Vacancy Announcement - Programme Specialist (Risk and Resilience), NOC (FT), Guwahati, India, SAR Post Number 115086 (This post is open for Indian Nationals only)

Contract

This is a NO-3 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-3 contracts.

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, AN ADVOCATE:

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Click here to learn more about what makes us proud working for UNICEF!

How can you make a difference?

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children in the world's thereby ensuring a better future for every child, this is the chance to make a difference.

Organizational Context:

Climate change, recurrent disasters and changing geo-political scenario in the Northeastern states are creating complex challenges in the pathways for achieving results for children. With every passing year, newer dimensions of impact of such complexities in the lives and wellbeing of children are being witnessed. In 2022, the entire Northeast experienced the perils of climate anomaly. Assam alone experienced floods and landslides which affected more than 25% of its population. While the extent and severity have increased in already exposed areas, newer areas were affected and the traditional coping mechanisms of communities and systems crumbled with overwhelming nature of the disaster. Other NE states are also experiencing a similar pattern.

UNICEF Assam has invested in risk-informed programing and emergency preparedness. Systems investments in Assam such as the Flood Reporting and Information Management System (FRIMS), Flood Preparedness Scorecard, Camp management systems, multi-sectoral preparedness through line departments have yielded results in improved timeliness and efficiency of response particularly for children while Assam Disaster Risk Reduction Roadmap is creating pathways for mobilizing and leveraging resources needed for long term resilience in the state. These experiences have also influenced neighboring states and similar initiatives are taking shape in other NE states particularly Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Tripura.

Considering the changing risk landscape, newer humanitarian imperatives, impact on wellbeing of children and UNICEF’s mandate as outlined in the Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action, procedure on linking humanitarian and development programing as well as evolving requests from Government and partners in eight States, to provide technical support in this regard.

Purpose for the Job:

Under the guidance and supervision of the supervisor, establishes and implements State office emergency preparedness and response. Responsible for the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the emergency interventions to ensure the survival and well-being of children and mothers, and the affected communities in an emergency situation, in accordance with the CCCs. Engages internally and externally to promote and achieve risk informed programming across all programming areas, linking humanitarian with development programming.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

Emergency Preparedness

• Adopts adequate emergency preparedness measures through the development and updating of country contingency plans and establishment of early warning mechanisms, to ensure effective preparedness and response to specific emergencies.
• Participates in the formulation and development of plans of action in preparation and response to emergencies, monitors compliance of all sectors with emergency plans of action, including financial resources. Ensures coordination of the management of emergency preparedness and response.
• Provides technical advice related to emergency preparedness and response, including on programme management related issues. Provides advice to the country office in the implementation of emergency preparedness measures in the field to strengthen preparedness and response mechanisms in the country faced with impending emergencies.
• Develops and maintains databases on state/country information, and ensure the flow of information and communication crucial for the planning and implementation of emergency preparedness and response management. Identifies availability of resources in emergency prone areas and establish logistics plans to be implemented during an emergency operation, to ensure a timely and effective emergency response.
• Plans, organizes and conducts training for the office’s staff capacity building in emergencies preparedness and response. Assists in developing and conducting emergency training courses. Provides training and/or briefing, as required. Participates in other emergency training workshops in the state, and builds up the emergency preparedness and response capability of UNICEF/Government staff as well as implementing partners.

Emergency Response

• In the event of an emergency, takes prompt action as a member of the Emergency Response Team which is deployed immediately to establish UNICEF's presence and implement the initial operational tasks relating to emergency assistance. Immediately verifies the nature and extend of the emergency with staff, government officials, other UN agencies or local organizations and media.
• Participates and assists with assessment of local emergency and security situation affecting children and mothers in the locality, in conjunction with the CFO, DRR section, and field staff. Visits the location to conduct an initial rough assessment of the magnitude of the crisis and its implications for children and its impact on the community. Assesses the validity of the office preparedness plan and ability of the office vis-à-vis the current crisis as well as immediate and additional needs. Determines corporate priorities and an appropriate intervention (supply procurement, fund-raising and staff development) by UNICEF. Coordinates with other partners to make a rapid assessment covering priority areas as defined by the Core Commitment for Children in Emergencies. Establishes contact with community groups, government, UN agencies, media and other partners to keep abreast of emergency situations.
• Applies the emergency preparedness and response plan as necessary, and identifies urgent staffing requirements and redeploys State office staff as required. Executes the timely delivery of assistance and procurement of supplies, monitors the appropriate and effective use of UNICEF resources/inputs. Identifies problems and constraints in order to ensure effective project delivery. Certifies the disbursement of funds, monitors expenditures and submits financial status reports. Sets up a reporting system and sends daily situation reports to concerned parties.

Emergency Project

• Participates in the implementation of plans of action and workplans for emergency projects. Implements and manages project activities. Undertakes field visits to emergency project areas, to assess local conditions and monitor project progress. Makes technical decisions on project administration (e.g., activates, requests or re-programmes allocation of emergency funds). Prepares inputs for appeals and updates related to emergencies. Works with program sections and senior management to mobilize donor response and recovery/rehabilitation-related funding, including annual or multi-annual humanitarian appeals and documents (e.g., pitch documents). Communicates and advocates on the situation and needs of children through local and international media, as appropriate.
• Identifies longer-term requirements of the emergency operation/interventions. Proposes a more regular operational and staffing structure to take over from the Emergency Response Team.
• Maintains continuous, effective and strategic coordination, communication, consultation and liaison with Government, UN agencies, NGOs, donors and allies to appeal for aid for children and women with special needs resulting from the emergency situation requiring an effective emergency response in all sectors. Identifies implementing/operational partners and establishes implementing arrangements. Ensures that the UNICEF support is effectively provided to the government with respect to sectoral coordination within the framework of the cluster approach and based on the Core Commitment for Children.
• Participates in all humanitarian and recovery related forum and keeps management informed of all humanitarian developments in the country in terms of policies, strategy, situation developments, potential threats and opportunities/issues in partnership.
• Promotes that disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response strategies are mainstreamed in the country office's workplans. Prepares sectoral input for the country programme documents, plan of action, annual work plans, and all related documents of the office’s Emergency Preparedness and Response. Contributes towards the preparation of the Situation Analysis and the Country Programme Document.

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

Education:

Advanced University degree in one of the following fields: social sciences, public administration, international law, public health, nutrition, international relations, business administration or other related disciplines. Preferably a combination of management, administration, and relevant technical fields.

Experience:

Five years of progressively responsible professional work experience at the national and international levels in programme/project development, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and administration.

Developing country work experience (for IP) or field work experience (for NO).

Specialized training/experience in emergency response management is highly desirable.

Language Requirement:

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: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drives to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

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.

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

Remarks:

• The position is based in Guwahati, India.
• This post is open for Indian Nationals only.
• The selected applicant will have an initial two (2) year fixed-term contract, with the possibility of extension, subject to satisfactory performance.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.
• UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited / recognized 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/.
• UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.
• UNICEF does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process, including application, interview, meeting, traveling, processing, training, etc. UNICEF is a nonsmoking working environment.

For more information about UNICEF India, please refer to the link:- http://unicef.in/Wherewework