Call for a pool of Country Programme development, implementation and monitoring Experts (senior, mid-level and junior) for UNICEF ECARO

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy 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, hope

The UNICEF country offices primarily drive strategic planning, implementation, and monitoring of the country programmes, with technical assistance from the UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECARO). For this technical assistance and quality assurance purposes of the programming documents, the regional office for Europe and Central Asia is pre-identifying qualified and interested consultants that could be deployed to countries to support the country’s programming process.

Becoming a technically vetted candidate with UNICEF is a one-off standard application that opens the door for potentially multiple consultancy assignments in ECA Region within three years following the selection and reference checks process. Over the three years, UNICEF will make extensive use of the pool for eligible consultancy requirements; this is, therefore, a unique opportunity for any interested and qualified consultant to submit one single application and, if selected, to be immediately considered for any future assignments by UNICEF in the relevant area of expertise.

Interested consultants should have thorough knowledge and experience in results-based management, including preparing theories of change. Moreover, interested consultants should be able to facilitate an inclusive programming process and, when needed, contribute to the formulation of programming documents, including the country programme document.

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF and its partners will be working on implementing and monitoring Country Programmes in Europe and Central Asia in different stages of their implementation. The implementation and monitoring process requires continuous, extensive support from the Country Offices in tasks related—but not limited—to the preparation of work plans, alignment of theories of change with work plans and internal monitoring platforms, selection and reporting on indicators and programme reviews. As part of the role of support and technical guidance functions, the pool of experts will work with UNICEF ECARO, on a case-by-case basis, to support Country Offices in the following indicative activities:

1. Preparation of planning instruments based on the evidence and the prioritization and using a consultative approach within the UNICEF country office and with the UNICEF regional office and, where needed, other partners

2. Prepare or update theories of change for each of the identified priority themes for the new UNICEF country programme, using rights and gender lens and incorporating a risk-informed programming approach

3. Preparation of the draft UNICEF country programme document and the accompanying integrated results and resources framework and the costed evaluation plan

4. Review and update national data and analysis of the situation of children and adolescents that UNICEF and other stakeholders have developed as part of country programme planning

5. Capacity building of country office staff in management for results and Rights and Results-Based Management (RRBM).

6. Development of Scale-up Plans for Intervention Modelling

7. Preparation and updating of regional office planning instruments and management plans.

8. Other tasks and requirements that will be agreed upon with the Country Offices, in close consultation with the regional office.

Supervision

The Consultant will be supervised by the Programme Planning and Data (PP&D) team in UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, in close coordination and consultation with country offices.

Working modality

Home-based with possible travels.

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

• University degree in Social Sciences, Development, Economics or any related field
• Proven track record in results-based management, including the preparation of theories of change and results and monitoring frameworks
• Proven experience in facilitating strategic planning processes within the UN context
• Proven experience, within the UN context, in writing strategic plans, cooperation documents and other documents aimed at disseminating to the broad public
• Experience in developing the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, Theories of Change, Programme Rationales and Country Programme Documents for international or national organisations will be an asset.

The pool of experts will contain different levels of consultants aligned with the required expertise and complexity of the assignment.

Level

Cumulative Relevant Experience

Junior Consultants

Between 3-5 years

Mid-Level Experts

Between 5-10 years

Senior-Level Expert

More than 10 years

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Competencies of Successful Candidate

• Strong writing skills
• Strong analytical skills to compile and consolidate a variety of inputs and produce technical, concise and easy-to-understand documents

• ICT literate with good experience in managing/using Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Skills in using Microsoft SharePoint platform will be considered an asset

• Ability to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment

• Strong interpersonal skills
• Ability to work with little supervision
• Creativity and innovation in reporting will be highly appreciated

• Availability to travel to countries across Europe and Central Asia, if required

• Fluency required in English (oral and written). Knowledge of the Russian language is an asset for the Central Asia countries and Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian language for the Western Balkans region.

  How to apply

Applicants are invited to apply online and duly complete the online profile and application form. For the question "Please state your overall fee for the whole assignment including all travel cost related and other expenses related to the assignment" reply "N/A at this point". Please apply to the call by the stated in the announcement deadline and do not keep your submission till the last minute.

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.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

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. The candidate may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid).