Representative, P-5, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Special Representative to Brunei Darussalam

Contract

This is a P-5 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 10 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 172,401 USD and 216,058 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 fulfil 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, dedication.

The Representative serves as the accredited representative of the UNICEF Executive Director in the Country and reports to the Regional Director for general direction. The Representative is responsible for establishing dialogue with the government to develop the framework of cooperation in the country and for working closely and collaboratively with the government and national institutions, stakeholders and partners, to develop the UNICEF Country Program of Cooperation in support of UNICEF’s and national and international development efforts to advance children’s rights to survival, development and wellbeing as established under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, international treaties/framework and UN intergovernmental bodies.

How can you make a difference?

As Head of a medium size Country Office, the Representative is responsible for managing and supervising the CO programmes/projects, private sector fundraising and operations, providing leadership and vision to the UNICEF country programme team in managing and leveraging resources for the achievement of results and fulfilment of the rights of children. The Representative leads and manages the various programme sectors, private sector fundraising team, partnership and operational service teams ensuring delivery of quality results in accordance with the UNICEF Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework, ethics and integrity.

Given the potential for private sector fundraising, the Representative has an essential role to play supporting the mobilization of resources from the private sector towards funding the Country Programme and to mobilize resources for the organization globally.

As Special Representative to Brunei Darussalam, the Representative acts as liaison to source technical support needs and South-South or triangular cooperation and knowledge exchange to further the child rights agenda.

The Representative’s key functions and accountabilities include:

• Developing and planning the Country Programme
• Leading and managing the CO
• Monitoring and quality control of the Country Programme
• Representation, advocacy and external relations at global/national level
• Building alliance, resource mobilization and UN System coordination
• Private Sector Fundraising and partnerships
• Leading innovation, knowledge management and capacity building
• Safety and security of staff, programmes and organizational assets
• Act as liaison and focal point for UNICEF in Brunei Darussalam

Country Typology:

• Country Income Level: Malaysia is an upper middle-income country.
• Duty Station: Kuala Lumpur is an “A”, family duty station.
• Office Size: 61 Staff, 9 IP.
• Annual Budget: (7 million USD with income from PSFR activities of > 18.5 million USD).
• Schooling: (no. of IB schools and other concerns) Malaysia offers a choice of very good, though expensive, international schools with IGCSE and IB curriculum. There is also an American, French and Australian school. Medical and dental facilities are also very good.

Brief country context:

An upper-middle income and culturally diverse country, Malaysia is home to 32.7 million people of which 9.2 million are children. The country witnessed tremendous progress over the years in poverty reduction, access to primary health care, education, and advances in Child Rights and wellbeing, social and cultural norms. However, gaps in the legal, regulatory and policy framework, comparatively low levels of public expenditure on social protection and social services, limited capacity in the public sector to meet the demands of the equity agenda, constrain women and child rights. Further advances in education, health and nutrition, and social protection outcomes are needed if Malaysia is to achieve advanced nation status. Key priority areas include enhancing the quality of schooling to improve learning outcomes, rethinking nutritional interventions to reduce childhood stunting, overweight and obesity, and providing adequate social welfare protection to enable households to invest in human capital formation. Addressing the issue of refugees, migrant, undocumented and stateless children is also key to ensuring an inclusive modern nation and reducing poverty and deprivation.

UNICEF adds value by influencing the development narrative of the country through quality evidence generation, evidence-based advocacy and policy recommendations, supported by partnerships and alliances with civil society, academia, and think tanks.

Malaysia aspires to become a developed and inclusive nation by 2050. In this quest, the government’s development plan is focused on stimulating economic growth by embracing innovation, technology and diversification, and reducing inequalities and enhancing the wellbeing of the people. UNICEF’s Country Programme is aligned to support the pillar of human capital development and wellbeing.

The UNCT has been requested to input into the 12th Development Plan which informs the country’s first CCA/UNDAF and UNICEF’s subsequent CPD 2022-2025. UNCT joint work is implemented through the different results groups in support of the SDGs and the country’s development plan.

A large middle class and a vibrant economy, together with Islamic Financing, offer large potential for private sector partnerships and fundraising.

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

Qualifications:

• An Advanced University Degree in social sciences, international relations, government and public relations, public or social policy, sociology, social or community development or other related fields, is required.
• A minimum of 10 years of professional development experience that combines programme, managerial and technical leadership at the international level, some of which in middle-income countries with high diversity contexts is required. Relevant professional experience in any UN system agency or organization is an asset.
• Relevant experience in working with the private sector and experience in private sector fundraising is an asset.

• Oral and written proficiency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or a local language is an asset.

  Person Profile:

• Experience and skills in strategic management, partnerships, diplomacy, advocacy and negotiation skills to lead UNICEF’s cooperation with civil society, corporate partners and senior government officials in an upper middle-income country that is transitioning to HIC.

• Skills as a high caliber knowledge provider and facilitator, to support and lead UNICEF’s upstream programmatic engagement and policy advocacy.
• Sound regional perspective and capacity-building skills to support the government’s role in regional associations such as ASEAN, and initiatives such as South-South cooperation.
• Experience in promoting and leading innovative approaches to programme and programme partnership, and private sector partnership and resources mobilization.
• Experience in managing a diverse team, with ability to communicate effectively and proven track record of fostering teamwork in a consultative and collaborative manner.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

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

Competencies

• Builds and maintains partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Works collaboratively with others
• Nurtures, leads and manages people

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks:

This position is classified as “rotational” which means the incumbent is expected to rotate to another duty station upon completion of their tour of duty.

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