Programme Specialist (DPG Country Engagement), P-3, Office of Innovation, Stockholm, Sweden

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.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 74,649 USD and 97,747 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, Care…

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. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. 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 UNICEF Innovation Fund has been specifically designed to finance early stage, open-source technology that can benefit children. The core motivation of the Innovation Fund is to identify "clusters" or portfolios of initiatives around emerging technology - so that UNICEF can both shape markets and also learn about and guide these technologies to benefit children.

How can you make a difference?

Under the leadership of the Programme Funding Manager, the Programme Specialist (Digital Public Goods (DPG) Country Engagement) will coordinate the Ventures’ team engagements with UNICEF Country Offices. The incumbent is responsible for supporting the implementation in collaboration with country offices, coordinating the process for country offices to access the funding from the Venture Fund, establishing and coordinating systems to support country offices for use of frontier technology solutions, acting as a focal point for country level activities and maintaining a tracking system to monitor and coordinate the Ventures team and broader Office of Innovation (OOI).

You have tested and scaled innovations in different settings and nerd out over data and metrics that show clear 'social impact' of the newest solution. You know how UNICEF Country Offices tick, what allows us to try new things and how to get new things done in a complex organization. You have a solid understanding of the terms 'digital public goods', 'open source' and 'prototyping' and are able to translate product nerd jargon into UNICEF lingo and to government speak, to sell an idea, tell a story, and convince the biggest of all sceptics. This role is for an agile project manager who can track and balance demands and designs and deliver services that are client-centered and can see the big picture while developing the minute details of a plan. Join the Ventures team to be the first point of call for UNICEF Country Offices building and testing new solutions, that receive support from the Venture Fund and partnering with governments and entrepreneurs to adopt digital public goods.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Supporting implementation of pathfinding activities in close collaboration with country offices

• Act as focal point for any UNICEF-led pathfinding activities and keep relevant UNICEF divisions and offices updated and consulted as needed
• Develop and use systems to track progress and ensure activities and budget allocations occur in timely manner and in line with donor requirements
• Conduct regular check-ins, identify bottlenecks and challenges and facilitate access to technical assistance
• Leverage country pathfinding pilots and collaborations therein to raise awareness about DPGs
• Summarise lessons learned from pathfinding activities to inform global approach

Supporting engagements at country level to strengthen local ecosystems and improve pipelines for new DPGs

• Advocate for alignment with the DPG standard within the public and private sectors in UNICEF Programme Countries
• Identify priority ecosystems in close collaboration with COs, the Venture Fund and DPG teams
• Map out an engagement strategy to increase entrepreneurial ecosystems’ involvement in DPG development and deployment
• Deploy and update the DPG Accelerator Guide in key geographies

Coordinating the process for country offices to access funding from the Venture Fund, including support to approved projects

• Propose investment strategy and focus areas and track results accordingly
• Coordinate Country Office application and selection process, including interface with the decision-making process,
• Oversee initiation of funding reallocations and links with internal systems including Vision
• Develop communication materials about funding opportunities and investment projects
• Design and implement monitoring and reporting systems

Establishing and coordinating systems and support to country offices for use of promising frontier technology solutions, including by managing relevant LTAs, coordinating country pilots and links to the Venture Fund’s growth funding

• Maintain and update LTAs for frontier technology solutions
• Capture COs’ experiences and adjust processes as needed
• Support COs who express interest in piloting solutions and coordinate across relevant HQ, regional and country teams
• Identify opportunities and provide ongoing support for country pilots linked to the Venture Fund's growth funding

Acting as focal point for any other relevant country level activities and maintaining a system to track and coordinate across the Ventures team and broader OOI

• On needs basis, provide operational support related to consultant recruitments and selection, contract management and other collaboration agreements
• Coordinate with other Divisions implementing country-level activities aligned with the DPG Alliance’s strategy to ensure consistent approach, reporting and alignment

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

Education

• An Advanced University Degree in technology, social sciences, development sciences, public relations, business administration and management or related field is required.* *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree

Experience

• A minimum of 5 years of increasingly responsible and relevant professional experience in technology project management, some of which should an international setting, is required.
• Experience in facilitating engagements with UNICEF Country Offices and UNICEF Divisions, including experience working with UNICEF at country level is desired.
• Experience in managing projects and partnerships focused on open source frontier technology is required.
• Experience in supporting and engaging with national digitalization strategies and efforts with government, as an advocate or with other relevant stakeholders in the national level ecosystem is required.
• Engagement with stakeholders from national entrepreneurial ecosystems required.
• Knowledge of open licensing and digital public goods is required.
• Experience in coordinating activities within and across teams, including project teams for specific initiatives and use of current project management and tracking platforms and tools is desired.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and negotiating partnership and entrepreneurial strategies is desired.
• Proven experience in translating and clearly presenting complex ideas from various fields into unified, clear messages, including for successful partnership development is desired.
• Strong writing and communication skills and the aptitude to handle competing messages and priorities with multiple audiences is required.

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. Get acquainted with our Values Charter.

UNICEF competencies required for this post are Drive for Results (3), Working with People (2), Communication (2), Applying Technical Expertise (2), Relating & Networking (2), Planning and Organizing (3), Deciding and Initiating Action (2)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Remarks

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. Female candidates are especially encouraged to apply.

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.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.