Consultant (6 months) Chief of Staff, Education Outcomes Fund (EOF) London, UK

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, education . . .

There are few greater challenges faced by the global community than the twin crises of learning poverty and youth unemployment. In response, the Education Commission (chaired by Gordon Brown, former UK Prime Minister and UN Special Envoy for Global Education) and the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (chaired by Sir Ronald Cohen) came together to create EOF. We aim to improve the education and employment outcomes of 10 million children and youth by supporting governments to utilise a range of innovative finance instruments at scale, including outcomes funds and other results-based financing (RBF) instruments.

EOF is backed by a range of world leaders who support this objective, as well as leaders in education and impact investing. Our Executive Committee includes Sir Ronald Cohen, Sir Michael Barber, Dolika Banda, George Werner and Rob Jenkins. Our High Level Steering Group includes, amongst others, Aliko Dangote, Aicha Bah Diallo, Henrietta Fore, Jakaya Kikwete, Felipe Calderon and Christos Stylianides.

EOF supports improvements in the quality of education and skills programs, with a special focus on underserved populations, including the hardest to reach; rural populations, girls, children with disabilities, and refugees. It measures (and pays for) what matters – both core skills like literacy and numeracy, but also critical 21st Century skills such as socio-emotional skills, ICT skills, and other broader fundamentals of a quality education. It helps close the persistent gap between the skills needed by employers and those attained by today’s youth by paying for employment and retention outcomes.

For all the above, EOF pays primarily on the basis of the results achieved, ensuring that taxpayer-funded domestic resources, aid, and philanthropic funds are only used to pay for what works. This is a game-changing way to finance results in education. It is more than just a fund – it is a powerful new set of partnerships and way of working.

Together with our supporters, we believe this is the early stages of a much larger movement. Our approach is at the cutting edge of development finance, shifting risk to the private sector, crowding in private capital, and harnessing the capacity and capability of non-state actors, with huge potential to achieve better outcomes for children and youth around the world.

Since its inception in 2018, EOF has:

• Partnered with governments in Ghana and Sierra Leone to establish what will be, once launched, the two largest outcomes funds to date in developing countries.
• Become established as a leading global player in RBF, and the only dedicated centre of expertise for RBF in education and skills.
• Become established as the first outcomes fund hosted by the United Nations.
• Built our institutional capacity to contract and implement large scale outcomes funds more efficiently and effectively than historic impact bonds.
• Established a strong culture of performance, and an active focus on ongoing professional development for all our team.

Rationale for the consultancy

The Education Outcomes Fund (EOF) is dedicated to achieving quality education and employment outcomes for children and youth globally. Our small but mighty team engages on a daily basis with stakeholders at the highest levels across government, the international development community, the private sector, and civil society.

At this exciting growth stage in EOF's development, as we're scaling our approach in countries across the world, we are looking for an outstanding Chief of Staff to support the EOF Director. The ideal candidate will have proven experience working at senior levels in the private or non-profit sectors, with a versatile skill set that will enable them to contribute across the breadth of EOF's work.

How can you make a difference?

We are seeking a Chief of Staff to work in close partnership with the EOF Director, providing strategic support across the breadth of their activities. This is a vital role at the forefront of decision making at EOF, at a crucial stage in the organization's development. Working hand in glove with the Director, the consultant will be engaging with leaders from across government, business and the non-profit sector to deliver better outcomes in global education.

Through the leadership of the Director's office, managing EOF's governing boards, owning critical external relationships and leading special projects, the consultant will play an integral role across the breadth of EOF's work and will be expected to be able to solve problems, have close attention to details, thrive in a fast-paced and fast-moving environment, be comfortable taking on responsibility in all aspects of EOF.

The consultant will also play a leading role in managing EOF's external communications.

The Chief of Staff role reports directly to the EOF Director and will work closely with the leadership team and staff across EOF.

Tasks and Responsibilities

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT

1. Work in close partnership with the EOF Director across the full range of activities, including, but not limited to:

• Acting as a strategic thought partner, advising the Director's work both within EOF and in any advisory and non-executive board positions.
• Leading the preparation for engagements with global leaders (i.e. Head of State, Ministerial, CEO, UN agency head, etc.).
• Writing speeches and talking points for high-profile public-speaking engagements.
• Represent the Director in internal and external engagements, with delegated decision-making responsibilities.

2. Lead the office of the Director:

• Provide support to the Director on a daily basis, anticipating their needs, providing advice, research and problem-solving.
• Develop high-quality content to be sent from the Director's office and quality control content produced by others.
• Act as gatekeeper to the Director to ensure their time is effectively leveraged.
• Work with the Director and Leadership Team to ensure cross-organizational priorities are identified, understood and advanced.
• Chair EOF team meetings and retreats.
• Manage and develop executive assistants and other staff as required.

3. Manage EOF's external communications:

• Overall responsibility for the planning and execution of EOF's communication strategy.
• Directly manage an external strategic communications agency.
• Develop original content and support others to create content, to deliver EOF's goals across all platforms (digital, social and traditional media), op-eds, blog posts and social media content.
• Quality control all external EOF content.

4. Own the relationships with EOF's Executive Committee and High-Level Steering Group, leveraging their expertise, insight and networks of these groups to support EOF's mission.

• Overall responsibility for all EOF Executive Committee and High-Level Steering Group meetings, from agenda development to creating high-quality presentations.
• Manage the implementation of EOF Funding, Communications and Political Engagement sub-committees.
• Help develop connections to board members to support their engagement with EOF.

5. Provide direct support across the breadth of EOF's work, with a focus on the EOF communications and partnership:

• Writing op-eds, articles or blog posts to promote EOF's work in the media.
• Creating social media content to use across EOF platforms.
• Developing relationships with high-value public and private funders and impact investors.

6. As required, lead special projects on behalf of the CEO and EOF.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Marketing, Communications, Business Administration, Economics, Social Sciences, Public Administration, International Relations, or equivalent.
• A minimum of five years of relevant professional experience, including management or strategy consulting, leadership at a start-up or growth stage organization, project leader for a global philanthropy etc.
• Experience or interest in international development, the global education sector and international aid is desirable.
• Fluency in English is required. Proficiency in French, Arabic or other languages in MENA region preferred. Knowledge of another official UN language (Chinese, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

Duty Station

London, UK

Duration:

Six months (Beginning 1.10.2021 through 31.03.2022

Proposed Payment Schedule

Select proposed methodology: Monthly

Salary range will depend on the skills and experience of the selected candidate.

Travel

Frequent global travel. For individual contractors and consultants, all travel arrangements to commence the assignment, including insurance and visas, will be managed and paid by the individual. Therefore, expected travel costs must be included as a budget item in the financial proposal. Should “mission travel” be required, UNICEF will manage and pay for travel via Travel Authorization. However, this will be subject to the following prerequisites: Medical Clearance, Security Clearance through the Travel Request Information Process (TRIP) system, the Basic and Advanced Security in the Field Trainings, Travel Visa, and liability waiver. The consultant/individual contractor is responsible for arranging his/her own travel and submit invoices to UNICEF for payment as part of the contract.

Insurance:

UNICEF will not be responsible for costs arising from accidents and/or illness incurred during the consultant’s service. Therefore, the selected candidate must provide proof of enrollment in a health/accident plan prior to starting his/her work.

How to apply:

Please complete your profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system.

Please indicate your ability, availability and financial proposal (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above.

Applications submitted without a financial proposal will not be considered.

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...

• Builds and Maintains Partnerships: Clear and confident communication skills, you are comfortable communicating with a range of stakeholders and can adapt your style according to the audience. (3)
• Thinks and acts strategically: You are able to pull insights from complex information. You understand the big picture and are able to anticipate risks and identify strategic opportunities. (3)

• Manages ambiguity and complexity: You understand that our work is complex and dynamic and respond to shifting priorities with composure and agility. Care for details: You have an eye for details and a reliable approach to managing them; you also pay close attention to formatting, grammar, and consistency. (3)

• Demonstrate self-awareness and ethical awareness: You are self-aware of your own strengths, limitations, working style, and deeply held convictions and biases. You display ethical awareness through behaviours that are consistent and compliant with the standards of conduct for international civil servants, UNICEF's values, and relevant UNICEF policies and procedures. (3)

Functional competencies:

• Analyzing (2)
• Persuading and Influencing (3)
• Entrepreneurial Thinking (2)

View our competency framework: 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.

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.