Innovation Manager (Governance, Innovation Portfolios), P4, FTA, Stockholm, Sweden

Contract

This is a P-4 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 90,970 USD and 117,287 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

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, innovation…

The Office of Innovation (OoI) works to catalyze UNICEF and partners’ expertise and resources to solve key challenges facing children and young people, with a view to sourcing, accelerating and scaling the most effective solutions to accelerate progress towards achieving the SDGs. To achieve this the Office of Innovation uses an innovation portfolio management approach and leverages support from a range of stakeholders including from intergovernmental, multilateral, private sector, young people and non-governmental fora (think tank, academia).

How can you make a difference?

The P4 Innovation Manager (Governance, innovation portfolios), leads oversight and implementation of UNICEF’s approach to innovation portfolios and innovation governance, bringing innovation strategy and governance to life in a way that enables decision making and focuses investment into the solutions that have greatest potential to accelerate progress towards solving child centred SDGs. This role will work under the guidance and direction of the Senior Advisor, Innovation (Portfolio, Culture and Scale), and in close collaboration with relevant Innovation Hub leads and portfolio managers and with an extensive network across UNICEF divisions, offices and teams. To succeed you will be a highly strategic thinker and communicator, with an eye for detail and the ability to effectively build relationships at all levels and across different disciplines.

Key functions, accountabilities, and related duties/tasks:

This post is responsible for:

1. Ownership and continuous improvement of UNICEF’s global approach to innovation portfolio management and innovation governance, including developing Standard Operating Procedures that outline the stage gates, criteria and process for exit and entry into the innovation pipeline.
2. Provide guidance documents, capacity building and technical assistance across Innovation Hubs / Portfolios and to Regional Offices and Country Offices to support their innovation strategy and governance needs, including tailoring global portfolio management principles and processes to country and regional level.
3. Management of the Innovation Portfolio Steering Committee (IPSC) which is chaired by P5 Senior Adviser Innovation (PCS), #89335, including its membership, convening, communication and functioning. The IPSC purpose is to provide strategic guidance and support OOI in its accountability to enable UNICEF to maximize its impact in innovation through the development, operationalization, and active management of UNICEF’s programme-led, problem-focused portfolio approach to innovation.
4. Lead, develop and manage the associated tools and platforms that enable UNICEF’s innovation portfolios, namely INVENT and UNICORN. INVENT is the enterprise-wide platform for innovation and T4D and connects the innovation pipeline from the inventory of all solutions through to portfolios of promising projects and priority projects for scale. UNICORN is the enterprise open innovation/challenge platform.
5. Manage internal UNICEF, cross-portfolio funding allocation processes, including designing the process, drafting communications, monitoring overall investments, documentation and learning, and reporting, including reviewing significant investments and set aside allocation exercises.
6. Coordinate a roster of different technical support needs for Innovation Solutions across all of the innovation portfolios. This may include recruiting and managing consultants with specialist expertise (e.g. business modelling).
7. Represent OOI on relevant governance entities.
8. Deliver clear and effective engagement across UNICEF to support communication around the innovation portfolios and their value proposition, with the aim of supporting staff engagement, particularly from Country and Regional Offices.

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

Education: An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in one of the following fields is required: Social Science or Humanities, Innovation-related field, International Relations, Business Administration, or another relevant technical field.

*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 Experience.

Experience: A minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional experience is required at national and international levels in the areas of innovation and/or social and economic development and cooperation.

• Demonstrated expertise in innovation practice, spanning start-up to scaling innovations, especially in the social and/or development sectors

Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

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

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

Core Competencies

• Innovates and embraces change (Level 1)
• Drive to achieve results for impact (Level 1)
• Builds and maintains partnerships (Level 1)
• Thinks and acts strategically (Level 1)
• Works collaboratively with others (Level 1)

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 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:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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