Consultancy: Giga Events Manager, Office of Innovation, Barcelona Spain, 12 months (Or 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...

About Giga

Launched in 2019 as a joint initiative between UNICEF and ITU, Giga has set the ambitious goal to connect every school in the world to the internet.

Half of the world’s population has no regular access to the Internet. Millions of children leave school without any digital skills, making it much more difficult for them to thrive and contribute to local and global economies. This has created a digital divide between those who are connected and those who are not, a divide that has become even wider during the Covid-19 pandemic. UNICEF and ITU have therefore joined forces to create Giga, an initiative to connect every school in the world to the Internet and address this new form of inequality.

Giga focuses on connecting schools so that children and young people have access to information, opportunity, and choice. It also uses schools as anchor points for their surrounding communities: if you connect the school, you can also connect local businesses and services. This creates opportunities for service providers to generate revenue from paying users, making connectivity more sustainable. A 2021 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that a 10% increase in school connectivity can increase effective years of schooling by 0.6% and increase GDP per capita by 1.1%.

You cannot fix a problem unless you can see it, so the first step is to map schools and their connectivity levels. Giga uses machine learning to scan satellite images and identify schools. These are then marked by colored dots on an open-source map: green where there is good connectivity (over 5mb/s); amber where it is limited; and red where there is no connectivity at all.

Just as building railroads allowed previously isolated towns to flourish, providing good quality Internet access will allow communities to participate in the digital economy for the first time. But Giga’s work in laying the tracks for connectivity is only one part of a wider effort to bridge the digital divide. UNICEF’s Reimagine Education initiative brings all of this work together and has set the goal of connecting every child and young person – some 3.5 billion - to world-class digital learning solutions by 2030. In addition to Giga, it includes components focusing on the affordability of data and content, access to devices, teacher certification and the engagement of young people. Along with ITU’s digital skills programme and other initiatives, Reimagine Education aims to ensure that, once connected, young people are empowered with the tools they need to shape their own futures.

You can read more about Giga’s work at https://giga.global/ and by following us on twitter @Gigaglobal

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of the appointment / main activities

Giga is looking for an experienced, self-motivated Event Manager who can work with a diverse interdisciplinary team to lead in the conceptualization, design, and execution of Giga's participation in global high-level events. The Global Events Manager will act as a focal point for all global and regional events that relate to the joint ITU-UNICEF Giga initiative. The Manager will coordinate effectively among various individuals and teams inside and outside of Giga, in addition to non-UNICEF stakeholders and external service providers, to ensure efficient and successful event execution.

Purpose of the appointment

Under the supervision and guidance of the Programme Manager and Communications Lead, the Event Manager will perform the following key tasks:

Overall, this position is responsible for:

• Develop and execute Giga's participation in global events, including developing concept notes, execution plans, and event content.
• Coordinate effectively among various individuals and teams, in addition to non-UNICEF stakeholders and external service providers, to ensure efficient and successful event execution.
• Develop a run of show for events, including a detailed flow of sessions.
• Prepare, liaise, and coordinate with all speakers and moderators in collaboration with the Giga Management team.
• Liaise with and facilitate communications with the relevant ITU teams on joint events.
• Provide support for event visual branding and graphic design in close collaboration with the communications team and partners.
• Prepare briefing packages and conduct briefing calls with speakers, panelists, and moderators.
• Correspond with and conduct follow-ups with all speakers and moderators to ensure presentations, recorded messages, and required documents are shared per the agreed-upon timeline.
• In case of exhibitions, correspond and follow up with organizers to provide briefing, collecting of materials and resources.
• Proactively capture the content of the discussions, key conclusions, and challenges during the event and deliver a final document that captures the event's key discussion and action points.
• Conduct a brief review process to assess and review the effectiveness of the event and discuss lessons learned.
• Provide support to the Giga Communications team, the respective Country Offices, and NatComs in ensuring necessary communications and media coverage of Giga's participation in different global events.

• Provide support to the Giga Communications Team as needed, including support to strategy development and execution.

  Your main deliverables will be:

• Global Events Strategy and 2-year Implementation Plan

• Concept notes, execution plans, and event contents
• Templatize run of shows and ensure every event has a fully checked, coordinated and up to date run of show.
• Coordination and liaison, including briefing packages and preparatory calls.
• Content capture and final, summary document produced post-event.
• Review process of the events strategy
• Support and interactions with the Giga Communications Team
• Technical support
• Communication and media coverage.

Please access the full ToR and related information here Giga Events Manager - 04052023.docx

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

• An advanced university degree (master’s or higher) is required in one of the following fields: international relations, political science, communications, international development, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: high-level event management, partnerships, programme management, external relations, or other relevant areas.
• In-depth knowledge of UN processes and experience in engaging with interagency partners is required.
• Strong project management, coordination, and communication skills, as well as excellent organizational and time-management abilities. The candidate must also have experience in developing and executing event strategies and plans, and in coordinating with a diverse range of stakeholders, particularly in relation to technology for development.
• The candidate should have knowledge of international development issues, the technology sector, and the role of events in promoting organizational visibility and partnership building.
• Tactful, can work under pressure, and is able to build positive relationships.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced and dynamic environment; proven track record working across a cross-functional team.
• Outstanding communication, teamwork, and interpersonal skills; team-first mentality
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Fluency in English and Spanish is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, or Russian) or a local language is an asset.

Payment details and further considerations

• Payment of professional fees will be based on the submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.
• Consultant is responsible for his/her own health and travel insurance.
• Consultant is responsible to arrange his/her own travel, including visa.

How to apply:

• Interested applicants are required to submit a financial proposal with all-inclusive fee, using the template provided.
• Financial proposal must include travel costs (economy class) and daily subsistence allowance, if travel is required as per TOR and any other estimated costs: visa, travel/health insurance.

Applications without a financial proposal will not be considered.

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

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 offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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:

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. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.