Consultancy, Design Lead, 6 months, Remote

Contract

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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, innovate

UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives.

The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection, where an organization that works on huge global issues meets the startup thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions.

UNICEF's Office of Innovation creates opportunities for the world's children by focusing on where new markets can meet their vital needs. We do this by:

• Connecting youth communities (or more broadly -- anyone disconnected or under-served) to decision-makers, and to each other, to deliver informed, relevant and sustained programmes that build better, stronger futures for children.
• Provoking change for children through an entrepreneurial approach -- in a traditionally risk-averse field -- to harness rapidly moving innovations and apply them to serve the needs of all children.
• Creating new models of partnership that leverage core business values across the public, private and academic sectors in order to deliver fast, and lasting results for children.

The Office of Innovation specifically looks to form partnerships around frontier technologies (like drones and UAVs, blockchain, 21st century skills, urban technologies, new banking tools, wearables and sensors, or 3D-Printing) that exist at the intersection of $100 billion business markets and 1 billion person needs – and to identify how they can grow and scale profitably and inclusively.

How can you make a difference?

The Office of Innovation seeks a top-level candidate who can intake, prioritize and toggle nimbly between multiple projects coming from a geographically dispersed team and who can lead design work to execute visually compelling and technically clear outputs for projects.

The candidate must be able to work in a fast-changing environment and have a strong understanding of social innovation in development. We seek someone who has proven experience coordinating multiple projects of varying degree and timelines and who knows how to work alongside a multidisciplinary team with backgrounds in communications, development, operations, partnership building, science, engineering and new and emerging technologies. Good communication is key, so we seek a candidate who knows how to articulate our work and our goals easily amongst a diverse range of staff who range in their understanding of design, and who has a knack for extrapolating information that can be utilized to improve ideas.

The role requires someone with a diverse and hybrid background, someone who loves to creatively problem-solve, who can ideally work across various devices and platforms, who understands both traditional design and the large spectrum of digital and web mediums. Ideally, this candidate will also have a strong sense of UNICEF’s programmes and goals and expresses a passion for designing for social impact through their portfolio.

Your main responsibilities will be:

• Provide leadership to the Office of Innovation to identify and facilitate the use of design across the division’s priorities and engagement areas
• Provide strategic design support for the Scale and Ventures teams of the Office of Innovation on select priority initiatives
• Supporting and facilitating use of HCD LTAs to support the Office of Innovation’s related needs
• Supporting and facilitating access to visual design resources for the Office of Innovation

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

• An advanced university degree in design, graphic design or 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.
• At least 8 years of relevant professional experience in communication strategy, design strategy, media design, digital and print design, service design, systems design or related – and proven experience in translating complex ideas into unified storytelling visuals.
• Design skills across the print and digital spectrum and professional-level knowledge of design platforms like Adobe Creative Suite.
• A portfolio which exemplifies strong work for both print and web, which shows both strong research, processes and attention to detail.
• Experience with leading creative teams on multiple projects of varying degrees and timelines.
• Experience in brand development and brand scaling.
• Knowledge of capabilities and limitations of web and mobile technologies and experience that extends beyond-screen based designs.
• An ability to communicate complex, abstract concepts using both visual, verbal and written language.

• Ability to work embedded within a diverse team in a rapidly-changing work environment: Proven experience working with a diverse team and being able to parse through large amounts of information in order to create synthesized and clear designs.

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.

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

Additional Experience and Knowledge:

• Familiarity with open-source technology
• Familiarity with development/programming language
• Familiarity with Innovation products is a plus
• Knowledge of SMS technology and mobile usage in developing countries is a plus
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience working within the social impact space

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

• Communication - Level 2
• Working with People - Level 2
• Applying Technical Expertise - Level 3

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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.

Payment details and further considerations

• Monthly payment, based on monthly tasks and progress reports, approved upon monthly review with supervisor.
• Consultant is responsible for his/her own health and travel insurance
• Consultant is eligible for standard DSA for all work-related travel

Remarks:

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.