Social Policy Manager, NOD, Islamabad, Pakistan (364 days)

Contract

This is a NO-4 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-4 contracts.

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, Commitment!

Pakistan was the sixth country in the world to sign and ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, less than one year after it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989. However, children and adolescents living in Pakistan still face acute challenges.

UNICEF supports the Government of Pakistan to accelerate progress for children, work to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and help children realize their rights under the Convention on the Rights of Children. This will be made through, among others things, strong partnerships with provincial authorities, teachers and health professionals, frontline workers and social mobilizers, communities and families, and of course, the children and adolescents themselves.

In particular, UNICEF will work so that:

• Every child survives and thrives -- being in good health, immunized, protected from polio, and accessing nutritious food.
• Every child learns.
• Every child is protected from violence and exploitation and registered at birth.
• Every child lives in a safe and clean environment, with access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.

To learn more about UNICEF work in Pakistan, please visit the country website, www.unicef.org/pakistan, and videos on YouTube and Vimeo.

Under general guidance of the Representative and working closely with the Deputy Representative Programme, the Social Policy Manager at the NOD level is responsible for leading, managing and supervising all stages of social policy programming and related advocacy from strategic planning and formulation to delivery of concrete and sustainable results.

How can you make a difference?

1. Managerial leadership

• Establish the section’s annual work plan with the social policy team. Set priorities and targets and monitor work progress to ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards.
• Guide the office and partners to identify priority areas for evidence generation and evaluation, including topics in accordance with the coverage guidelines of the UNICEF Evaluation Policy, UNICEF’s Strategic Plan and UNICEF Pakistan Country Programme Document.
• Establish and facilitate the process of quality assurance for research conducted at UNICEF Pakistan in accordance with the UNICEF Policy on Research. Ensure that the Standard Operating Procedures, checklists and other tools are available. Lead the internal UNICEF Pakistan Research Steering Committee and external high-level discussions with Government counterparts.
• Supervise and support team members by providing guidance on individual workplans and ensuring collaborative teamwork.

2. Improving data on child poverty and vulnerability

• Oversees the collection, analysis and user-friendly presentation of data on multidimensional and monetary child poverty, including strengthening national capacity to collect routinely, report and use data for policy decision-making.
• Provides timely, regular data-driven analysis for effective prioritization/de-prioritization. This includes facilitating results-based management for planning, monitoring, adjusting and scaling-up social policy initiatives to reduce child poverty.
• Analyses the macro political, economic, social and environmental contexts and their impact on social development for children. This includes emerging issues relating to child poverty and vulnerability, especially through the gender and equity lenses.
• Proposes and promotes appropriate responses in respect of the emerging issues and concerns, including government resource allocation policies and the effect of social welfare policies on the rights of children.

3. Strengthening social protection coverage for children

• Develops social protection policies, legislation and programmes with attention to increasing coverage of children. Applies the equity lenses with special attention paid to the most marginalized and deprived children.
• Identifies, generates and presents evidence to support this social protection for children in collaboration with other UNICEF sections, government and civil society partners.
• Promotes strengthening of integrated social protection systems by providing technical support to partners to improve the design of cash transfers and child grants. Improve linkages with other social protection interventions such as health insurance, public works and social care services, as well as complementary services and intervention related to nutrition, health, education, water and sanitation, and child protection.
• Undertakes improved monitoring, reporting and research around social protection impact on child outcomes; use data and research findings for strengthening programme results.

4. Improving use of public financial resources for children

• Undertakes budget analysis to inform UNICEF’s advocacy and technical assistance to the Ministry of Finance, Planning Commissions and social sector Ministries to improve equitable allocations for essential services for children.
• Works with sectoral colleagues to build capacity of undertaking costing and cost effectiveness analysis on priority interventions to help inform policy decisions on child-focused investments.
• Identifies policy options for improved domestic financing of child-sensitive social policy and protection interventions.
• Undertakes and builds capacity of partners for improved monitoring and tracking of public expenditure to support transparency, accountability and effective financial flows for essential service delivery, including through support to district level planning, budgeting and public financial management as well as facilitating community participation.

5. Strengthening capacity of local governments to plan, budget, consult on and monitor child-focused social services.

• Where the national decentralization processes are taking place, collaborates with federal and local authorities to improve policies, planning, budgeting, consultation and accountability processes so that decisions are child-focused and service delivery more closely respond to the needs of local communities.
• Collaborates with the federal and local authorities to strengthen capacity on quality data collection, analysis for policy development, planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring of essential social services, with emphasis on community participation and accountability.

6. Improving evidence and knowledge on child-related SDGs in Pakistan

• Oversees collection, analysis and use of evidence and knowledge on child related SDGs and SDG indicators that UNICES is a custodian/co-custodian.
• Set priority areas to closely monitor the trends; strengthen national capacity to collect, report and use data and evidence for policy decision-making.
• Together with the Data Team, develop a monitoring framework for child-related SDGs, with a strong focus on equity. Identifies, generates and presents evidence to support reaching the SDG targets in collaboration with partners.
• Strengthen integrated evidence building for cross sectoral programme.

7. Social policy and protection programme management

• Manage and coordinate programme around child poverty, social protection, public finance, cash transfers and governance; ensure they are well planned, monitored, and implemented in a timely fashion.
• Ensures risk analysis and risk mitigation are embedded into overall programme planning and implementation.
• Working in close collaboration with UNICEF programme sections, partners, and governments on cross-cutting issues.

8. Enhancing data use, advocacy and partnerships for child-sensitive programming

• Oversee ethical, effective and creative use of data and evidence to raise awareness of the situations of children and advocate for child rights and wellbeing.
• Strengthen partnerships with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society organizations, local leaders, the private sector, and other UN agencies to support sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to achieve global UN agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Identify new partners, promotes awareness and builds capacity of partners, and actively facilitates effective collaboration within the UN family.

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

Minimum requirements for Eduaction and Work experience:

• An advanced university degree (Master's or higher) in one of the following fields is required: Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, or another relevant technical field.
• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) with a minimum of eight years of relevant professional experience is required. A first University Degree (bachelor's) in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required.

Desirables:

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.
• Experience and knowledge of government working systems either at the federal or provincial level or both would be a strong asset.
• Knowledge of 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

The 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)

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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 measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable females are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions 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.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.