Vacancies at UNICEF

Purpose For The Job

• Under the supervision and guidance of the supervisor, the Administrative Associate is responsible for executing a broad variety of procedural and specialized administrative tasks for the respective section requiring in-depth knowledge of UNICEF administrative procedures, processes, and policies.

How can you make a difference?
Key Functions, Accountabilities, And Related Duties/tasks
Procurement

• Guides managers in the process of PCA/SSAs in line with the policies and guidance issued by FRG, supply division, and DHR.
• Facilitates the processing of contracts for consultants and external partners that provide a service to the section. This includes preparing and filing documents, completing necessary forms and templates, uploading TORs in VISION, and making necessary logistical arrangements.
• Maintains up-to-date vendor lists, partners, and consultant rosters.

Communications & Workflow

• Facilitates the communications and workflow of the organizational unit to enhance the efficiency and timeliness of operations and outputs.
• Manages incoming and outgoing correspondence, e-mails, and telephone calls.
• Communicates routine and some non-routine information pertaining to the work of the team.
• Establishes and maintains the office filing and reference systems, both traditional and digital; and ensures the inter/intra-net websites are up to date and accurate.

Calendar/Meetings/Correspondence Management

• Maintains office calendar and arranges meetings
• Takes minutes of meetings, ensuring accuracy, attention to detail, and coherence.

Events/Logistics

• Supports capacity development activities and conferences by making the logistical arrangements, through engaging with facilitators, caterers, and hosts.
• Arranges times by liaising with participants over availability.
• Liaises with budget focal points and sections over costs and needs.
• Prepares background materials for participants and uploads cleared materials on the intranet.
• Prepares and maintains agendas on meetings and events related to the work group commitments.

Travel

• Provides travel assistance to staff members in the section for travel arrangements and entitlements based on the organization’s rules and policies. Liaises with relevant travel focal points to ensure that the organization obtains the best service and price for all travel.
• Briefs/de-briefs staff members on issues relating to related administrative matters such as visas, security clearance, and documentation procedures.
• Extracts, inputs, maintains, and verifies the correctness of travel records in the organization’s travel system to ensure accurate transactions related to travel costs and staff travel.
• Assists in the preparation of budgets for travel costs and maintains travel plan and budgetary control records.
• Monitors travel certification and report back to the team.

Invoice Processing

• Responsible for collecting invoices and filing documents for approval and, thereafter processing in VISION.
• Uploads electronic files and verifies results to the destination system.
• Responds to client transaction status and other inquiries.

Supplies/Equipment

• Supports management of administrative supplies, and office equipment, and updating inventory of items.
• Monitors and supervises adequate and appropriate use of supplies. Ensures that services and maintenance of premises are in accordance with organizational standards.
• Arranges for the purchase and timely distribution of office supplies.

Attendance

• Maintains and updates a system that monitors the absence of staff.

Impact of Results

• In addition to the impact at the GS-5 level, a G-6 staff member is predominantly accountable for applying a broad range of specialized administrative rules and procedures in the coordination of administrative support to the team served. Efficiently initiating, monitoring, and ensuring the provision of administrative services allows the professional staff of the organization to focus on substantive core work. This may include supervisory responsibilities with accountability for the work of administrative assistants, temporary staff, and/or consultants.
• Administrative Associates represent the supervisor in initiating, following up on, and resolving issues pertaining to administrative requests. External contacts include counterparts in international organizations, bilateral and multi-lateral institutions, and national governments to organize meetings, workshops, and conferences. Communications involve the exchange of information across UNICEF at the most senior levels and externally to governing body representatives.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
The Following Minimum Requirements
Recruitment Qualifications

• Education: Completion of secondary education is required, preferably supplemented by technical or university courses related to the field of work.
• Experience: A minimum of 6 years of relevant administrative or clerical work experience is required.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Skills

• Training and experience using MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other UNICEF software such as SharePoint; knowledge of integrated management information systems required.
• In-depth knowledge of UNICEF organizational structure, administrative policies and procedures.
• Organizational, planning and prioritizing skills and abilities
• Ability to deal patiently and tactfully with visitors.
• High sense of confidentiality, initiative and good judgment.
• Ability to work effectively with people of different national and cultural background.

Deadline: 8th June, 2024

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How can you make a difference?

Preventative and protective psychosocial support:

• Provide individual and group counselling to UNICEF staff as needed.
• Perform individual assessments in the case of individual staff members experiencing difficulty coping and/or presenting mental health-related symptoms or syndromes.
• Facilitate evidence-based trauma-informed interventions for staff and their dependents.
• Identify adequate local resources and facilitate referrals to external mental health professionals for psychological/psychiatric support whenever necessary.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive emergency personnel-focused mental health programme in collaboration with the Regional Staff Counsellor.

Provide Critical Incident Stress Management to groups and/or individual staff following critical incidents. A holistic approach to critical incident management is used and may include services such as practical support, psychoeducation, psychological first aid, strategic advice to leadership, family support and individual or group interventions.

The Staff Counsellor will be responsible for:

• Contacting the affected staff member(s) and offering information about typical stress reactions, support and referral information.
• Facilitating appropriate traumatic stress interventions, following a critical incident or traumatic event.
• Recommending and arranging for individual and/or group follow-up support to staff and their dependents.
• Regular follow-up contact and visits to staff in field offices.
• Coordination with UNDSS counsellors, agency counsellors and PSVs, to ensure the provision

Monitoring and oversight:

• Work closely with multidisciplinary teams to identify and address psychological risks at the individual, unit and organizational levels. 
• Provide guidance/ support to managers and senior management on the management of staff where mental health conditions are involved and advise on emergency psycho-social support management for staff.
• Advise country office management upon request, with the aim at improving the working atmosphere in their offices and resolving problems of a work-related or personal nature that adversely affect job performance and productivity. 
• Provide training and information sessions on crisis and stress management, problem-solving and conflict resolution as needed.
• Monitor environmental factors that could lead to stress, with particular focus on stress related to critical incidents, including emergency and crisis situations, with respect to staff members at the duty stations.

Other:

• Provide technical supervision and training to the Peer Support Volunteers (PSV) network.
• Coordinate with UNDSS, Regional Staff Counsellor, UN staff/stress counsellors, and Peer Support Volunteers to ensure adequate psycho-social support during emergencies.
• Contribute to policies on staff mental health and well-being and perform administrative duties, including participating in regional meetings and other activities, completing reporting requirements, etc.
• Maintain detailed records of activities and provide comprehensive reports to the Regional Staff Counsellor.
• Ensure the adherence to the professional standards of the UNSSCG as well as the Code of Ethics for UN Staff Counsellors.

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

Education:  Advance MA University Degree in counselling, clinical psychology or related mental health profession.  Additional training or certification in Trauma and Stress Management is an added advantage.

Experience: 

• At least five (5) years of national and international work experience in staff support, mental health, cross cultural communications, counselling and related areas preferably gained within the UN system or international development/humanitarian aid sector, more particularly in emergency contexts.
• Experience of in-country support to staff in emergency and high demanding working environment
• Able to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment.
• Ability to quickly negotiate effectively by exploring a range of possibilities.
• Ability to quickly build rapport with individuals and groups; maintains an effective network of individuals across organizational departments.
• Contributes and tries out innovative approaches and insights

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of other UN Language or language of the duty station is an asset.

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Scope of Work
Goal and Objective: Under the general supervision of the Yoma Program Manager, as part of the Yoma Global Team and in close collaboration with the Education section, this role will support the alignment of the Youth for Children concept to UNICEF program priorities and develop technical guidance materials that assist UNICEF country offices in identifying strategic entry points and pathways for integrating the Youth for Children concept into their existing programs and activities.

• Provide details/reference to AWP areas covered: Oversee overall coordination and provide Technical Assistance to UNICEF Country Offices on innovative platforms for youth engagement, skills building, and employability in the green sector (ie Green Yoma, Atingi), as well as the African Data and Drone Academy (ADDA)

Activities And Tasks
The Consultant will work closely with country offices and Yoma global team to achieve the following results/deliverables
Enhance the programmatic linkage between Youth for Children and UNICEF programming to facilitate relevance and scaling within UNICEF

• Work closely with the Yoma Global Team, and ESARO Education section to ensure that the Youth for Children concept aligns effectively with UNICEF program priorities.
• Conduct research, analyzing data, and identifying key areas of synergy between the Youth for Children initiative and UNICEF's overarching goals.
• Create comprehensive technical guidance materials that provide UNICEF country offices with clear instructions and strategies for integrating the Youth for Children concept into their existing programs and activities. These materials should offer practical insights, best practices, and actionable recommendations tailored to the diverse contexts and challenges faced by different country offices.
• Assist UNICEF country offices in identifying strategic entry points and pathways for incorporating the Youth for Children concept into their work. This may involve conducting assessments, engaging with stakeholders, and facilitating workshops or training sessions to foster understanding and buy-in for the initiative.
• Collaborate with UNICEF country offices to establish robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track the progress and impact of integrating the Youth for Children concept into their programs and activities. This may involve developing indicators, collecting data, and analyzing results to assess the effectiveness of the initiative and inform future decision-making.
• Work relationships: The consultant will work in close collaboration with the Programme Manager (Yoma), the Senior Program Manager, and the ESARO Education specialist.

Outputs/Deliverables:

• A comprehensive report and presentation detailing the alignment of the Youth for Children concept with UNICEF program priorities. This report will include research findings, data analysis, and identified areas of synergy between the initiative and UNICEF's strategic priorities. It should provide clear evidence and recommendations for how the Youth for Children concept can effectively support and enhance UNICEF's mission and objectives.
• A set of well-developed technical guidance materials tailored for UNICEF country offices. These materials should be comprehensive, practical, and user-friendly, offering clear instructions and strategies for integrating the Youth for Children concept into existing programs and activities. They should include practical insights, best practices, and actionable recommendations to address the diverse contexts and challenges faced by different country offices.

Skills
Through digital and off-line engagement and ‘learning to earning’ opportunities, youth – with an emphasis on marginalized groups – will be equipped with information, competencies, and skills related to SDGs, by:

• Develop credited pathways for upskilling youth and offering wrap-around services (e.g. apprenticeship, mentorships, career counseling, and connecting to the world of work—employment and entrepreneurship) through online and offline modalities.
• Empowering ‘youth as change agents’ through innovation and entrepreneurship support (eg. incubation hubs, seed funding), enabling youth to design and implement solutions to drive results for children.

Desired Competencies, Technical Background, And Experience

• Education: Postgraduate degree in development economics or economics with background in business administration & management
• Experience in working with young people
• Young professional (<35) preferred as Yoma is a youth-led initiative
• Experience in working in the Global South will be an asset
• Strong analytical skills
• Strong drafting skills
• Fluency in English, Knowledge of French & Spanish an asset as Yoma is also active in Spanish & French speaking countries

Must exhibit the UNICEF Core Values of:

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

Key competencies required:

• Building and Maintaining Partnerships
• Drive to achieve Results for Impact
• Innovates and Embraces Change
• Manages Ambiguity and Complexity
• Works collaboratively with others

Deadline: 12 Jun 2024 

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Scope of Work

• Goal and objective: Under the supervision of the Education Specialist – Emergencies, Resilience & Climate / Education Section, the consultant will provide technical assistance and capacity building to the Regional Office and Country Offices for integrating the climate and education programming pillars into their country programmes and supporting governments in the mainstreaming of climate change considerations into their education systems. The consultant will also support knowledge generation and the development of public goods, information exchange, partnership engagement, and resource mobilization efforts for climate change and education programming at regional, global, and country level.
• Provide details/reference to Annual Workplan areas covered: This assignment contributes to deepening the Education-Climate Flagship nexus and expanding opportunities, capacities and partnerships on climate resilience, greening education and climate adaptation. This is an activity identified under Key Intervention 2.4 in the ESARO Education 2024 workplan, which is to “Strengthen multi-hazard resilient education systems that respond to the climate crisis and ensure access to safe and quality learning and MHPSS for all children and young people in humanitarian and crisis contexts.”
• Activities and Tasks: The consultant will support the ESARO Education Specialist (EiE, Resilience & Climate) in advancing the regional climate and education agenda, whilst also producing a number of global priority deliverables that will benefit ESA and other regions. The consultant will be responsible for the following activities:
• Technical assistance and capacity building to UNICEF COs
• Provide technical assistance to at least three country offices on the development, or deepening, of climate and education strategies and interventions and the mainstreaming of gender-responsive climate action in schools
• Regional knowledge generation, management, and exchange
• Update and finalize the ESA Regional Climate and Education analysis and programme framework
• Document promising practices of climate and education programming in select ESA countries through case studies or other documentation. Identify and document enabling factors, good practices, challenges/bottlenecks, and lessons learnt from CO implementation.
• Prepare key communications and advocacy materials on climate change and education in the ESA region, drafting at least one ESARO blog, one advocacy brief, briefings notes, presentations, and updating business cases and pitches with 2023/2024 results
• Support at least 2 regional or global learning events on climate and education
• Develop an engagement plan for COP29, in collaboration with relevant teams across HQ and RO divisions. This includes conceptualization, design, and execution of at least one high-level event; in addition to strategic inputs to policy and finance-focused events led by other PG/RO teams or divisions.
• Global public goods
• Coordinate and quality assure the development of a quality gender-transformative curricular framework on climate action in collaboration with relevant UN partners and experts, with institutional contract #1 (IC1)
• Coordinate and quality assure the consolidation and/or development of learning materials (textbooks and digital), teacher training materials and assessment assets on environmental and climate literacy and skills and anticipatory action for use by country offices, with institutional contract #1 (IC1)
• Develop the TOR and scope partnerships for a predictive information system on climate risks and hazards in vulnerable educational institutions that informs climate action of children and local education authorities. This model will be linked to early warning systems and enhance the ability of the system to account for climate impacts on school attendance. Coordinate and quality assure deliverables under institutional contract #2 (IC2).
• Develop guidance note for mainstreaming gender-responsive climate action in schools on gender-responsive action in schools
• Resource mobilization
• Update mapping of potential donors for climate change and education in ESAR and draft a regional resource mobilization strategy in consultation with relevant offices (PPD, PFP).
• Identify and prioritize key global, regional and country level opportunities and partnerships for climate and education programming and support RO/COs in the development of regional/sub-regional/CO fundraising proposals
• Work relationships: The Education Specialist - Emergencies, Resilience & Climate will oversee the assignment and provide guidance. The consultant will engage with selected Country Office education staff and regional/HQ climate specialists and climate and education focal points.

Desired Competencies, Technical Background And Experience

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields: education, public policy, environmental and/or social sciences.
• Minimum eight (8) years’ work experience in education policy and programming with a focus on climate change and environment.
• Proven experience in programme assessments and strategy development
• Understanding of education systems and policies related to environment, climate change and green skills
• High level of analytical ability to analyze qualitative and quantitative data
• Demonstrated ability to produce high quality, concise, analytical and insightful reports and presentations in English
• Excellent communication, facilitation and presentation skills
• Proven ability to conceptualize, innovate, plan and execute ideas
• Ability to manage competing priorities under pressure, whilst maintaining attention to detail and meeting deadlines
• Experience in capacity building, government relationship building, training and/or facilitation an asset.
• Previous experience working in the ESA region is an asset
• Knowledge of the United Nations system or other international organizations is an asset
• Knowledge of international development, humanitarian issues and children’s rights is an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of other languages relevant to the ESA region is an added advantage.

Must exhibit the UNICEF Core Values of:

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

Competencies: list the competencies that the consultant should have for the assignment: Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness, drive to achieve results for impact, thinks and acts strategically, works collaboratively with others, innovates and embraces change, manages ambiguity and complexity
Administrative Issues

• The consultant/contractor is expected to be based remotely with anticipated travel. They should have some regular availability between 10 am to 4 pm Nairobi time to enable the delivery of technical assistance to country offices and the regional office during their working hours.
• As part of this assignment, an estimate of three (3) technical assistance missions to ESAR country offices are foreseen. Pending prioritization of staff participation from UNICEF management, travel to participate in COP29 may also be included. The consultant will arrange her/his travel as and when they take place, and related costs will be reimbursed per UNICEF travel policy.
  • Travel Clause
    • All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants apply.
    • All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
    • The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN BSAFE certificate, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card.
• Progress meetings will take place throughout the contract duration as needed.
• Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.
• The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract.

Deadline: 11 Jun 2024