Child Survival & Development Manager, P-3, Banjul, The Gambia

Contract

This is a P-3 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 5 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 109,062 USD and 142,808 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, a childhood

UNICEF has been working in The Gambia for nearly 50 years, in close collaboration with the government of The Gambia and local partners, to promote and protect the lives of children at national and area based levels. Over the past few years, much of our focus has been on reaching the poorest and most vulnerable children in the country through various intervention, using different strategies.

The Gambia Country Office is a small office with limited resources. The need for integrated programming and synergistic delivery of results cannot be overemphasized in this context.

The Child Survival and Development (CSD) section includes national staff positions for EPI, nutrition, health and programme support, where the CSD Specialist acts as head of section and ensures strong coordination between disciplines. The role aims to strengthen coordination and advocacy of components of the Child Survival and Development Section as well as providing strong management to ensure Coherence between the two programming pillars.

For more information please visit: https://www.unicef.org/gambia/

How can you make a difference?

The Child Survival and Development Specialist reports to the Deputy Representative and manages the Child Survival and Development team, comprising national staff competencies in Health & HIV, EPI, WASH and Nutrition.

The Child Survival and Development Specialist reports to the Deputy Representative for guidance and general supervision. The Specialist supports the development and preparation of the Child Survival and Development program/s and is responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting of program progress of a sector of the Child Survival and Development (i.e. Nutrition, EPI, WASH, Health and HIV) program/s within the country program.

The key functions/accountabilities include:

1. Support to program development and planning
2. Program management, monitoring and delivery of results
3. Technical and operational support to program implementation
4. Networking and partnership building
5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

1. Support to program development and planning

• Support/contribute to the preparation/design and conduct/update of situation analysis for the sector/s to establish a strategic plan for development, design and management of Child Survival and Development related programs. Keep abreast of development trends to enhance program management, efficiency and delivery.
• Participate in strategic program discussion on the planning of Child Survival and Development program. Formulate, design and prepare a sector of the Child Survival and Development program proposal, ensuring alignment with the overall UNICEF’s Strategic Plans and Country Program and coherence/integration with UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.
• Establish specific program goals, objectives and strategies and implementation plans based on results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare required documentations for program review and approval.
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies and to determine national priorities/competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes and to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programs/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

2. Program management, monitoring and delivery of results

• Plan and/or collaborate with internal and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurement to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the assigned sector in Child Survival and Development programs.
• Provides technical guidance, programmatic leadership and operational support to the Child Survival and Development Section and ensure a strong coordination of the team for a quality and timely implementation of the program.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine 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.
• Actively monitor programs/projects through field visits, surveys and/or exchange of information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Monitor and verify the optimum/appropriate use of sectoral program resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity and ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Prepare regular/mandated program/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of program progress.
• Ensure Gender programming is articulated in CSD activities and liaises with the Gender Focal Point to ensure coherence with the Country Office’s Gender programming plan.

3. Technical and operational support to program implementation, also in emergencies

• Provide technical guidance, leadership and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on interpretation, application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices and approaches on health and related issues to support program development planning, management, implementation and delivery of results.
• Participate in discussions with national partners/clients/stakeholders to promote Child Survival and Development issues especially in the areas of gender, emergency preparedness and response and maternal, neonatal and child survival and development.
• Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic program materials for management use, information and/or consideration.
• Lead emergency preparedness initiatives program development and contingency planning and/or to respond to emergencies in country or where designated, including being the Emergency Focal Point for the Country Office.

4. Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with Child Survival and Development sector government counterparts, national stakeholders and global partners/allies/donors/academia through active networking, advocacy and effective communication to build capacity and exchange knowledge/expertise to facilitate the achievement of program goals on children rights and social justice/equity.
• Prepare communication and information materials for CO program advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for Child Survival and Development programs.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) discussions and planning on Child Survival and Development and related issues to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF planning and preparation of health programs/projects ensuring organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF process in development planning and agenda setting.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Apply/introduce innovative approaches and good practice to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable program results.
• Keep abreast and conduct research to provide evidence for implementation of best and cutting-edge practices in Child Survival and Development.
• Assess, institutionalize, and share best practices and knowledge learned.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programs and projects.
• Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders to promote sustainable results on health-related programs/projects.

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

• An Advanced University Degree in public health/nutrition, pediatric health, family health, health research, global/international health, health policy and/or management, environmental health sciences, biostatistics, socio-medical, health education, epidemiology or other health related science is required.
• A minimum of five (5) years of professional experience in public health/nutrition planning and management and/or in relevant areas of maternal and neonatal health care, health emergency/humanitarian preparedness, at the international level some of which preferably in a developing country is required.
• Relevant experience in health/nutrition program/project development and management in any UN system agency or organization is an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language, is a key 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.

To view our competency framework, please visit 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.

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.

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 female candidates are encouraged to apply.

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.