Partnerships Specialist, NOC (364 days), Open to Nationals of Trinidad and Tobago only

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.

For every child, Equal Access...

Duration of the contract: 364 days

Background:

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 favouritism. 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 fulfil 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.

The Eastern Caribbean Area (ECA) is composed of eight independent states and four overseas territories that are classified as high- or upper-middle-income. The UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area (ECA) engages in strategic and high-level advocacy to achieve results for children across the Eastern Caribbean. In the new 5-year multi-country programme (2022 – 2026), advocacy and external communications are among the key priority strategies for the results in the context of the Eastern Caribbean. Related to this, a pivotal strategy is leveraging partnerships with communities, local councils, civil society, the private sector, and Chambers of Commerce to achieve results through advocacy, business practices and joint commitments, including funding. A lesson learned from the previous cooperation programme is that partnerships with the private sector and multilateral actors around joint advocacy, technology, innovation, and business for children’s rights lay a solid foundation that can be leveraged to create learning opportunities, develop skills, and empower children’s participation in mitigating the impacts of climate change.

A key priority of UNICEF’s multi-country programme is engaging the private sector as a provider of goods and services and an employer, as a source of technology and finance, and an advocate for children’s rights, considering its impact on the environment and climate.

Purpose of the job:

The Partnership Specialist position’s purpose is to deepen collaboration with key stakeholders and provide an interface for environmental 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 Partnerships Specialist will support broader partnerships to leverage resources as well as partnerships for children, including through the engagement with the IFIs, private sector, as well as mobilizing domestic resources as well as ensuring greater visibility for UNICEF and influence in support of its mission.

The Partnership Specialist will have a key focus on supporting the Business and Community Resilience (BCR) approach, which aims at building the resilience of local communities, in particular vulnerable groups including women and children, and protect them from shocks and stresses (environmental, social and environmental or climate-related) by engaging the private sector through the mobilization of its core expertise, operational capacities and networks in its diversity. This includes strengthening the resilience of local markets and leveraging the role of the private sector in enhancing the efficiency of emergency response.

As countries across the Eastern Caribbean are transiting to a low carbon development model and work on strengthening local communities’ adaptive capacities in the face of climate change, the BCR approach also aims at supporting, in the regional context, efforts to build back better and more sustainably to reduce local communities’ vulnerability to upcoming as well as slow-onset disasters.

The Partnership Specialist works closely with Programmes and in close liaison with the Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office (LACRO), where applicable.

Collaboration will be also sought with other United Nations Agencies that engage the private sector to support Eastern Caribbean countries and territories in accelerating achievement of SDGs and more specifically building resilience of communities.

How can you make a difference?

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties and tasks:

1. Implement the work plan for assigned area, in order to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of results, in accordance with UNICEF’s partnership strategy. This will have a key focus on the BCR approach including:

• Mainstreaming of the BCR approach in the UNICEF multi-country programme.

• Continued implementation of the recommendations and actions stemming from the BCR landscape analysis, in close collaboration with CARICHAM.

• Engage the private sector on risk reduction and preparedness, emergency response and recovery, and long-term resilience building (within the business operation, for local communities in particular vulnerable groups including women and children).

• Build awareness among businesses of their responsibility to strengthen the resilience of their employees and their employees’ families; and to address the adverse impacts of their operations (if any) on local communities, through concrete actions.

• Build understanding and capacities of the private sector to adopt an approach to community resilience focusing on vulnerable groups, in collaboration with national authorities and regional institutions, as well as other key stakeholders.

• Leverage the private sector’s comparative advantage and resources to increase community resilience, with the ultimate aim to protect women’s and children’s rights.

• Position children’s rights at the core of PPPs on community resilience-related activities.

• Involve “champions” from within the business community to catalyze further private sector-led action.

• Promote innovation and the use of technologies at the service of community resilience including through the active participation of local communities.

• Lead the implementation, monitoring and reporting of the BCR project for UNICEF ECA, in collaboration with LACRO and HQ, and supports sustainability of key interventions.

2. Seeks and promotes new partnerships and resource mobilization, working with UNICEF colleagues to identify partnership and resource mobilization needs and broker resource mobilization agreements to meet those needs.

3. Receives and screens inquiries from potential collaborators and facilitates 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.

4. Provides strategic, logistical and programmatic support to senior management and other UNICEF staff in corporate engagement and interaction with assigned partners.

5. Develops and maintains deep knowledge and familiarity with current and prospective partners and relevant stakeholders, contributing to a database of key contacts and to UNICEF’s base of knowledge on partnership and resource mobilization.

6. Expands 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.

7. Develops and implements annual partnership engagement and resource mobilization plans.

8. Acts 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 taken into account 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.

9. Contributes to the development of new partnership and resource mobilization practices and approaches 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.

10. Contributes 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 instruments that best inform and influence decision makers.

11. Performs 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.

Impact of results:

The Partnerships Specialist is a seasoned professional in the field of external relations, in particular partnership development and resource mobilization. The quality of work and external communications performed by the specialist directly impacts on the overall reputation of UNICEF. S/He follows established procedures but is expected to make recommendations on strategies for engagement and communications products. The Partnership Specialist is accountable for quality, substantive input and ability to project a competent and trusted image of UNICEF to partners.

Effective engagement with businesses and Caribbean relevant institutions to strengthen community resilience will result into resilient communities that will be equipped to protect the wellbeing of children in all circumstances whether emergency on normal times. This means more vulnerable children surviving, thriving, enjoying fully the rights in all times.

In addition, the position will provide linkages to the Outcome on Climate Engagement and Resilience. He/she will also enable UNICEF ECA to achieve the DRR, Climate and Resilience related output results of the country programme. This, in turn, will contribute to the achievement of the outcome results of the country programme document. When done effectively, the achievement of the outcome results will improve child survival, growth and development and reduce inequalities in the country.

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

• A Masters degree university degree is required in one of the following fields: international relations, political science, communications, international development, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum 5 years of professional work experience in partnerships including in developing and managing partnerships with business, ESG/CSR, Private Foundation or similar, and in humanitarian or development work and/or in brokering and managing multi-stakeholder partnerships for humanitarian / emergency (ideally in disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness, response and recovery);
• In-depth experience in emergency coordination, implementation and/or early recovery situations.
• Current knowledge of development issues (including climate and DRR and resilience), strategies, as well as programming policies and procedures in the Caribbean.
• Excellent analytical and writing skills, advocacy and presentational skills.
• Demonstrated ability to formulate new approaches in respect of resources management and outreach- related activities.
• In-depth familiarity with political and governmental processes.
• Experience in working with international organizations (including UN agencies) and donors in terms of partnership building initiatives on disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness, response and recovery is an asset.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English

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: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues

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. Candidates are advised that contingent upon the availability of office space in the county of assignment, the post may be considered as work from home.

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 with above knowledge and skills are encouraged to apply. Submit following document if you are interested for this temporary position:

1. Cover Letter

2. Latest CV

3. Last academic certificate

4. For any clarification please do reach out to Laxmi Narayan Upreti @ [email protected]

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

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.