Social Protection Specialist (Income Generating Activities and Labor-Intensive Public Work), P4, TA 364 days, Bamako, Mali (For non-Malians only)

Contract

This is a P-4 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 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 141,094 USD and 181,912 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 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child. UNICEF has spent 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Defending children's rights throughout their lives requires a global presence, aiming to produce results and understand their effects. UNICEF believes all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfil their potential – to the benefit of a better world.

And we never give up.

For every child, laughter

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

UNICEF is a leading humanitarian and development agency working globally for the rights of every child. Child rights begin with safe shelter, nutrition, protection from disaster and conflict and traverse the life cycle: pre-natal care for healthy births, clean water and sanitation, health care and education. UNICEF has spent nearly 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Working with and for children through adolescence and into adulthood requires a global presence whose goal is to produce results and monitor their effects. UNICEF also lobbies and partners with leaders, thinkers, and policymakers to help all children realize their rights – especially the most disadvantaged.

How can you make a difference?

Purpose for the job:

Under the guidance and general supervision of the chief of social policy’s section, the Social Protection Specialist (IGA and PW) supports the development and preparation of the PAFEEM/World Bank Programme’s components and is responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and reporting the progress of the programme, specifically the “Income Generating Activities” and “Public Work” programme within the country programme. The Specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the timely implementation and achievement of quality and sustainable results of IGA and PW and their impact on social protection system building. This comprises short term results on programme specific results but a clear link with the overarching objective to increase equitable access to social protection services and poverty reduction.

The Specialist contributes to achievement of results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM), as well as UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, agreement, project proposal, standards of performance, and accountability framework.

Key functions/Accountabilities:

Under the direct supervision of the chief of social policy and in collaboration with the chiefs of field offices (Mopti, Gao, Timbuktu) and respective community development specialists, the incumbent will be responsible for:

• Facilitating initial community entry activities including quality oversight of the value chains studies in the 4 regions and specific needs surveys in communities.
• Designing the programme approach and monitoring the implementation activities of project in accordance with the plans and the donor agreement
• Design and supervising cash operations (implementation modality, risk management and mitigation, grievance, and redressal mechanisms etc.)
• Planning and supervising training of beneficiaries on IGA and PW best practices according to the project operational manual, policies and guidelines of the organization and donor requirement.
• Designing selection criteria and ensuring the identification and selection of the most vulnerable project beneficiaries (reducing exclusion errors), and providing information to ensure accountability, fairness, and transparency during implementation of activities.
• Working closely with the World Bank’s Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of the PAFEEM, community structures to follow up on implementation of income generation activity plans and public work.
• Working with the environmental and social safeguard specialists to ensure that the PW activities are carried out in accordance with environmental and social safeguard and child sensitivity aspects (e.g., care and shelter for the children of women working in PW activities...).
• Preparing action plans and providing direct support to beneficiaries through visits, in line with the action plans and as required.
• Facilitating links and referrals relationships between the beneficiaries and community groups and local sources of support.
• Supervising hands-on livelihoods trainings, as necessary, and provide guidance to targeted beneficiaries to enhance their capacity to engage in income-generation activities and public work.
• Ensuring all documentation, reports, and records from the community on IGA and PW are maintained per agreed procedure, and information is provided on these community activities as required.
• Planning and supervising step-down trainings with beneficiaries and community groups on various topics on IGA and PW as outlined in the implementation plan.
• Providing technical guidance and support to the development of IGA and PW strategies/approaches.
• Taking lead in the coordination of beneficiaries’ IGA and PW education and participating in community IGA and PW sensitization
• Supporting beneficiaries and community groups, supervising assessments/project activities to women and youth in the communities.
• Working and facilitating partnerships with relevant IGA and PW value chain actors and their service providers.
• Coordinating data collection on beneficiary of IGA and PW in line with data protection protocols
• Coordinating the review and progress of the project with other players including, local governments, community - based organisations, other NGOs, and private sector actors.
• Monitoring activities of and proving technical supervision to the community development specialists based in the field offices and government extension workers.
• Perform any other responsibility that will be assigned to him/her.

Given the changing demands within the complex environment the project will be operating in, the social protection specialist (IGA, PW) must have a high level of responsiveness and adaptiveness to processes and structures making flexibility and a project based working approach. In this regard, the supervisor may/will agree further details of specific tasks and duties as part of the performance agreement. Any reasonable duty may be assigned that is consistent with the nature of the job and its level of responsibility, and employees may be required to change the focus of their role from time to time.

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

Education and experience:

• Advanced University degree in economy, social protection, development studies, management, and social sciences,
• Proven relevant work experience of at least 5 years in the areas of public work, Income generating activities, social protection including cash transfer programme (design, implementation, and monitoring), poverty alleviation, poverty reduction, community development
• Exposure/Experience to beneficiary data management system
• Field experience in complex, high-risk and/or conflict affected environment
• Experience of implementation of cash transfer programme through a variety of modalities
• Advanced Project management experience, including coordination of multiple partners across multiple geographic areas
• Strong knowledge of ongoing social protection policy debates and evidence is required
• Ability to work independently and respond to feedback in a timely and professional manner.

• I-depth knowledge of Sahel region, Mali being an asset.

  Critical competencies:

• Demonstrated knowledge and thorough understanding of social protection, poverty alleviation, poverty reduction, youth employability, Income generating activities, community development, gender responsive social protection

• Ability to establish effective working relations in a high paced, multicultural environment across many sectorial disciplines
• Strong analytical capacity and ability to quickly comprehend complex concepts and apply them in operational settings
• Ability to build strong relationships with external actors- cultivate productive relationships with donors, partners and other important institutions and individuals
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Ability to develop innovative solutions- encourage and contributes creative solutions to address challenging situation
• Resourcefulness, initiative, maturity of judgement
• Demonstrated familiarity with World Bank project management in particular Income Generating Activities and Public Work will be considered an asset

Language Requirements:

Fluency in French and English required (oral and in writing). Knowledge of an additional official UN language or local languages (Bambara, Tamashek, Foulfoulbe, Arabic, Songhoi, Soninké, Bozo and Dogon) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

Core Values:

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability
• Sustainability

UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

• 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.

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

ToRs P4-Social Protection Bamako, Mali.pdf

Remarks:

• UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable women are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
• This VA is open to all UNICEF staff and other personnel (including consultants, JPOs, UNVs, TAs etc.)”
• UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized by a government, or in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
• Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
• Please note Bamako is a Category D, non-Family duty station. The Rest and Recuperation Cycle is 8 weeks.
• 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.

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 academy credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Eligible UNICEF International Professional (IP) Staff Members on fixed-term, continuing or permanent contracts applying to a Temporary Appointment, which is dedicated to L3 (or L2) Response, may be able to retain a lien and their fixed-term entitlements. The conditions of the temporary assignment will vary depending on the status of their post and their current tour of duty, and relocation entitlements may be limited as per the relevant policies.

**The ca****ndidate must be available within 31 days of accepting the job offer