Research Specialist (Data Must Speak Co-manager), P-3, 364 days/ Office of Research Innocenti, Florence, Italy

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Application deadline 2 years ago: Wednesday 2 Feb 2022 at 22:55 UTC

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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.

Salary for a P-3 contract in Florence

The international rate of 74,649 USD, with an additional 0% (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.

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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 research.

The Office of Research-Innocenti (UNICEF-Innocenti) is the dedicated research office of UNICEF. It undertakes and commissions research on emerging or current issues of relevance for children to inform the strategic directions, policies and programmes of UNICEF, Governments and partners. The Office identifies research gaps, brings together existing researchers, and supports or undertakes research and data collection to address critical questions.

Every Child has the right to learn. However, 53 percent of children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple story by the end of primary school-age. In low-income countries, the learning poverty rate is as high as 90 percent. UNICEF vision for education is that ‘every child learns’, articulated in the UNICEF 2019-2030 Education Strategy and 2022-2025 Strategic Plan. Data Must Speak (DMS), a global initiative led by UNICEF headquarters and implemented with UNICEF Regional Offices and Country offices since 2014, provides country-specific technical support and capacity strengthening to ministries of education and school communities for more effective and transparent data use at school and system levels. Since 2020, DMS also includes a research component led by UNICEF-Innocenti. The DMS Positive Deviance Research has been quickly expanding due to new funding.

In spite of the learning crisis, even in the most difficult contexts, there are some diamonds, the positive deviant schools, those that are outperforming other schools in the same context and with the same resources. Unfortunately, most of the time, the positive deviant schools are not identified and very little is known about the positive deviant behaviors and practices active in those schools (or around) that make them perform better than others. Even less is known about the “implementation gap” in service delivery: how to incentivize and scale up these positive deviant behaviors and practices in the less performing schools. The DMS Positive Deviance Research has been designed to address these gaps in evidence generation and use at country level for policy and implementation changes, using mixed-methods including quantitative research, behavioral insights, scaling science and implementation research.

How can you make a difference?

The 0ffice aims to strengthen its capacity to deliver the production and use of high-quality research within the DMS research. The post-holder, together with the DMS Research Manager (outposted in Côte D’Ivoire), will support the coordination and management of the DMS research portfolio in the 13 participating countries (Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lao PDR, Madagascar, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Togo and Zambia), with an emphasis on the implementation of the research at country-level. The post-holder will work with Governments counterparts, DMS partners (GPE, IDRC, Jacobs Foundation, Norway and others) as well as UNICEF colleagues at UNICEF-Innocenti, New York headquarters, Regional and Country offices. The position will report to the Chief, Education Research, Office of Research, Florence Italy (P-5, #89262) and will have doted-line reporting to the DMS Research Manager.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

  1. Coordination and management of the DMS research component

In close collaboration with the DMS Research Manager:

  • Plan, implement and coordinate DMS research in participating countries.
  • Plan and implement co-creation research design with Government counterparts, implementing partners and other research’s potential beneficiaries.
  • Supervise research field work in the participating countries.
  • Manage and supervise researchers (consultants) to deliver research in a timely and efficient manner, including through quality assurance of concept notes, research proposals and deliverables.
  1. Oversight of Research Designs and Methodologies
  • Provide oversight and overall guidance on the use and implementation of the various DMS research approaches (co-creation, co-implementation, learning-by-doing) and methodologies (quantitative, qualitative, behavioural insights, scaling science, and implementation research) for each research stage.
  • Lead on the synthesis of best practices on the use of the DMS methodologies across participating countries.
  1. Technical Guidance and Support to Governments and UNICEF Regional and Country Offices
  • Strengthen the capacity of Government counterparts and UNICEF field offices for co-creation design and implementation of research and evaluation in the areas supported by DMS
  • Provide guidance and quality assurance of DMS research to Governments and UNICEF field offices
  • Strengthen and support the use of DMS research for policy dialogue and capacity strengthening of Government and Implementing partners at country level.
  1. Contribution to the Office of Research work programme and support to the cross-cutting research agenda
  • Contribute to the research activities of the Office and to the use of their findings by decision makers at country level.
  • Participate in and/facilitate interdisciplinary research through involvement in selected cross functional teams and consultations, including Annual Results report and participation in office seminars
  • Develop joint proposals and contribute to fundraising for research and evidence.
  • Act as a resource person for key UNICEF meetings and advocacy activities as requested by the manager.

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

  • A minimum of five years of progressively responsible professional work experience at national or international levels in education, with low/middle-income country level experience essential.
  • Demonstrated experience in management of complex projects.
  • Demonstrated experience and knowledge of some of the areas related to DMS research: education management information systems/administrative education data; learning assessment; education sector analysis; education sector planning; school typologies.
  • Experience in behavioral and scaling science, and/or implementation research is an asset.
  • Demonstrated experience in fundraising and resource mobilization.
  • Demonstrated ability to work well as part of a team and to forge and manage partnerships.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills.
  • Commitment to UNICEF’s core values of care, respect, integrity, transparency and accountability.
  • Ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment.
  • Experience working in the UN or other international development organization is an asset.
  • Fluency in English is required; Fluency in French is highly desirable.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

Core Competencies

  • Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (1)
  • 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)

Functional Competencies

  • Analyzing (2)
  • Applying Technical Expertise (2)
  • Planning and Organizing (3)

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.

UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.

This position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/ assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate.

Remarks:

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

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unicef.org