Internal & External: Education Specialist - Social and Behaviour Change, P-4, FT, PG, NYHQ

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 171,387 USD and 220,969 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.

Note: UNICEF Program Group is currently undergoing organizational changes; therefore, the exact location of the post has yet to be determined. Selected candidates may be required to commence duties remotely until the location is confirmed. If reassigned or relocated to New York, candidates may be expected to relocate to a new location again during the initial contract or assignment period. When working remotely, the candidate will be required to agree on working hours with the Hiring Office, which may require inclusion of all or some of the NYHQ core working hours (10AM-4PM).

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.

Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) in UNICEF is a cross-cutting programme strategy that analyses and addresses the cognitive, social and structural determinants of individual practices and societal changes in both development and humanitarian contexts. SBC uses the latest in social and behavioral sciences to understand people, their beliefs, values, the socio-cultural norms as well as the economical and institutional contexts that shape their lives, with the aim of engaging them and increasing their influence in the design of solutions for change. The most effective mix of programmatic approaches is defined through social and behavioral evidence generation, combined with participation in community-led and human-centered processes. SBC is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate, with corporate results across sectors revolving around behaviors like immunization, feeding practices, learning, hygiene, and positive discipline, as well as transformations across sectors needed to make societies more inclusive, equitable and peaceful.

For every child, good health……

In close coordination with the Social and Behavior Change Global Technical Team and under the technical oversight of the SBC Global Lead in the Programme Group Leadership Team, you will provide technical leadership to Social and Behavior Change strategies within the sector. This will include:

• Working with and through a network of SBC experts to provide technical support and advice to enable UNICEF offices and their partners to design and implement impactful science-driven change programmes for Education.
• expanding the scope of operational resources to be leveraged by UNICEF offices for SBC programming for Education.
• Bringing social and behavioral perspectives in the global discussions related to policies and strategies in the Education sector.
• Contributing to advancing the SBC agenda and function in UNICEF beyond the Education sector, finding synergies for increased cross-cutting approaches.

How can you make a difference?

Tasks and accountabilities will include the following:

Technical Oversight and Support

• Steer UNICEF’s global efforts to develop, implement and monitor Social and Behavioral Change strategies for Education, in line with global standards and UNICEF’s organizational priorities and approaches.
• Provide authoritative advice to senior management on social and behavioral issues in relation to Education.
• Lead in the development of policies, methods and tools for programming for social and behavioral change in Education.
• Support UNICEF and partners in ensuring that social and behavioural change strategies and programmes for Education are backed by social and behavioral evidence and strong. engagement and participation mechanisms, in both development and humanitarian contexts.
• Bring insights from latest developments and best practices in the social and behavioral sciences to inform and improve SBC programming and related resources for Education.
• In collaboration with UNICEF Regional Offices, the SBC and Education Global Technical Teams and partners, provide remote and direct technical field support.

• Provide technical inputs and support to community engagement and accountability aspects of humanitarian response strategies and programmes.

  Capacity Strengthening and Learning

• • In collaboration with the SBC GTT, develop or leverage existing tools, guidelines and training
  • materials to build capacity on SBC in the Education sector.
  • Identify and plan training and learning opportunities for staff and partners on new approaches, including Behavioural Analysis, Behavioral Insights, Human Centered Design, social listening and social accountability mechanisms.
  • Plan and lead SBC capacity assessments and support offices in conducting regional and national capacity assessments for the Education sector.
  • Institutionalize/share best practices, support the exchange of experiences and uptake of new methods and knowledge learned on SBC in UNICEF and externally to build capacity of staff and partners.

SBC research, data and evidence

• Track global data and evidence developments and trends for Education-related practices, and disseminate the best research findings.
• Provide expert inputs in the design and implementation of situation analyses that identify the cognitive, social and structural determinants of Education-related behaviours.
• Liaise with the SBC, M&E and Data and Analytics specialists to strengthen the methodologies, tools and guidance for social and behavioral results monitoring in Education.
• Support UNICEF offices and teams in developing terms of reference, research tools, frameworks and protocols for generating evidence to inform SBC initiatives in Education.
• Strengthen offices capacity to research, analyse and address drivers of practices, using a wide range of approaches including, behavioural analysis, human centred design, social listening, behavioural insights, participatory research, RCTs, and other quantitative and qualitative approaches.
• Support UNICEF-led publications on Social and Behavior Change in academic and scientific journals.

Global Advocacy, Partnerships and Resource Mobilization

• Represent Education in UNICEF’s Social and Behavior Change Global Technical Team and represent SBC in the Education GTT.
• Contribute to the establishment and strengthening of strategic SBC partnerships at international level with UN agencies, implementing organizations, donors, academia, media, INGOs, and other relevant organizations to promote SBC programs and assist in developing the same at regional and country levels.
• Increase global public-private sector partnerships to influence the industry and leverage private sector resources for SBC in Education.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF on Education-related Social and Behavior Change matters in inter-agency discussions and initiatives. Advocate and influence the setting of agendas and strategic priorities in policy conversations and in global forums and partnerships.
• Create new opportunities for and support global resource mobilization in Education, increase donors’ interest in quality SBC programmes and confidence in UNICEF’s ability to deliver them.
• Contribute to preparing multi-country proposals and donor reports, managing Programme Cooperation Agreements (PCAs) and contracts, and monitoring and reporting on utilization of funds.
• Support offices in ensuring adequate human and financial resources to deliver on SBC strategies.

Corporate duties

• Contribute to the planning and reporting functions of the Education Team, including participation in the development and implementation of the team's Annual Work Plan, budget planning and allocation / management of funds, preparation of team reports, development of project proposals and donor reports, monitoring of programme implementation.
• Contribute to the Education team’s efforts to achieve planned results and organisational reporting requirements (e.g. EDAR, ARR, PDAR, CSIs, OIC function as appropriate, including timely response to OEDs, quality BNs, Advocacy initiatives, Knowledge Management).

To qualify as a champion for every child, the candidate must have…

• An advanced university degree in a social or behavioural science field (political science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, cognitive science, communication) or another relevant technical field.
• Eight (8) years of professional work experience at national and international levels developing, implementing and supporting in developing, implementing, evaluating, and managing social and behavioral change strategies and content is required, preferably in education programming.
• Related experience in the areas of out-of-school children and/or girls’ education is a strong asset
• Demonstrated expertise in the application of social and behavior change science, theories, research, and analysis, to all stages of the programmes cycle.
• Proven ability to manage social research, including quantitative, qualitative, and participatory methods for formative assessments, identifying behavioral drivers, and tracking, measurement and evaluation of social change is desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to stay current with new developments in the SBC field is required. Familiarity with new and emerging approaches such as behavioral insights, human centered design, social listening, among others is a plus.
• Proven ability to work with internal and external stakeholders at multiple levels, including providing technical support and capacity building and establishing/managing external partnerships
• The following technical competencies: Good understanding of the overall global development context; Good knowledge of global developments in education and international engagement strategies; Good knowledge of Social Behavior Change; Good ability to support policy dialogue; Good education sector planning knowledge/ability; Good education and policy sector analysis capacity; Good ability to support engagement with partners; Good understanding of gender and inequity issues; Good understanding of policies and strategies.
• 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.

For more information on remuneration and benefits, please visit UNICEF’s Entitlements’ page*. If you would like to find estimates for entitlements, you may use the online* Salary Estimate Calculator

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

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, culture, appearance, socio-economic status, ability, age, religious, and ethnic backgrounds, 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 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/”