Programme Manager, P4, Fixed-Term, Office of Innovation, Geneva, Switzerland

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 168,113 USD and 216,746 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.

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...

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, 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.

Giga’s mission is to connect every school to the internet and every young person to information, opportunity, and choice. A joint International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) initiative, Giga serves as a transformative model of global cooperation, bringing together key finance and infrastructure institutions, to fast-track young people’s access to meaningful internet connectivity. Closing the digital divide supports all 17 of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by enabling interventions and augmenting outcomes for each goal. In fact, establishing “connectivity” may indeed be “SDG Zero.”

How can you make a difference?

The Programme Manager supports the Head of Initiative on the overall management of the Giga team, from the UNICEF side, with a particular focus on engagement of UNICEF Country and Regional Offices in Giga’s programmatic work. The Programme Manager is responsible for coordinating closely with the different Country Offices, as well as with other UNICEF divisions and with partner ITU on all phases of the Giga Programme, from formulation to delivery of results in accordance with Giga’s partnership goals, standards of performance and accountability framework, ethics and integrity.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Planning and development of Giga’s engagement in programme countries

• Coordinate the process by which Country Offices and national stakeholders (e.g., line ministries, regulators, etc.) are onboarded and engaged in the Giga methodology to map every school and achieve universal school connectivity in a given country.
• Maintain overall oversight and provide guidance to ensure Giga’s programme requirements are met successfully.
• Lead the planning and updating of information by Giga teams to establish comprehensive data and information for programme development planning, management, monitoring and evaluation as it pertains to country/CO engagement.
• Coordinate the necessary technical programming support for Country Offices, working with Giga team leads and supporting their direct engagements with various country offices.

2. Support to the Head of Initiative on managing the Giga team

• Serve as officer in charge in the absence of the Senior Advisor.
• Advise the Head of Initiative on annual work planning, setting priorities/targets and establishing performance measurements. Monitor implementation and progress of work plans; collaborate with colleagues to assist, advise and guide the Head of Initiative to ensure achievement of results according to targets and performance standards.
• Establish clear performance objectives, goals and timelines; and provide timely guidance to his/her team to enable them to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently.
• Work collaboratively with the Head of Initiative and Giga team to facilitate/contribute to the preparation of the Office budget proposal.

3. Monitoring and quality control of programmes

• Participate in meetings/events and reviews with the Giga Team Leads and Country offices and related governments partners and other counterparts/stakeholders to contribute to strategic programme discussions, planning and assessments.
• Evaluate overall programme progress; identify weaknesses, bottlenecks and potential problems, particularly as it relates to Country/Country Office engagement. Collaborate with the team leads and/or other partners and stakeholders to resolve issues and/or advise the Head of Initiative on resolutions to ensure delivery of results as planned and allocated.
• Monitor the optimum and appropriate use of resources (financial, human, administrative and other assets) and verify compliance with organizational rules, regulations and procedures, donor commitments and standards of accountability and integrity. Approve disbursements and allocations in accordance with delegation of authority.

4. Alliance building and UN System coordination

• Represent Giga in relevant fora with system partners to strengthen coherence, collaboration, cooperation and harmonization of delivery of connectivity, common services and operations especially for programmatic interventions carried out in programme countries.
• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships with government institutions, national stakeholders and regional and global partners/allies/donors/academia, as needed to advocate Giga goals to connect every school to the internet, mobilize resources, seek cooperation and establish alliances.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Coordinate the collection, institutionalization and sharing of lessons learned to enhance performance as it relates to country engagement and to use lessons learned in development/policy planning and improvements of Giga’s operations in programme countries.
• Ensure learning stemming for technology solutions/business modelling for sustainable connectivity are collected, critically assessed and shared among the relevant peer network (e.g., COs, section meetings, meetings steered by the Regional Offices).

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

Education:

• An advanced university degree or relevant work experience in one of the following fields is required: social sciences, international relations, government and public relations, public or social policy, sociology, finance, social or community development, or another relevant technical field.

*A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be exceptionally accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree Experience.

Experience:

• A minimum of eight years of professional development experience that combines technical and managerial leadership in development cooperation at the international level, some of which served in a developing country is required.
• Relevant professional experience in any UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Experience with open-source technology and concepts, and in building innovation ecosystems at national scale and supporting national stakeholders to adopt technology solutions.

Language Requirements:

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

The UNICEF 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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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:

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.