Chief Governance, P5, FT, Governance, PFP, Geneva, Switzerland

Contract

This is a P-5 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 10 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 214,532 USD and 268,857 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job it is a calling. UNICEF is a place where careers are built, we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

The post of the Chief, Governance, is a highly specialized role that leads the Governance Team Unit and is based in the National Committee Relations (NCR) Section in the Private Fundraising and Partnerships (PFP) division. The incumbent's supervisor is the Deputy Director, National Committee Relations.

The PFP NCR Section manages the strategic relationship between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the National Committees for UNICEF. National Committees are independent non-governmental organizations established under national law that operate in their territories based on a cooperation agreement and strategic plans agreed with UNICEF. Taking an enabling, inclusive, and partnership approach, the NCR Section provides and convenes technical leadership and support, champions good governance and (child) safeguarding, facilitates knowledge-sharing networks, and ensures engagement with relevant internal and external stakeholders in key areas. The section’s work is focused on enabling and supporting the work of National Committees and sustainable results for children, in alignment with UNICEF Strategic Plan goals towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UNICEF Regulatory Framework, and relevant agreements and plans.

The Governance Team Unit, under the direction of the Chief Governance, is responsible for supporting the NCR Section’s role and leads in the areas of the UNICEF - National Committee partnership framework and cooperation agreement, nonprofit governance, and (child) safeguarding in the PFP private sector and National Committee context, working in close partnership and collaboration with senior internal and external stakeholders, in particular with senior management and National Committee boards.

For every child, Safety.

Under the general guidance of the PFP Deputy Director, National Committee Relations, the Chief Governance, provides leadership and highly specialized technical expertise and support on good governance (nonprofit/corporate) and the governance framework for National Committees for UNICEF, child safeguarding, cooperation agreement matters (including compliance monitoring), and supports PFP’s safeguarding accountabilities and the Deputy Director of National Committee Relations’ delegated divisional safeguarding focal point role.

The role serves the objective of strengthening good governance and safeguarding practices, enabling enhanced results for children and the UNICEF business model, protecting sustainable operations and results, supporting overall organizational risk and issue management, and ensuring alignment with relevant organizational requirements while ensuring an enabling, inclusive and partnership approach and leading on engagement with National Committee boards.

How can you make a difference?

The responsibilities of the Chief Governance include:

1. Providing governance leadership and leading on the development and management of a shared nonprofit governance principles framework for National Committees, ensuring technical implementation, capacity- and community-building support, working in close coordination and collaboration with the National Committee board, particularly the chairs of the National Committee boards and management, and other (senior) internal and external stakeholders, while ensuring consistency and coherence with UNICEF, as applicable, and inclusion of governance and (child) safeguarding plans in agreed joint strategic plans.
2. Leading on consistent application and interpretation of the UNICEF – National Committee cooperation agreement framework, providing topic expertise facilitating mandatory consultations in key governance areas, and leading compliance monitoring exercises for UNICEF, in coordination with relevant internal and external stakeholders.
3. Overseeing the provision of (child) safeguarding leadership, expert guidance, and technical support to facilitate implementation of relevant policy in PFP and of relevant commitments by National Committees, in close coordination and cooperation with relevant internal and external stakeholders.
4. Ensuring effective knowledge management in all areas under the responsibility of the Unit, and facilitating knowledge exchanges, relevant stakeholder consultations, and a collaborative approach to the development of knowledge management and information tools.
5. Advising senior leadership, PFP teams, and other stakeholders on governance, cooperation agreement, and (child) safeguarding matters, as well as advising PFP senior leadership on risk, issue, and crisis management matters, taking the lead on governance aspects.
6. Contributing to UNICEF Regulatory Framework development and related instruments (including those originating in PFP) to reflect relevant considerations, including in the areas of governance, safeguarding, partnership framework and regulatory context, private sector, and risk management.
7. Guiding and managing the Governance Unit’s budget and a small team to achieve progress against objectives while ensuring team well-being. Advising PFP Senior Management and Senior Relationship Managers on overall and National Committee-specific governance issues.

To qualify as a Champion for every child you will have…

Education:

• An advanced university degree in law and/or corporate/nonprofit governance, or another relevant technical field is required.

Experience:

• A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible professional experience as an authoritative expert in the area of nonprofit/corporate governance, or risk and compliance management is required.
• Demonstrated experience in providing authoritative technical advice to senior leadership on (nonprofit/corporate) governance is required.
• Demonstrated experience working in an international, diverse, and values-based context around complex multi-faceted matters, in collaboration with senior multi-country stakeholders operating in different national legal and other contexts, is required.
• Demonstrated experience in leading and supporting policy and guidance development, implementation, and capacity-building strategies across key areas of nonprofit/corporate governance, strengthening risk management culture, and facilitating a community of expert practitioners, taking an enabling, inclusive and partnership approach, is required.
• Demonstrated technical knowledge of various legal forms and governance structures of nongovernmental organizations are required.
• Demonstrated experience taking a principled, solutions-oriented, and enabling approach in the context of complex matters, diverging views, and important relationships with internal and external stakeholders, while ensuring the provision of accurate, independent, objective, and relevant highly technical advice, is required.
• Demonstrated experience in leading teams, and values-based team leadership and internal/external stakeholder collaboration is required.
• Due to the extensive amount of written communication and guidance, training materials, and other instruments involved, excellent writing skill is required.
• Demonstrated understanding of organizational (child) safeguarding and of the accountabilities expected of a leading child rights organization is an asset.
• Demonstrated understanding of UNICEF and governance aspects of the UNICEF National Committee partnership is an asset.
• Familiarity with the broader United Nations or UNICEF ecosystem from a legal and regulatory perspective is an asset.

Language requirements:

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

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

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (2)
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
• Works Collaboratively with others (2)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drives to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2) are required.

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

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 does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is either a role with direct contact with children, a role that works directly with identifiable children’s data, a safeguarding response role, or an assessed risk role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) apply.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to delivering the best results for children.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.