Early Childhood Development Specialist, NO-3 (TA), New Delhi (This is a Temporary Appointment for 364 days)

Contract

This is a NO-3 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-3 contracts.

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. UNICEF has spent 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Defending children's rights throughout their lives requires a global presence, aiming to produce results and understand their effects. UNICEF believes all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential – to the benefit of a better world.

And we never give up.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF: https://youtu.be/43aiG4w2q_M

For Every Child, AN ADVOCATE:

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, nutrition, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

How can you make a difference?

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you.

Under the general oversight of the Deputy Representative, Programmes and the direct supervision of the Chief of Nutrition, the ECD (Early Childhood Development) Specialist supports the coordinated development, planning, implementation, monitoring and documentation of ECD programmes/projects within the Country Programme. The Specialist provides technical guidance and management support across sections to facilitate the administration and achievement of results on ECD related programmes/projects. S/he assists in coordination and cross sectoral work around the ECD beam which links with Nutrition, Health, WASH, Education, Child Protection, Social Policy, Communication for Advocacy and Partnerships and Communication for Development programmes.

The Specialist works closely with ECD Core Group (a sub-set of the ECD Task Force) at the national level and ECD focal points in the states and contributes to the achievement of convergent and sustainable results on ECD related programmes/projects according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM) and UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework.

Summary of Key functions/accountabilities:

1. Promote convergence in development, management and monitoring of cross-sectoral ECD programmes/projects.
2. Technical and operational support to programme coordination.
3. Support in networking and partnership building.
4. Contribute to evidence base on effective cross-sectoral ECD Programmes/projects

1. Promote convergence in development, management and monitoring of cross-sectoral ECD programmes

• Participate in CO programme discussions related to annual workplanning as well as developing next Country Programme Document to determine areas for ECD integration/intervention. Contribute to the formulation, design and preparation of the programme to ensure integration of ECD in a holistic manner across programme areas and to ensure alignment of ECD programmes with UNICEF’s Strategic Plans and coherence/integration with UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDF), regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.
• Support coordination and provide leadership and strategic technical and programming support to UNICEF and UNICEF Filed Offices ECD coordination structures in implementation of the UNICEF India ECD programme strategy.
• Collaborate with internal and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results on ECD programmes.
• Work closely and collaboratively with 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 at all stages of programming processes to ensure ECD integration, coherence and harmonization with other UNICEF programme sectors and achievement of results as planned.
• Coordinates with Regional Office on cross- cutting Regional issues.
• Support to prepare ECD regular/mandated programme/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

2. Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Provide technical guidance and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and country office partners/donors on interpretation, application and understanding of policies, strategies, processes and best practices and approaches on ECD to support programme management, implementation and delivery of results.
• Actively monitor ECD programmes/projects through field visits, 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.
• Support in ECD coordination across sectors and state offices through planning and preparation of ECD coordination meetings, monitoring and reviews.
• Draft ECD policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and/or consideration in consultation with programme teams.

3. Support in Networking and partnership building

• Support to sustain effective close working partnerships with relevant government counterparts, UN agencies, national stakeholders and global partners/allies/donors/academia through active networking, advocacy and effective communication to build capacity, exchange knowledge/expertise and to reinforce cooperation to achieve sustainable and broad results on ECD programmes.
• Network with government and other external partners to promote effective coordination and support relevant programme Sections in partnership management.
• Support and coordinate joint advocacy, partnership and resource mobilization efforts with relevant sections.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) discussions and planning on ECD related issues to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF planning and preparation of programmes/projects ensuring organizational position’s, interests and priorities on ECD are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF process in development planning and agenda setting including emergency preparedness.

4. Contribute to evidence base on effective cross-sectoral ECD Programmes/projects

• Initiate, guide and support documenting of best practices, and promote UNICEF internal and Partners’ sharing and cross learning on ECD.
• Lead UNBICEF India knowledge management on ECD.
• Support the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis and assessments on ECD related issues to establish evidence-based data to support holistic policy and programme development, as well as coordinated planning, implementation, and monitoring of early childhood development programmes/projects within the country programme.
• Keep abreast of national, regional and international development priorities to identify opportunities where ECD can enhance inter-sector partnership, integration and linkages.
• Introduce innovative approaches and good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results on ECD.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark and implement best practices on early childhood 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 ECD programmes and projects.
• Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders to promote sustainable results on ECD related programmes/projects.

To qualify as a champion for every child you will have…

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: child development, education, nutrition, public health, public administration, economics, psychology, sociology, human development, child development, family studies or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of Five (5) years of professional experience in social development planning and management in early childhood development related areas is required.
• Experience working with Government is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

Core values

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability

Competencies Areas

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
• Works Collaboratively with others (2)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drives to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

View our competency framework 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 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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.

Remarks:

• This position is based in New Delhi (India).
• Selected applicant will have a 364 days Temporary Appointment contract.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.
• UNICEF does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process including application, interview, meeting, traveling, processing, training etc. UNICEF is a nonsmoking working environment.

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