Youth & Adolescent Specialist, NO-3 FT, Athens, Greece #115077 Re -advertisement

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,

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, 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.

UNICEF became operational in Greece in early 2016 as an outposted team from the Regional Office of Europe and Central Asia (ECARO) to respond to the significant influx of refugee and migrant children and their families at that time. Following several years of engagement with national stakeholders, UNICEF and the Government of Greece made a decision in January 2020 to formalize the agency’s presence in the country under the form of a Greece Country Office. This office falls under the UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia located in Geneva, which supports the work of 21 Country Offices within its geographical scope, reporting in turn to global headquarters in New York. Within the framework of an expanded mandate for all children in Greece, UNICEF and Greece are moving towards an even greater collaboration and partnership in order to address the needs of all vulnerable, marginalized and left-behind children in the country.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Deputy Representative, the Youth and Adolescent Development Specialist will support the Greece Country Office and internal and external partners and stakeholders by providing technical and operational support to ensure that youth and adolescent development and participation and child rights established under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, international treaties/framework and UN intergovernmental bodies, are integrated in UNICEF’s advocacy, policies, programmes and humanitarian work.

The Specialist will contribute to achievement of concrete and sustainable results on youth and adolescent development related programmes/projects according to plans, allocation, and UNICEF’s standards of performance. The position will help to strengthen young people’s participation in the public-private partnership platform to rapidly scale up programmes, partnerships, innovations and advocacy on youth skills, employment and empowerment.

In collaboration with multiple stakeholders, including the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, General Secretariat for Social Solidarity and Fight against Poverty, Ministry of Education-General Secretariat for Vocational Education, Training, Lifelong Learning and Youth and the Greek Manpower Employment Organization, as well as with civil society, the private sector, and young people themselves, the Youth and Adolescent Development Specialist will contribute to the development of upskilling and job readiness programmes, including ones tailored for NEETs (not in education, employment or training), in response to modern labour market requirements. In addition, the incumbent will support the development of youth engagement processes and platforms to help institutionalize the role of young people as actors of change in their own communities, as well as to channel the suggestions of young people on UNICEF’s programming.

The incumbent will be required to complete the following expected key tasks:

Support to programmes development and planning

• Assess national/regional/international development priorities to identify opportunities and courses of action to enhance the delivery of services and achieve objectives on youth and adolescent development and participation in the country, including in the areas of VET, life-long and ‘second chance’ learning, entrepreneurship and employability.
• Participate throughout the process of CO programme formulation, planning and preparation to provide input, advice and operational support on the integration of policies and frameworks that promote youth and adolescent development and participation and to ensure that crosscutting issues such as gender, disabilities, the rights of minority and marginalized groups are considered and integrated within the country programmes and projects.
• Establish specific goals, objectives, strategies and implementation plans for the youth and adolescent development programmes/projects using results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM).
• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss methodologies and to assess national priorities/competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

• Plan and/or collaborate with internal and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurements to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of sustainable results on youth and adolescent development programmes and projects.
• Support the roll out of UNICEF global initiatives on youth in Greece including Generation Unlimited, UPSHIFT, etc.
• Actively monitor youth and adolescent development programmes/projects through field visits, surveys and/or exchange of information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks, and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Monitor and verify the optimum/appropriate use of programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability, integrity and ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Prepare regular/mandated programme/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Provide technical guidance and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and country office partners/donors on policies, practices and methodologies on youth and adolescent development and participation to support programme management, implementation and delivery of results.
• Draft relevant policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and/or consideration.

Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with relevant government counterparts, national stakeholders, including the private sector, and global partners/allies/donors/academia through active networking, advocacy and effective communication to build capacity, exchange knowledge/expertise and to reinforce cooperation to achieve sustainable and broad results on youth and adolescent development and participation initiatives.
• Set up relevant child/youth engagement platforms, such as U-Report, Youth Councils, Youth Volunteers, etc. and prepare communication and information materials to promote awareness and to ensure that youth and adolescent development and participation programmes and initiatives are adequately resourced and supported.
• Build partnerships with the private sector to explore cost-effective professional education and entrepreneurship orientation schemes, and to expand job placement opportunities for youth through internships, apprenticeships and job shadowing.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in appropriate inter-agency discussions and planning on youth and adolescent development related issues to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on planning and preparation of programmes/projects.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Apply/introduce innovative approaches and good practices on youth and adolescent development and participation, including on skills development, entrepreneurship, employability and engagement, to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark and implement best practices on youth and adolescent development and participation.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects.
• Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders to promote sustainable results on related programmes/projects.

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

• An advanced university degree (Masters or higher) in one of the following fields is required: Education, Business, Technology, Social Sciences, International Relations, or another relevant technical field .
• A minimum of five years of professional experience in planning and management in youth and adolescent development related areas, youth engagement, innovation, entrepreneurship, business development or other relevant fields, is required.
• Experience in working on social innovation and social entrepreneurship projects/programmes, corporate social responsibility and/or multi-stakeholder engagement including the private sector, is highly desirable.
• Experience in deploying digital platforms, tools and approaches is an asset.
• Experience managing meaningful ways to engage youth is a strong asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization and/or in multinational companies with a social impact focus, is considered as an asset.
• Fluency in English and Greek is required.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The core & functional 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 (3)

· Deciding and Initiating action (2)

· Applying technical expertise (3)

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

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.

Remarks:

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

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

This is a re- advertisement - applicants that had previously applied for this post do not need to re-apply.