Senior Adviser - Children’s Rights and Business (P5), Fixed-Term, Programme Group, Business Engagement and Child Rights (BECR), Geneva Switzerland (#00073256)

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 204,886 USD and 256,769 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, a fair Chance

The work to strategically leverage the role of the business sector to achieve, accelerate and scale up results for children is a core strategy of UNICEF programming, advocacy, and private sector agenda.

The Programme Group Leadership Team (PGLT) provides strategic oversight and coordination of the Programme Group (PG) to ensure multisectoral approaches and horizontal integration across programmes. As part of the 2022-25 Strategic Plan, mobilizing the role, influence and investment of business has been outlined as key change and programming strategy to achieve and accelerate outcomes for children.

Promoting sustainability standards and influencing business policies and practices to respect and integrate child rights is integral aspect of this agenda, and known as Child Rights and Business, or CRB

The newly established Business Engagement and Child Rights (BECR) Team in Programme Group (PG) is a direct expression of the organizational commitment to ensure that UNICEF:

• Maximizes the role of business as a stakeholder, a consideration, and a strategy in programming, by leveraging of the multiple ways in which business can impact on, contribute to, and influence child rights outcomes.
• Engages with and on the world of business in a way that is driven by and aligned with the child rights agenda, programme priorities in support of delivering results for children.

Strategically the BECR Team’s work focuses on providing global leadership and coordination on the following:

• Preventing, mitigating and transforming adverse business impact on child rights through policy work, evidence generation and by influencing business sustainability environment (referred and Child Rights and Business, or CRB)
• Leveraging programme-led technical collaborations and engagement with business through strategy development, engagement scoping and opportunity cultivation
• Integration of Business Engagement strategies through policy, guidance and technical tools and systems
• Build institutional knowledge and capacity on the different UNICEF business engagement strategies and workstreams across UNICEF (HQ, RO and co), particularly among programme, planning and advocacy networks, and across National Committees

How can you make a difference?

As part of the PGTL Business Engagement for Child Rights Team, you will provide advisory role, technical leadership, and drive implementation of UNICEF CRB work globally. You will be engaging with the world of business, including regulators, platforms, investors and other stakeholders to ensure the systematic integration of child rights as key consideration and criteria. You will also drive the integration of CRB into different UNICEF strategies and initiatives.

The post will provide technical leadership on UNICEF’s child rights and business agenda (CRB)

Summary of key functions/accountabilities

1. Technical leadership, program implementation, monitoring and quality control
2. Advisory services and policy coherence
3. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

4. Advocacy, networking and partnership building

5. CRB Technical leadership in BECR plan:

Contribute to the Business Engagement and Child Rights Team’s annual work plan by setting priorities/targets and performance measurements on CRB deliverables. Monitor work progress and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards. Establish clear individual performance objectives, goals and timelines; and provide timely guidance to enable colleagues working on CRB to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently. Plan and ensure timely performance management and assessment of CRB colleagues. Supervise CRB colleagues by providing them with clear objectives and goals, direction, and guidance to enable them to perform their duties responsibly, effectively and efficiently.

2. Integrate CRB and enhance policy coherence across UNICEF:

As part of the BECR team, work to ensure a comprehensive approach to business engagement across different organizational strategies, drive the integration of child rights and business considerations across Divisional and organizational efforts. This will inform and ensure a CRB lens into global efforts, including UNICEF programme and partnership strategies, such as the Innovative Finance agenda, the Private Sector Influence Strategy and the institutionalization of Business for Results (B4R) agenda.

3. Technical leadership on CRB towards the world of business (Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building):

   Ensure the coordinated development of cutting-edge knowledge, tools and guidance for the world of business to support the integration of children’s rights into responsible business conduct. This may include the production and dissemination of practical tools for specific child rights issues or business sectors, evidence on the child rights impact of business, piloting of approaches, developing partnerships with child rights champions and engagement with globally relevant policy and regulatory developments. An important element of this will also be to drive the development of partnerships and alliances with key business stakeholders at the global level, including responsible business organizations, multilateral organizations, sustainability reporting initiatives, institutional investors and others.

4. CRB advocacy, networking and support to UNICEF offices and National Committees:

Ensure high quality strategic and technical guidance and direction on the child rights and business agenda by ensuring leadership in support of the Goal Areas outlined in the Strategic Plan. Key UNICEF offices include PFP, National Committees and other divisions, and crucially the network of CRB specialists in regional offices that lead the work to addressing adverse business impact as part of UNICEF programmes and partnerships at RO and CO level.

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

• Advanced degree (master’s degree at least) in Law, Social Sciences, Development or Business.
• A technical background in child rights and child protection
• A minimum of ten years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas, at the international level, is required: child rights and sustainability, child rights advocacy, social development, project administration, monitoring and evaluation.
• Proven experience in managing teams is a strong asset.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• 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 Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

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)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children.

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

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 are also 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.

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

UNICEF is currently undergoing organizational changes and many divisions are moving to different locations. While this post is currently based in Geneva, the incumbent may be asked to relocate to an elsewhere location at a later date.