Innovation Specialist (NOC), Nairobi, Kenya, TA

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.

And we never give up.

Purpose for the job: Under the overall supervision of the Innovation Manager, the incumbent will be accountable for providing technical leadership and support to programme innovations, implementation, and scaling to support the achievement of UNICEF priorities. Working closely with programme sections, the incumbent will interact across all sections in the UNICEF office and network closely with Government, UN, NGO, and private sector to mainstream innovation as a core change strategy across UNICEF programmes and operations. In addition, the incumbent will support programme innovations, research, and evidence generation to influence national investments, develop business cases for scaling innovations, and strengthen national systems

For every child, a future

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, 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?

1. Creating and innovating
   • Support the implementation of the office-wide innovation strategy to accompany the Country Programme in close coordination with programme sections and national partners.
   • Proactively scout for new innovative ideas and opportunities that promote and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of UNICEF Kenya's program objectives. Creative projects and ideas may include concrete action regarding climate change, young people, mental health, digitalization, and operational efficiencies.
   • Advice sections on conceptualization, design, development, adaptation implementations, monitoring, and evaluations of innovations, including steps to take promising initiatives to scale and fostering the use of creative problem-solving approaches such as design thinking.
   • Train UNICEF staff, partner staff, government counterparts, and other end-users in the country to use innovative products and processes. Ensure the country office incorporates human-centered design in conceptualizing innovation initiatives to achieve UNICEF priorities.
   • Contribute to the mapping/catalogue of the country's innovation landscape, including the country office innovation portfolio, focusing on those relevant to UNICEF priorities for children and ensuring relevant sections are informed of initiatives of interest.
2. Research, evidence generation and development of business cases
   • Support high-quality evidence generation from innovations for advocacy to strengthen systems at national and county levels in close consultation with Government and relevant stakeholders.
   • Support the development of feasibility studies and plans, develop related business cases and scale-up plans for innovations to influence government investments in priority areas for children and young people, including learning, protection, and automation.
   • Document tested innovation projects and processes and ensured effective sharing and generation of knowledge and evidence around innovations for scaling initiatives and the achievement of UNICEF priorities and contribute to the global innovation portfolio management process.

3. Developing and nurturing partnerships and networks

   • Develop and nurture strong partnerships with key government partners and other stakeholders to galvanize support for scaling innovations for children and young people.
   • Identify opportunities for resource mobilization and new partnerships, including contributing to proposal and partnership development efforts that tap into innovation as a change strategy.
   • Develop partnerships and network with local innovators, youth organizations, NGOs, cultural and religious organizations, the private sector, local media, and academia to build and provide a space to nurture and test new and innovative ideas and develop the next generation of thought leaders.

   Impact of Results:

The Innovation Specialist function supports UNICEF's mission and strategic plan by mainstreaming innovation as a change strategy for the country programme. The function will support the scaling of innovations for programme objectives, contribute to evidence generation, and develop scale-up plans to inform advocacy with the Government for strengthening systems. In addition, the role will enhance UNICEF's ability to convene and leverage resources across partners and Government to take priority initiatives for children and young people to scale.

With regards to the incumbent's performance, any failures not properly addressed or corrected will have a high impact on the UNICEF office's ability to leverage innovation as a change strategy to deliver results. For example, investments in innovative approaches that lack sound feasibility studies and are not scalable will lead to inefficient use of resources and reputational risk. In addition, the absence of sound business cases and the inability to convene and leverage partnerships will affect UNICEF's ability to influence investments to better the lives of children in Kenya.

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

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields: Social Sciences, International Relations, Public Policy, Social Policy, Information Technology, Business Administration or other related disciplines.
• *A first-level university degree in a relevant field combined with five years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.
• A minimum of five years of professional experience in the implementation of Innovation and large-scale development initiatives in international development/humanitarian agency, resource mobilization or communication field handling development issues.
• Experience in a UN organization is an asset.
• Strong writing and communication skills and the aptitude to handle competing priorities with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience in project management and rolling out of large scale projects at the national or international level.
• Experience in establishing and using data systems to inform decision making and identification of needs.
• 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 Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. 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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates are encouraged to apply.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

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