Innovation Consultant. Remote. Req * 562265

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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, LOVE

Vacancy Announcement: Consultant

Consultancy Title: Innovation Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station: Gender Equality Section/PG/New York

Duration: 30 June 2023 to 31 January 2024 – Remote/Home Based

About UNICEF

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. Over 75 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

The Innovation Consultant, in coordination and networking with the Office of Innovation (OOI) team and PG/Gender team, brings programmatic technical expertise and is responsible to substantively support a robust Gender Equality Innovation Portfolio. For innovative solutions to achieve the transformational impact children need and UNICEF is aiming at requires a portfolio approach -- a disciplined, focused and evidence-informed process that identifies specific challenges to be solved articulated as problem statement, sources world-class solutions wherever they exist, and transparently aligns an array of resources to selectively accompany the most promising solutions through an evolutionary journey to focus on the few that deliver accelerated results at sustainable scale. The Gender Equality Innovation Portfolio Manager in OOI is responsible for applying the portfolio approach and works in close coordination with UNICEF’s Gender Section on the agenda, including the Senior Advisor focused on adolescent girls, This Innovation Consultant will work closely with both the Senior Gender Advisor and Gender Equality Innovation Portfolio Manager, to provide the necessary technical expertise and gender equality ecosystem engagement to develop the portfolio, help identify projects, and support these to scale up. These innovative solutions will contribute to effective and efficient delivery of scalable and transformative gender equality impact as a key driver for children’s and women’s rights.

Scope of Work:

1. Provide technical services and coordination of activities implementation to strengthen the gender lens to the Office of Innovation Gender Equality portfolio, particularly the Game Changers Coalition.

• Game Changer Coalition: For women and girls to be and feel represented, safe and successful in all the opportunities that the gaming industry presents, adolescent girls need the skills, the tools, the understanding and the opportunities to join the gaming industry and impact change from within. Our initiative is centered on developing skills and creating opportunities for girls to create and develop the safe and engaging games and gaming content of the future, representative of their voices, that millions of girls and boys will play. This initiative is a first of its kind partnership between UNICEF and the gaming industry, integrated in UNICEF’s global Skills4Girls programme. This initiative will bridge the gap between the skills of girls today and the future of women in tomorrow’s video game industry, equipping & empowering adolescent girls to become coders, designers, & leaders to actively contribute to positive change and diversity in both the workforce and the content.
• Other portfolio solutions: Other areas of the Gender Equality Portfolio’s work include Thought Leadership on Gender Equality and New Technologies (CSW official papers and Study on adolescent girls usages of mobile technology), a girls’ age-adapted and co-created menstrual tracker application, and activities in Impact sourcing programming also known as socially responsible outsourcing, connecting companies and women with limited access and opportunities, to become principal workers in business process outsourcing to provide information-based services to domestic and international companies, such as data cleaning, organizing, translating and other related massive tasks involving data that can be done remotely. Impact investing is an innovative manner to alleviate a weight on business procedures for companies and to create a income source for vulnerable young women who can then work safely and remotely.

2. Support Gender PG (Adolescent Girls Programing) and OOI (Gender Equality) teams on strengthening collaboration, cross-learning and augmenting investments for adolescent girls

Office of Innovation and Gender Programme group have identified four problem statements connecting gender and technology and innovation, on which both units work together:

• Girls, especially adolescent girls, have less access to skills, learning and relevant employment activities than boys, resulting in female youth aged 15-29 being 3 times more likely than male youth to be outside the labour force and not participating in education;
• Girls’ voices and feedback are not visible in policy decisions and programme design, even if literature shows that empowering women and girls’ voices and agency results in greater responsiveness to overall citizen/ service users’ needs, e.g.: when women are elected to office, policymaking increasingly reflects the priorities of families, women, and excluded groups, and e.g.: inventions arising out of mixed teams are more economically valuable and have higher impact than those in which only men are involved2;
• Gender restrictive norms and stereotypes perpetuate inequalities affecting girls online and offline, e.g.: gender stereotypes against the involvement of girls and women in STEM education begin in primary school3, and e.g.: almost 70% of non-student female youth aged 15- 29 said they wish to work in the future4 but restrictive norms, lack of safety and biases prevent them from realizing their dreams;
• Adolescent girls consistently lack access to critical services, exacerbated by the persistent gender digital divide, leading to greater inequality between genders in accessing digital tools and online services like education, healthcare, insurance, and financial credit, noting that on the contrary increased access to information makes women feel safer, more autonomous, and self-confident5 and equipped to engage with existing services.

3. Provide support to Gender PG and OOI staff on participation at Generation Equality Technology & Action Coalition Meetings

In the context of the World Economic Forum Davos Agenda, leaders from the Generation Equality Forum Action Coalition on Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality have released a compelling call for collective action to spark a more equal and diverse digital transformation. Their statement sets the stage for bold new commitments towards a gender-diverse digital reset at 2021’s Generation Equality Forum. This was two years ago, that Office of Innovation and Gender Programme Group participated together to the effort of the Action Coalition to unite in a first public call to urge partners across industries and geographies “at the intersection of the digital evolution and gender equality, (to) commit to engage the diversity of girls and young women in their strength, our strength.” Both Gender Programme Group and Office of Innovation are represented in these meetings. A support is expected from the consultant in terms of preparation and summary of action items to ensure proper follow-up on commitments.

Terms of Reference / Deliverables/Deadlines

Provide technical services and coordination of activities implementation to strengthen the gender lens to the Office of Innovation Gender Equality portfolio, particularly the Game Changers Coalition

• Gender technical review of adolescent girls programming with potential on gender and innovation in 6 countries, including review of existing workplan, curriculum on skills, plans for consultation with girls, review of capacity-building plan (external), and through capacity-building webinars/virtual meetings (internal).

By 20 September 2023

• Support delivery of hackathon and deliver 1 report on the hackathon: Support the development, logistics and organizing of 1 major event for the Game Changers Coalition (anticipated to be Hackathon) and provide a report.

By 20 October 2023

• Development of recommendations for incorporating the gender lens into the innovative STEAM curriculum.

By 20 November 2023

• 5 meetings for partners and Office of Innovation Partnership teams to consolidate partner’s commitments to the Game Changers Coalition are conducted.

By 20 November 2023

• Deliver Gender Equality Toolkit for the Gaming Industry summarizing key informant interviews and ‘how to’ guidance and resources: Consolidate and adapt existing research, as well as conduct targeted interviews to develop the Gender Equality Toolkit for the Gaming Industry

By 20 December 2023

Support Gender PG (Adolescent Girls Programing) and OOI (Gender Equality) teams on strengthening collaboration, cross-learning and augmenting investments for adolescent girls

• An information sharing session to share insights from the Portfolio Review and Impact Sourcing research is conducted

By 20 January 2024

• Develop a global advocacy document and support an event on multi-sectoral programming for adolescent girls (1 global document, and 1 event relating to the “5 Big Policy Asks for Adolescent Girls” initiative)

By 20 January 2024

• Produce two internal documentations that track processes and methods for increased knowledge sharing (2 internal documents, i.e. tips-sheet on using U-Report to gather insights from Adolescent Girls and similar topics)

By 20 January 2024

• Develop a paper on lessons learnt and best practices relating to effective advocacy for investment in adolescent girls, with a focus on gender inequality and innovation (including at International Day of the Girl 2023) – including analysis of the joint innovation, gender and gaming initiative, to be shared with the steering committee.

By 20 January 2024

Participate and or conduct presentation for UNICEF at Generation Equality Technology & Action Coalition Meetings and Office of Innovation’s Portfolio Review Committee

• Drafting a background note, 2 sets of talking points, 2 meetings notes and summary of discussions and next steps;

By 20 January 2024

• Prepare a presentation on background analysis and use the 5D model of monitoring and evaluation of portfolio progress - discovery and validation of emerging solutions - and present portfolio review results in front of the Office of Innovation’s Innovation Portfolio Steering Committee (including travel budget for the whole consultation)

By 20 January2024

Qualifications

(1) Education

• Master’s Degree level. Enter Disciplines: Sustainable Development, International Development or Gender Studies

(2) Work experience

• 5 years of professional work experience in a relevant field, such as programme management and collaborating with experts, policymakers, gender equality groups and other professionals on gender equality and women's empowerment and innovation related topics.
• Experience in working with multiple countries and with multiple stakeholders is preferred

(3) Competencies

• Excellent technical writing, research, and communication skills is necessary.
• Fluency in English is required, strong written and verbal competency is necessary

Requirements****: do not edit

• Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11)
• Upload copy of academic credentials

• Financial proposal that will include:

• All-inclusive (lump sum) fees for the deliverables noted above.

• Travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR
• Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.

• Indicate your availability

• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.

• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory 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.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

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:

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.