Consultancy - Humanitarian Innovation Portfolio Manager, Stockholm, Sweden, Office of innovation, 11.5 months

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.

The Global Innovation Strategy 2.0 strategy and aims to achieve critical shifts in the way UNICEF currently works on innovation, building on what has been successful, while also addressing lessons learned and capitalizing on new opportunities. These critical shifts are:

1. Setting global priorities based on the needs of children and young people, focusing on those areas with the largest need
2. Focusing on scaling innovations
3. Catalysing inventions where no known solution exists
4. Connecting the organization and convening critical stakeholders to solve the most pressing challenges facing children and young people

These shifts will be enabled by:

1. Establishing a portfolio management approach
2. Innovative funding and financing and the application of financial engineering
3. Ensuring rapid learning and fostering collaboration
4. Building innovation culture and competence across UNICEF.

How can you make a difference?

This role within the Portfolio, Culture & Scale team will support the development and management of the Humanitarian Innovation Portfolio, aiming to source, accelerate and scale solutions that can improve UNICEF’s ability to respond to humanitarian emergencies.

Your main responsibilities will be:

You will work under the general direction of the P5 Senior Advisor, Innovation (Portfolio, Culture and Scale). You will work in close collaboration with other Portfolio Managers and EMOPS to:

1. Review the strategy (vision and problem statements) for the humanitarian innovation portfolio working closely with UNICEF Office of Emergency Programmes (EMOPS).
2. Actively manage and develop the Humanitarian Innovation portfolio from pilot to scale, supporting the identification and scaling of critical solutions that will accelerate outcomes for children.
3. Oversee and facilitate performance management for the portfolio overall, and reporting for specific relevant solutions within the Humanitarian innovation portfolio
4. Work with the Partnerships team to support resource mobilization and communications opportunities for the Humanitarian portfolio
5. Establish frameworks to identify emergency humanitarian innovations ready for scale.
6. As required, support development of a future humanitarian innovation hub
7. Strategic support and other tasks for Office of Innovation around Humanitarian Innovation.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in a relevant field (International Development; social sciences, public administration, law, international relations, business administration; or related practical experience). *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 experience supporting and coordinating project activities across a large organization and with other international development organizations.
• Experience of working within humanitarian preparedness/response, ideally for a UN agency
• Track record of innovating, ideally in humanitarian / low resource contexts
• Familiar with data collection in low resource settings
• Demonstrated ability to manage relationships with UNICEF Country and Regional Offices, programmes and partners, including government, universities, UN organizations, NGOs and the private sector.
• Proven skills in communication, networking, strategic thinking, advocacy and negotiation, and ability to relate this to children and young people.
• Proven capacity to work with diverse teams across different locations and with different technical skills
• Strong writing and communication skills and the aptitude to handle competing messages and priorities with multiple audiences
• Fluency in English is required, another UN language is an asset.

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

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA). To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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 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.