Adolescent Development Specialist (Integrated Services and Participation), NO-C, Lilongwe, Malawi #107670 (Open to Malawian Nationals Only)

Contract

This is a NO-3 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-3 contracts.

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, education...

UNICEF Malawi Country Programme (2019-2023) is aligned with the Government of Malawi’s Growth and Development Strategy (MDGS III) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The programme supports the Government of Malawi to meet its commitment to respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights in line with international conventions and standards. The country programme is guided by the principles of children’s rights, equity, gender equality, inclusion and resilience, and supports evidence-based, integrative and innovative programming. The vision is that ‘all girls and boys in Malawi, especially the most disadvantaged and deprived, realize their rights’. The programme focuses on: early childhood (parenting, high-impact social services, early stimulation and learning), middle childhood and adolescence (learning, multi-sectoral services, active citizenship), communities (decentralized services and systems, community ownership, social norms), programme effectiveness (monitoring, evaluation, HACT, Innovation, Social Protection and Social Policy and External Communication. The programme is based on ‘leaving no child behind’, realizing ‘rights for all children in Malawi’.

The Education & Adolescents Development and Participation (EADP) Programme in Malawi aims to ensure that school-aged girls and boys, especially adolescents acquire essential learning outcomes and practice skills for life. As the Adolescent Development Specialist (Integrated Services and Participation), you will be leading a vibrant multi-sectoral adolescent development programme to support the UNICEF Malawi Country Office (MCO) and Government of Malawi in delivering integrated services (Adolesents Participation, Child Protection, Education, Health and Nutrition, Social Behaviour Change, and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) for vulnerable adolescents, including in emergencies. Your expert technical advice will also contribute to the achievement of sustainable and scalable system strengthening results for adolescents in Malawi.

How can you make a difference?

The Malawi Country Office offers an exciting and rewarding career opportunity for you to join our dynamic EADP section where you will be responsible for managing the the adolescents team to deliver a multi-sectoral programme to assist adolescents to reach their full potential in life. You will also contribute to sustainable and scalable results to enhance systems and social services for adolescents.

In your role, you will be under the overall guidance and supervision of the Chief of EADP. This job therefore presents a unique and significant opportunity for a qualified, motivated and committed person to contribute to the overall achievement of transformative results for children, including adolescents, with professional excellence and by delivering on the following key responsibility areas, but not limited to:

1. Overall and technical support to country programme development and planning – Assess national and international development priorities to identify opportunities and courses of action to enhance the delivery of services and achieve objectives on adolescent development and participation in the country.
2. Adolescent programme management, monitoring and delivery of results – Plan and collaboration with internal and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators to assess and strengthen performance accountability on adolescent development programmes and projects.
3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation – Provide technical guidance and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and country office partners on adolescent development.
4. Networking and partnership building – Build and sustain effective working partnerships with relevant government counterparts, national stakeholders and global partners through active networking, advocacy and effective communication.
5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building – Introduce and apply innovative approaches and good practices on adolescent development and participation to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results

You are encouraged to download the detailed job description Job Description_Classified JD - MLW19011 NOC Adolescent Development Specialist.pdf in order to view the full role and its requirements.

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, sociology or other social science field.

Experience:

• A minimum of five years of relevant professional work experience is required in social development management and planning in education and related areas.
• Proven experience working with government at the national and sub-national levels on education system strengthening and service delivery is required.
• Background and/or familiarity with working in emergency contexts is highly desirable.
• Relevant working experience in transferable skills programming is highly desirable.
• Relevant working experience involving children, including adolescents in project development, implementation, and participation is considered is required.
• Relevant working experience with national/international organizations and/or in the UN system is considered a strong asset.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as a strong asset.

Technical skills and knowledge:

• Proven skills in exemplary management and leadership, motivating and developing people under your supervision to perform at their best.
• Proven technical skills in overall multi-sectoral education programme management, planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting is required.
• Proven technical skills in Gender analysis, programming, and mainstreaming is highly desirable.
• Proven skills in drafting relevant policy papers, and other strategic documents for management use, information and consideration is required.

Language:

• Fluency in English and a local language, both strong verbal and written skills, are essential.

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…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others and (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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:

The position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate.

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable females, irrespective of religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities are encouraged to apply and become part of the organization.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID).

Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF.

UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/.

The vacancy announcement is open to all candidates – both internal UNICEF staff holding permanent, continuing and fixed term appointments and external candidates.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

In order to deliver results for the children of Malawi, UNICEF Malawi Country Office works in a fast-paced but impactful environment where creativity, innovation, collaboration, teamwork, a safe space and professional development are supported and encouraged. We are therefore seeking individuals who are motivated to make a real difference and serve the children of Malawi with resourcefulness, resilience, creativity, and professional excellence.