Internship - Innovative Finance, Innovative Finance Hub, Office of Innovation, Remote, Eight (8) weeks, REQ

Contract

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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, an opportunity.

The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection, where an organization that works on huge global issues meets the startup thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions. Within the Office of Innovation, the newly established Innovative Finance Hub aims to catalyze global capital in support of children to fill the SDG gap and radically accelerate progress towards the SDGs. UNICEF. The Innovative Finance Intern is placed within the Innovative Finance Hub, Office of Innovation, reporting to the Investment Manager & Lead, Innovative Financing.

How can you make a difference?

In support of the 2022-25 Strategic Plan, UNICEF has launched its Global Innovative Finance for Children (IF4C) Strategy document and is ramping up coordinated endeavors to foster and promote the wider use of IF.

The pandemic and the post-pandemic economic shocks are serving to highlight, and at times reinforce, the differing structural issues, strengths and weaknesses within regional economies and the also ability and capacity of individual governments and each country’s enabling environment to absorb these shocks and continue to deliver public services and to their sustainable development visions. These differences in turn can serve to simultaneously compound the need for UNICEF engagement while reducing the availability and potential effectiveness of traditional responses. Innovative or alternative financing approaches are part of the response to these challenges.

The Innovative Finance Intern will provide support on innovative finance projects. Specifically, they would support in UNICEF’s Child-lens Investing Framework project and other areas on innovative finance.

Main responsibilities will be:

• Support classifying UNDP SDG Investor Platform Projects based on UNICEF’s child-lens investing framework taxonomy
• Support development of an interactive tool on the publication of the child-lens investing framework
• Support as required, the IF Hub’s Innovative Financing activities such as co-creating a Children’s Development Fund with a Development Finance Institution, supporting to tackle the nutrition crises in Sub-Saharan Africa, helping take to market an outcome fund to bridge the gender digital divide, supporting with blended finance facility for early childhood development, helping take to scale revolving fund on water and sanitation, amongst other areas
• Support as required, the IF Hub’s Emerging Fundraising activities such as NFTs, Blockchain, mobile gaming, metaverse, amongst other areas

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

• Be enrolled at a university at a graduate level (Master’s or higher) or a recent graduate (within the past two years) in Public Policy, Business Administration, Development, or a related field, is required
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience at national and international levels in innovative, public or private finance, consulting, research, development, or equivalent is required
• Experience working with innovative finance or related field is desirable, including a solid understanding of the innovative financing mechanisms.
• Strong capacity to work effectively in inter-divisional teams.
• Experience in/knowledge of the UN system and knowledge of UNICEF’s work would be an asset.
• Excellent analytical, organizational, interpersonal, and communications skills.
• Ability to conceptualize, plan and execute ideas as well as to manage projects
• Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Proficiency in any other UN language is considered an asset (French, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese).

Salary/Payment:

Interns will receive a stipend based on their location. USD 1,700 per month in the following offices: New York, Geneva, and Copenhagen; or​​​​​​​ 70% of the monthly salary of the General Service (GS) level 3 step 1 in all other duty stations.

Insurance: The selected candidate must provide proof of health/accident insurance plan that covers them in the country of the assignment and for the entire duration of the assignment. UNICEF will not be responsible for costs arising from accidents and/or illness incurred during on or off UNICEF premises

Living and Working Conditions:

The internship is full-time (35 hrs). Working hours are flexible and set up in mutual discussion with the supervisor considering existing study/work commitments. Interns may take up to 2.5 days per month off work for any reason, including for medical reasons. The stipend will be reduced for any absence beyond this quota.

Expected starting date: 19 June 2023.

Preferred duration: maximum of 8 weeks. An internship may be terminated by either party, with a notice period of at least two weeks.

Deadline for applications: 22 May 2023 at midnight Finland time. Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, 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:

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

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 selected candidates 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 contracts.