Product Innovation Manager (Emerging Challenges), P4, Fixed-Term, Copenhagen, Denmark

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Application deadline 1 year ago: Friday 30 Sep 2022 at 21:55 UTC

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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 166,566 USD and 214,752 USD.

Salary for a P-4 contract in Copenhagen

The international rate of 90,970 USD, with an additional 83.1% (post adjustment) at this the location, applies. Please note that depending on the location, a higher post adjustment might still result in a lower purchasing power.

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.

More about P-4 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.

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.

Organizational context

The Product Innovation Center (PIC) within Supply Division (SD) works closely with internal and external partners to drive R&D and scale of new innovative products to improve the lives of children. This is done by identifying needs not appropriately met by products currently available and then scanning the market to see if there are products that can meet this need. If yes, we procure and scale the products, if no, we drive R&D utilizing develops product profiles to specify the performance a product has to deliver and incentivize R&D, using our procurement and implementation power. In addition, PIC is mandated to push the envelope of the organization in terms of coming up with new innovative concepts to influence R&D of products beyond UNICEF’s procurement, evolve the global thinking around product innovation for development/humanitarian contexts as well as to develop new ways of driving scale of products. Key to these ambitions is an aim to ensure most impact for disadvantages children for the resources available, always pushing for value for money of products.

The Product Innovation Center operates within public procurement practices to drive research and development (R&D), validation and implementation of new products to address programmatic and/or emergency needs. In instances where there are no products in a procurable form on the market, a Product Innovation Project (PIP) is initiated with the ultimate goal of enabling procurement of fit-for-purpose and value-for-money supplies across all UNICEF program areas.

How can you make a difference?

Purpose for the job

The Product Innovation Manager (Emerging Challenges) will be responsible for developing, shaping and executing a strategy to drive R&D and scale of products needed address unmet needs of children within the following areas of responsibility: water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), Education, Nutrition, Humanitarian contexts and potentially in other areas beyond where UNICEF does not currently have active programming or product innovation efforts. As part of this, the Product Innovation Manager will have responsibility for a team of Project Managers, each responsible for driving multiple Product Innovation Projects. Importantly, UNICEF SD neither develops or invests in development of products. Rather, UNICEF uses its convening, influencing and procurement power, at times combined with targeted financing (e.g. in the form of market guarantees), to incentivize R&D within the spaces of the respective projects. The Product Innovation Manager will need to have a balanced understanding of strategy/process, business development, markets interventions as well as how to manage innovation projects within the development space.

The Innovation Manager will need to be able to successfully work with multiple stakeholders from both within UNICEF, at other UN agencies and within different business verticals. The Innovation Manager will need to align priorities across these areas and drive productive collaborations both within and beyond the Division.

Ultimately, the goal of the position is to drive scale of a portfolio of products that are either not available or underutilized that are fit for purpose, and provide value for money to improve the lives of children, young people and caregivers.

The ideal candidate has the following characteristics:

  • Excels at scoping out projects, identifying opportunities and risk based on a strong analytical mindset.
  • Strong management skills applicable to multi-disciplinary teams.
  • Is able to quickly understand new technical areas and identify the key barriers to get to a product meeting needs.
  • Understands business rationales for investing in new areas and can link this to the potential impact this might have for children.
  • Is excellent at stakeholder management, in particular at synthesising across conflicting perspectives.
  • Has high both written and oral processing capacity, given the heavy workload that follows with the role.
  • Can manoeuvre complex power dynamics and read the interest of different actors to advice on the best route forward

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

Responsibility for further substantiating and executing on the strategy to drive R&D and scale up of products for the respective areas

  1. Identify unmet needs and screen the market for products that can help address these needs.
  2. Evaluate how to best leverage UNICEF core capabilities towards making a difference for children, within the framework of Product Innovation.
  3. Identify and drive partnerships for the projects.
  4. Oversee development of Target Product Profiles, specifications and standards, technical guidance, tenders and protocol.
  5. Identify the best route to drive R&D and/or demand of new innovative products.

Management of multiple project managers, each responsible for a portfolio of Product Innovation Projects Manage a team of project managers driving a series of product innovation projects.

  1. Ensure a portfolio perspective on the combined group of projects, and help drive decisions to achieve balance in the portfolio.
  2. Drive closure of projects that don’t have an attractive risk/impact ratio.
  3. Help the project managers scope their projects to achieve maximum impact, and make project plans accordingly.
  4. Identify new projects as per what the team can undertake.
  5. Extensive management of both internal and external stakeholders, including donors, other UN partners, suppliers/developers or country governments.
  6. Drive a ‘business mindset’ in how to think about projects in terms of ensuring development of business cases, cost effectiveness analysis, impact assessments and scaling strategies.
  7. Participate on and chair Advisory Committees and boards for innovation projects.
  8. Ensure compliance against fundamental principles of public procurement.

Generation and management of project funds

  1. Help fundraise for projects.
  2. Monitor the overall allocation and disbursement of project funds, making sure that funds are properly coordinated, monitored and liquidated.
  3. Take appropriate actions to optimize use of funds.

Any other duties or assignments as requested by the supervisor.

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

Required:

A completed advanced university degree (Master’s Degree) in one of the following areas: Engineering, Social Sciences, Business Studies, or relevant field.

*A completed 1st university degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in relevant field, and 10 years of relevant experience in lieu of masters is acceptable.

Minimum 8 years of progressive relevant professional experience in business development, product innovation, or similar.

Fluency in English.

Desired:

Knowledge of another UN language (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian) is an advantage.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The competencies required for this post are:

  • Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (2)
  • Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
  • Works Collaboratively with others (2)
  • Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
  • Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
  • Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
  • Drives to achieve impactful results (2)
  • Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

https://www.unicef.org/careers/media/1041/file/UNICEF%27s_Competency_Framework.pdf

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.

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:

  • Applicants will be considered against the requirements.
  • 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/
  • Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
  • 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 may 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.
Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org

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