Innovation Specialist (Innovation Fund), P-3, FTA, Office of Innovation, Stockholm, Sweden (#00117523)

Contract

This is a P-3 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 5 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 74,649 USD and 97,747 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, hope

The UNICEF Innovation Fund has been specifically designed to finance early stage, open-source technology that can benefit children. The core motivation of the Innovation Fund is to identify "clusters" or portfolios of initiatives around emerging technology - so that UNICEF can both shape markets and also learn about and guide these technologies to benefit children. We invest in solutions that can impact the lives of the most vulnerable children. We find these solutions clustered around $100 billion industries in frontier technology spaces, such as: UAVs, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, nano-satellites, and human dynamics. With $29M raised to date, the Innovation Fund is scaling its investment portfolio with the aim of investing in 20 start-ups every year and provides funding to CO-led projects. The current portfolio of companies consists of several cohorts developing and piloting solutions in virtual and augmented reality, data science and artificial intelligence, blockchain, UAVs, IoT, and in assistive technology.

How can you make a difference?

1. Oversee the Fund’s sourcing and selection strategy.

2. Facilitate innovative prototypes using new models or technology to supports the Fund.

*3. Coordinate and oversee contracts and agreements with start-ups and country offices.

4. Coordinate and oversee the crypto-denominated fund and advise on related strategic considerations.

5. Oversee data collection systems and using data to inform sourcing and technical assistance.

6. Providing inputs for and management of partnerships for the sustainability of the Fund and technical engagements for its portfolio.*

7. Provide operational support for the Fund team, including coordination of consultants, tracking of budgets and external communications materials.

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

● An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in technology, social sciences, development sciences, public relations, business administration and management or related 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.

● A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience.

● Experience in coordinating investments/ funding decisions ● Demonstrated technical expertise and practical experience with cryptocurrencies, including technical requirements for the acceptance, disbursement and monitoring, market trends and potential donors ● Experience in managing projects and partnerships focused on open source frontier technology required ● Experience in coordinating activities within and across teams, including project teams for specific initiatives and use of current project management and tracking platforms and tools ● Experience in establishing and using data systems to inform decision making and identification of needs ● Experience in financial decision making and management, including tracking budgets and financial expenditures ● Proven experience in translating and clearly presenting complex ideas from various fields into unified, clear messages, including for successful partnership development ● Demonstrated ability to develop strategies that reflect priorities and support achievement of larger goals ● Strong writing and communication skills and the aptitude to handle competing messages and priorities with multiple audiences. ● Experience in facilitating engagements with UNICEF Country Offices and UNICEF Divisions ● A strong understanding of UNICEF programmes, policy and principles, and experience in a UNICF programme country desired ● Experience working in complex, resource-poor contexts is a plus.

● Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.

● Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

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...

Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1) Works Collaboratively with others (1) Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1) Innovates and Embraces Change (1) Thinks and Acts Strategically (1) Drive to achieve impactful results (1) Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

To view our competency framework, please visit 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:

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

This position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/ assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate.

UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/

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

The VA is open to all (internal and external) candidates.