Re-advertisement: Early Childhood Development (ECD) Officer, NO-2, Bucharest, Romania, (, 364 days)

Contract

This is a NO-2 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-2 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, education.

The war in Ukraine has triggered the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II. By 23 April 2022, more than 774,000 refugees from Ukraine had arrived in Romania. The overwhelming majority of refugees are women and children, often separated from husbands and fathers who remained in Ukraine; older people; and significant numbers of unaccompanied children, including those from state care facilities.

Local and national authorities have established reception facilities at border crossing points to receive new arrivals and are providing life-saving assistance, including accommodation, food, and other basic needs, as well as onward transport for those moving to urban centers. In the reception centers, information is also provided on the asylum process and temporary protection, as well as on the risks of trafficking. Access to basic rights and services, such as health, has been facilitated. Steps have already been taken to foster protection and inclusion into national systems, such as for health and education. Referral services are being scaled up, focusing especially on case management and protection of unaccompanied children and those evacuated from boarding schools, institutions and other alternative care arrangements, survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), victims of trafficking, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups

UNICEF Romania Country Office is involved in the emergency response by supporting the national government and local partners in delivering assistance and protection services.

How can you make a difference?

The ECD Officer provides technical assistance to develop and implement models for alternative early childhood education and care services for refugee children. He/she coordinates with relevant stakeholders to document and scale up ECD/ ECEC interventions within the the Refugees Response Plan (RRP).

The Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for ECD programmes/projects from development planning to delivery of results, preparing, executing, managing and implementing a variety of technical and administrative program tasks.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Support to ECD programme development and planning

• Conduct and update the situation analysis and carry out assessments on early childhood development related issues to establish evidence-based data to support holistic policy and programme development, as well as coordinated planning, implementation, and monitoring of ECD related programmes/projects.
• Contribute to the development and establishment of ECD programme goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis and reporting of ECD related information and data for development planning and goal setting.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing/administering a variety of technical, programme, operational and administrative transactions, preparing related materials/documentations and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluating results.
• Prepare required programme documentations/materials/data to facilitate the program review and approval process.

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results.

• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss ECD operational and implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations and/or alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decisions. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with governments and other counterparts to assess ECD programmes/projects and to report on required action/interventions at the higher level of programme management.
• Monitor and report on the use of ECD programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocation/goals, organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on critical issues/findings to ensure timely resolution by management/stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
• Prepare regular/mandated ECD programme/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Conduct regular programme field visits and surveys and/or exchange information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support, take appropriate action to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices on ECD related issues to support programme implementation, operations and delivery of results

Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders across relevant sectors through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on ECD programmes.
• Draft communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support resource mobilization for ECD programmes.
• Participate in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) meetings/events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of ECD programmes/projects and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with the UNDAF development and planning process.
• Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Identify, capture, synthesize and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practice to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
• Research and report on best and cutting edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
• Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.

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

• A university degree in one of the following fields is required: education, public administration, public health, nutrition, economics, psychology, sociology, human development, child development, family studies or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of two years of professional experience in social development planning and management in early childhood development related areas is required.
• Experience working in a middle or high-income country is considered as an asset.
• Experience working in an EU member state is considered as an asset
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Fluency in English and Romanian is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.
• Knowledge of Ukrainian language is an asset

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS).

Core Competencies

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

To view our competency framework, please visit 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.

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:

Eligible UNICEF National Officer (NO) and General Service (GS) Staff Members on fixed-term, continuing or permanent contracts applying to this TA, which is dedicated to L3 Response, may be able to retain a lien on their existing post for the duration of this TA.

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.