Partnerships Specialist (Innovative Finance), P-3, Office of Global Innovation, Helsinki, Finland, REQ

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. More about P-3 contracts and their salaries.

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

UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships, and technologies that support the realization of children’s rights are key to improving children’s lives.

Worldwide, we innovate to tackle the most pressing problems faced by the most vulnerable children. We take a systematic approach to innovation, applying skills and energy across new tools and technologies, products, innovative financing, and new ways of working to boost our impact.

The Office of Innovation (OOI) is a creative, unique, 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, the tools, the know-how and the partners that turn ideas and energy into scalable solutions for children.

The incumbent is placed within the newly established Innovative Finance Hub, reporting to the Chief of IF Hub with matrix reporting to communication lead in OOI Stockholm. He/she will work closely with other divisions on innovation and innovative finance.

The Innovative Finance Hub in Finland will reimagine how UNICEF operates, accelerates and streamlines finding new sources of funding and financing to fill the SDG gap - to protect gains made, rebuild from losses from COVID-19 and radically accelerate progress towards the SDGs for children. The Chief of Hub will be at the forefront of building the IF Hub platform that will:

• Unlock the $40 trillion ESG market to meet funding and financing gaps for children
• Better integrate children’s needs into business investment decisions
• Catalyze a global pipeline of investable high-impact child-aligned projects
• Convene industry experts to incubate and build game-changing new social goods constructs

Our aim is to build a genuine, global thought leadership hub around innovative financing that will not only be transformational as an approach for UNICEF’s Global Innovation Strategy but also serve as a catalyst for change within the development industry.

How can you make a difference?

Based in Helsinki, the Partnership Specialist position deepens collaboration with key Office of Innovation (OOI) Innovative Finance Hub stakeholders and provides an interface for partnership scanning, knowledge exchange, resource mobilization, and policy influence within the scope of assignment. S/He may also serve as focal point and resource for colleagues on specific thematic areas of strategic relevance for partnership development. The key result is to ensure greater visibility and scale for UNICEF Innovative Finance Hub influence in support of its mission and support the overall OOI strategy.

The Partnership Specialist is an expert in the field of partnership development. This position is responsible for the execution of managing broad and complex assigned work-plans, and responsible for regularly supporting senior management in strategic partnership direction and design. Subsequently, it is expected that the successful candidate develops original and innovative means to help advance the profession and also tackle highly complex matters that do not follow established patterns and support for innovative finance to the development and implementation of new financial structures that can leverage additional resources for children at country, regional and global scale, as well as make existing resources more efficient and results-oriented and aligned with the new UNICEF Innovative Finance for Children Strategy (IF4C Strategy) including new emerging fundraising modalities which means a closer partnership with Finnish FinTech companies.

Key Accountabilities and Duties & Tasks:

1. Support senior advisers and senior management in establishing the annual partnership work plan, setting priorities/targets and performance measurements.
2. Monitor work progress for the partnerships and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards.
3. Lead the work plan for assigned areas, to ensure timely, innovative, effective, and efficient delivery of results, in accordance with UNICEF and the Innovative Finance Hub - OOI partnership strategy.
4. Implement the work plan for assigned areas, to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of results, in accordance with the Office of Innovations partnership and communications strategy.
5. Seek and promote new partnerships, including resource mobilization, working with UNICEF colleagues to identify partnership and resource mobilization needs and broker dialogues and agreements to meet those needs.
6. Receive and screen inquiries from potential partners and facilitate communication with appropriate UNICEF staff. Scans and scouts external environment within designated partnership area for opportunities and risks and shares information in a timely fashion with relevant UNICEF staff.
7. Provide strategic, logistical, and programmatic support to the Innovative Finance Hub management and OOI Senior Advisor Partnership & Communication in partner engagement and interaction with assigned partners.
8. Develop and maintain deep knowledge and familiarity with current and prospective partners and relevant stakeholders’ ecosystems, contributing to a database of key opportunities and contacts and to UNICEF’s base of knowledge on partnership.
9. Expand UNICEF’s network of key interlocutors to build stronger relationships between UNICEF and governments, other key-decision makers, regional development institutions, foundations, civil society organizations, international financial institutions and/or other relevant constituencies
10. Develop and implement annual partnership engagement and development plans for the Innovative Finance Hub.
11. Act as a focal point for identification and pursuit of opportunities for outreach, engagement, policy influence and collaboration, including on how to anticipate and respond to partners’ concerns and priorities, ensure that UNICEF’s interests, perspectives, and knowledge are considered in relevant policy and institutional processes, and ensure that they are fully aware of UNICEF’s perspectives, policies, priorities, and capabilities. Contribute to the development and management of initiatives for high-level outreach, including for UNICEF’s senior management.
12. Contribute to the development of new partnership practices and approaches, including resource mobilization, by formulating recommendations for action based on on-going monitoring, analyzing current trends within designated partners, and formulating recommendations for strategy approaches and message development.
13. Contribute to strategies for engagement and the development of communications products to enhance UNICEF’s visibility and influence with existing and prospective partners and key stakeholders by providing analysis of the current environment and trends and formulating recommendations for strategy approaches and message development. Works closely with UNICEF’s colleagues to ensure that policy advocacy and outreach is strongly grounded in the experience and insights of the programmes that UNICEF’s supports. Contributes written inputs for communications assets that best inform and influence decision makers.
14. Perform other related duties as assigned by the supervisor to ensure the success of the team, including guiding, training, and coaching short-term staff, including interns and consultants, as needed.

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

• An advanced university degree is required in one of the following fields: business, international relations, political science, communications, advertising, strategic design, international development, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of five years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: public affairs, programme management, resource mobilization, external relations, business development, or other relevant area.
• Experience working in business development and strategic partnership is required.
• Experience in international development finance is desired.
• 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 (CRITA) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues

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) • Drives to achieve impactful results (1) • Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

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 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.

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 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.

Staff members notified of inclusion in the 2021 Rotation exercise are encouraged to express interest for posts in duty stations other than their current one, in order to promote geographical mobility.

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

This is a temporary job description of the post and some specific activities/qualifications may slightly differ upon classification confirmation.

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 be 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.