Chief Youth & Adolescent Development, P4, Mbabane, Eswatini

Contract

This is a P-4 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 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 112,621 USD and 145,201 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 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

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of the Position

Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Representative, this Chief Youth and Adolescent Development is accountable for the development, design, planning, implementation and management of the overall Adolescent, protection, learning and development (APLD) component of the UNICEF Eswatini country programme.

The Chief, Youth & Adolescent Development works in coordination with Child Protection, C4D, Gender, Communication, Education, HIV/AIDS, Health, Nutrition, WASH, Planning, Emergency and Monitoring & Evaluation to support development of a strategic framework for adolescents, across all sectors. S/He is responsible for the planning, design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of programs and initiatives in the area of child protection and adolescent development, aimed at establishing a protective, learning environment for children, with a special focus on the protection of adolescents and HIV-prevention, care and support.

As head of the section, the Chief APLD will be required to provide leadership, guidance and strategic direction for the development of convergent approaches to adolescent protection, empowerment and wellbeing, and to ensure that the issue of promoting and realizing the rights of adolescents and the foundational principle of child participation, are integrated into UNICEF's advocacy, policy, and programming. S/he will contribute equally in all output areas; to ensure that adolescent protection, learning and participation is addressed through cross-sectoral and UN interagency initiatives for realizing rights of adolescents, to provide necessary technical advice; to dialogue, guide and advocate with the government and partners policy issues in the areas relevant for APLD; and to support and accelerate implementation of the APLD program, especially those related to life skills, HIV mitigations, enabling and protective environment, changing social norms to address harmful practices and most importantly in ensuring ethical and meaningful participation of adolescents, especially adolescent girls. S/he will also provide overall leadership, direction and guidance to the team in identifying innovative approaches and strategies for protecting, promoting and realizing the rights of all adolescents, particularly girls, adolescents with disabilities and the most marginalized and excluded groups. S/he will ensure that adolescent development and participation issues are mainstreamed in UNICEF programming with special attention to gender dynamics and social norms. S/he will also perform any other tasks needed by the section in the promotion of a protective environment, both addressing social norms and support to system development.

The Chief, Youth & Adolescent Development contributes to achievement of sustainable and scalable results on adolescent related programs/projects according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM) and UNICEF's Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework.

Key function, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

1. Management and advisory support

• Establish the Section's annual work plan with the APLD team; set priorities/targets and performance measurement.
• Monitor work progress and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards.
• Establish clear individual performance objectives, goals and timelines; and provide timely guidance to enable the team to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently.
• Plan and ensure timely performance management and assessment of the Team.
• Supervise team members by providing them with clear objectives and goals, direction and guidance to enable them to perform their duties responsibly, effectively and efficiently.
• Coordinate work progress monitoring and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards and report to Deputy Representative critical issues for timely action.
• Provide technical assistance/advice to colleagues in the Section on all aspects of programming and implementation to enable colleagues to achieve program/performance objectives.
• Ensure emergency preparedness is contained in national programs/projects to ensure the protection and well-being of children in cases of armed conflict and natural disasters and other emergency situations.

2. Program development and planning

• Plan and provide technical assistance and operational support to the preparation/design and conduct/update of situation analysis to ensure that current comprehensive and evidence based data on adolescent issues related to protection, learning, and development are available to guide UNICEF's strategic policy advocacy, intervention and development efforts on child rights and protection and to set program priorities, strategies, design and implementation plans.
• Keep abreast of national/regional/international development priorities on child protection, education, adolescent participation and rights to enhance program management and delivery.
• Supervise the development of APLD (child protection, HIV/AIDS, education, and development, including an HIV-integrated approach) programs (as a full component of the CO and/or UNDAF programs). Establish plans of action, program goals and results, using results-based planning methodology and terminology (RBM).
• Establish specific goals, objectives and strategies and implementation plans for the sector/s using on results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM).
• Prepare required documentations for program review and approval. Collaborate with national/regional colleagues/partners to develop partnerships framework to address specific needs and to leverage resources for enhancing and scaling up adolescent programs (in the areas of protection, learning and development).
• Ensure synergy, integration, coherence, and harmonization of programs with UNICEF Strategic Plans and priorities, donors' development strategies/policies, national priorities/competencies and UN System development interventions/initiatives. Guide and coordinate the timely preparation of program recommendation and related documentation for inclusion in the Country Office Program recommendation ensuring alignment with the overall UNICEF's Strategic (Adolescent Protection, Education and Development) Plans, regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.
• Ensure emergency preparedness is contained in national programs to ensure the protection and well-being of children and adolescents in cases of armed conflict and natural disasters and other emergency situations.

3. Program management, monitoring and quality control of results

• Plan and/or collaborate with monitoring and evaluation initiatives to establish benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators, to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results in child protection, education and adolescent programs.
• Participate in major monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to engage stakeholders to take required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare/assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths/weaknesses in program and management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Monitor programs/projects to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Plan, monitor and track the use of program resources (financial, human, administrative and other assets) certifying/verifying compliance with organizational rules, regulations and procedures, donor commitments and standards of accountability and integrity.
• Ensure timely reporting and liquidation of resources. Prepare program reports to donors and other partners to keep them informed on program progress and critical issues.

4. Advisory services and technical support

• Provide technical advice to key government officials, NGO, UN system and other country office partners on policies, strategies, best practices and approaches on child protection, education, human rights and other related issues to support program development planning, implementation and delivery of results.
• Coordinate the availability of technical experts (with Regional Office/HQ) to ensure timely support throughout all stages of programming processes.
• Participate in strategic discussions to influence policy and agenda setting for combating poverty and all forms of discrimination against women/children by advising on and advocating strategies and approaches to promote/catalyze social changes for a protective environment for child survival, development and well being in society.
• Prepare policy papers, briefs and other strategic program materials for management use, information and consideration. Participate in country discussions on child protection, education, emergency preparedness, programming and contingency planning to ensure proactive and appropriate response are in place to meet onset of emergencies nationally or other designated locations.

5. Advocacy, networking and partnership building

• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking and advocacy with local/national governments, UN system agency partners, donors, internationally recognized institutions, NGOs, funding organization, research institutes and private sector to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities to promote goals and achieve sustainable and broad results on child protection and adolescent participation.
• Prepare communication strategies and implementation plans and activities for maximum communication impact and outreach to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances for sustainable results and support fund raising for UNICEF and Country Office child protection, education, adolescent participation programs and emergency interventions.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in inter-agency discussions and planning on child protection, education and adolescent and related issues to ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF process in development planning and agenda setting. Collaborate with inter-agency partners UNDAF planning and preparation of programs including emergency preparedness.

6. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Promote critical thinking and innovative approaches and good practices for sustainable child protection, education and HIV/AIDS initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory services.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce and implement best and cutting edge practices on child protection, education and HIV/AIDS management and information systems. Institutionalize and disseminate best practices and knowledge learned. Contribute to the development of policies and procedures and introduce innovation and best practices to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programs and projects.

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

• An Advanced University degree in international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, international law or other social science field is required. A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in social development planning and management in adolescent/child protection, education related areas and/other related areas at the international level some of which preferably were served in a developing country is required.
• Relevant experience in adolescent protection, education and HIV/AIDS programming for adolescents and related areas, program/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset.
• Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts is an added advantage.
• Fluency in English (written & verbal) is required. Knowledge of an additional UN Language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish) is considered 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

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 (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:

• UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, are encouraged to apply to become a part of the organization.
• Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
• 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 are also 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.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.