) of underfive children which translate to about 1.7 million children affected in the State and more than one out of every ten stunted children, in Nigeria.
• Stunting reduction is a key result for UNICEF at country, regional and global levels. Nigeria is among priority countries for stunting reduction and in 2018, an action plan for Nigeria compact to improve dietary diversity for the country program cycle 2018-2022 was developed.
• The Dietary Diversity Project (DD) which was initially designed for two years, between 2018 to 2020, was later extended up till 2022, to facilitate integration of the complementary feeding toolkit (bowl and spoon) - a global innovation intended to intensifying the improvement of dietary volume, frequency, consistency and variety among children 6-23 months.
• One of the key identified priorities was to design and implement a proof of concept through a comprehensive modelling approach aimed at contributing to stunting reduction by improving access to nutritious, affordable and sustainable diets for young children 6-23 months in Kano State.
• Key strategic approaches for the Dietary Diversity (DD) Project include nutrition-sensitive agriculture, social and behaviour change, nutrition specific interventions and coordination.
• The purpose of this assignment is to support UNICEF and Kano State government to assess if the Dietary Diversity project met its intended objectives across three overarching results areas:

Result Area 1:

• By 2022, improve knowledge and practices on dietary diversity, age-appropriate complementary feeding practices and uptake of nutrition specific interventions in Bichi and Sumaila LGAs of Kano State.

Result Area 2:

• By 2022, increase availability, accessibility and use of local nutritious food for children 6-23 months in the intervention LGAs.

Result Area 3:

• By 2022, build capacity, increase awareness, strengthen coordination and generate knowledge for scale up, and sustain the DD comprehensive intervention.

Scope of Work

• The DD proof of concept is currently being implemented in two Local Government Areas ( Bichi and Sumaila) of Kano State while Gwarzo and Gabasawa was selected as the comparison LGAs.  With the end of the ongoing modelling, there is a need for an endline assessment of the project, which will specifically focus on the following objectives:

Objectives

• Develop research protocol with adequate scientific rigor, to address the information needs of the DD project, including why and how results are achieved or not achieved.
• The protocol is expected to provide answers to the following overarching questions, including others that may emerge during the process of contextualizing the assessment.
• To what extent did the project contribute to improved caregivers’ knowledge and practice of optimal complementary feeding as well as uptake of nutrition specific intervention, and what are the key drivers.
• To what extent did the project contribute to availability, accessibility and use of nutritious foods for young children 6-23 months.
• To what extent were awareness and coordination systems improved and sustained for project support and enabling environment.
• How has the project contributed to knowledge generation based on lessons learnt and best practices documented and used to support advocacy for scaling up to all LGAs within the Kano state as well as in other States in the country.
• What is the use and usefulness of this intervention to future projects.
• Finally quantify and qualify capacity building achievements and project support that was provided.
• Plan and execute data collection using scientific and appropriate methodologies.
• Analyze endline assessment data to generate needed information and knowledge and develop comprehensive report triangulating the baseline, midline and endline findings.
• Develop report and disseminate findings across key stakeholders.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have

• Education: Advanced University Degree in Health, Nutrition, Public Health, Epidemiology, Economics, Food security, Statistics or and related field of study
• Knowledge and experience in application of KAP and SMART methodology for nutrition surveys.
• Minimum of 7 years’ experience in Public health/Nutrition involving conducting implementation research.
• Experience in Monitoring and Evaluation and knowledge management
• Demonstrable knowledge and use of statistical software for data analysis including STATA, SPSS and ENA for SMART.
• Knowledge of multi-sectoral response and cross disciplinary experience in nutrition, health, food systems, agriculture is desired.
• Proven survey management and report writing skills (sample will be required).

Core Competencies:

• Communication
• Working with people
• Drive for results.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English language.

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Job No: 554917
Contract Type: Fixed Term Appointment
Level: P4
Categories: Education

For Every Child, an Education

• Under the overall guidance and direction of the Chief, Education, the Education Manager supports the Chief in managing the section, playing a key role in bringing innovation to the development and preparation of education programmes including on digital learning and public financing of education.
• The Education Manager provides authoritative technical guidance and operational support throughout all stages of programming to facilitate the management and delivery of results on strengthening national education systems to improve learning outcomes and to promote universal access to quality, equitable and inclusive primary/early childhood education, especially for children who are marginalized, disadvantaged and excluded in society.
• The Education Manager contributes to the achievement of concrete and sustainable results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM), as well as UNICEF's Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework

How Can you Make a Difference? 

• The Education Manager provides management and advisory support to the Chief of Education, technical assistance to colleagues and technical support to key government officials and partners.
• S/he builds and strengthens strategic partnerships, supports the development of policies and procedures, and oversees innovation, knowledge management and capacity building.

Responsibilities
Responsibilities include:

• Advise on workplan priorities, programme development, planning, management, monitoring and evaluation, and quality control;
• Lead on digital learning and public education financing;
• Establish benchmarks and indicators, monitor programmes, identify bottlenecks and take timely decisions;
• Formulate programme proposals aligned with UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, Country Programme and other key frameworks and manage the use of programme resources;
• Design and manage economic analyses of education, lead the assessment of public financing, contribute to policy dialogue and enhance systemic capacity on education financing;
• Prepare communication strategies, implementation plans, policy papers, briefs, and other knowledge products; and
• Represent UNICEF in inter-agency discussions and consultations with key stakeholders.

To Qualify as an Advocate for Every Child you will Have
Education:

• An Advanced University Degree in one of the following fields is required: Education, Economics, Psychology, Sociology or another relevant technical field.

Experience:

• A minimum of eight years of professional experience in programme planning, financing, management, and/or research in education is required.
• 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.
• Familiarity/ background with emergency is considered as an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.  
• Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

Technical Competencies must be demonstrated in the following areas:

• Good understanding of the overall global development context, including issues such as: poverty, conflict, and the impact of these factors on education and vice-versa; and inter-sectoral approaches to address such issues in collaboration with other sectors (including Social Policy, Child Protection, Gender, Adolescence, WASH, and Communications within UNICEF).
• Good knowledge of global and regional  developments in education and international engagement strategies, including the application of the equity lens and human rights perspectives to programming.
• Good ability to support policy dialogue: translation of analytical findings and evidence into development programme and policy discussions around equity and learning with partners, including government, development partners, CSOs and academia in relevant areas.
• Good education sector planning knowledge/ability, educational financing, including the range of modalities for delivering education, linkages between different sub-sectors (e.g. ECD, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Inclusive Education, Alternate/Non-formal), cost-effectiveness and efficiency issues, key institutional structures, components and processes, as well as governance issues.
• Good education and policy sector analysis capacity, including understanding of the core education data sets and indicators; tools for analysis of equity; determinants of student access and learning; budget, costing (public financing of education), and financial management in education systems; political economy; and education policy and strategic planning.
• Good ability to support engagement with partners e.g. Sector Wide Approaches, Global Partnership for Education, Education in Emergency Clusters, Education Provider Forums, Delivering as One, Inter-sectoral partnerships such as in ECD, as well as networking with other key partners.
• Good understanding of gender, disability and inequity issues in relation to education and development and the application of gender / equity analysis to policy and planning in education.
• Good understanding of policies and strategies to address issues related to resilience: risk analysis and risk management, education in conflict situations, natural disasters, and recovery for CO and RO based post and where relevant.

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Job No: 554910
Contract Type: Fixed Term Appointment
Level: P-5
Categories: Administration

For Every Child, Dedication

• As a Strategic Business Partner, the Deputy Representative (Operations) will have overall responsibility of overseeing the operational functioning of the country office, specifically responsible for leading for results, drive change, provide risk-informed, solution-focused analysis, advice, and services and contribute to programme and management decisions for delivering results for children in Nigeria.
• In addition, this position serves as a key strategic advisor to their office's leadership in helping implement UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025.

How Can you Make a Difference?

• In Nigeria, UNICEF works in a complex humanitarian and development setting to fulfill and protect children’s rights.
• UNICEF Nigeria is one of the largest UNICEF Country Offices globally. In partnership with the government, civil society, children and families.
• UNICEF Nigeria is looking for an experienced Deputy Representative (Operations) to become part of a highly motivated and committed team of over 400 staff who work to bring visible changes in the lives of the most disadvantaged children in NIGERIA.

Key Functions and Accountabilities
The Deputy Representative’s (Operations) key functions and accountabilities include:

• Champion strategic management of resources to achieve organizational goals and ensure Value for Money (VfM)
• Enhance Risk Management to increase organizational performance and strengthen internal control (Valuing Risk Management)
• Ensure further operational centralization and optimization for maximized efficiency gains (Valuing Systems and Structures)
• Strengthening internal and external-facing partnerships and leveraging UNICEF’s oversight and understanding of financial management across all areas of the office (Valuing Partners)
• Valuing People: Together with People Management, manage and develop people resources to promote technical competence and foster career progression and retention of a “fit for purpose”/ agile workforce.

Qualifications

• An Advanced University Degree (Master’s and above) in one of the following areas is required: Business Management; Financial Management; Accounting; Public Finance; and related operations function (Supply Chain, Human Resources, Information Technology, International Business, Project Management, etc.) or a full professional accounting designation (CA, ACA, ACCA, CPA, CIMA, CPFA, Expert Comptable) from an internationally recognized institute/body of accountancy with valid membership in good standing is required.
• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience at the national and international level is required, specifically in advocating and implementing strategic organizational initiatives in one or more operations management areas, including budget; financial management and reporting; facilities management; administration; supply and logistics management; information and communication technology; human resources.
• Prior experience in the development sector or UN system/ international NGOs would be an asset.
• Additional experience in one or more of the following areas would be desired:
  • Audit and investigations
  • Safety and Security
  • Grant Management
  • Enterprise Risk Management
• Experience in a UN system agency, large private or public company, or experience working in a developing country and/or humanitarian/ emergency context is an asset.
• Experience in working with corporate ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning) and IPSAS (International Public Sector Accounting Standards) is highly desirable.
• Experience in Results Based Management is a requirement.
• Experience in managing successful client-oriented work units is an asset.
• Experience in co-creating policy is desirable.
• Prior experience working with diverse stakeholder groups or multi-stakeholder partnerships is highly desirable.
• Previous hands-on experience in strategic and managerial leadership is required.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office applications is required.

For Every Child, You Demonstrate

• UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues

UNICEF Competencies Required for this post are:

• Nurtures, Leads, and Manages People (3)
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (3)
• Works Collaboratively with others (3)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (3)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (3)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (3)
• Drives to achieve impactful results (3)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (3)

(Functional) Competencies:

• Deciding and Initiating Action (2)
• Following Instructions and Procedures (3)
• Entrepreneurial Thinking (3)
• Analyzing (3)

Other Skills:

• Emotional Intelligence
• Managing complexity and change