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, health

In the Latin American and Caribbean region, recent assessments indicate a stagnation in the coverage of essential health services across countries in the region, attributed in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. To expedite progress in primary health care and nutrition, UNICEF’s programmatic focus on strengthening health systems, with a focus on community-based healthcare targeting the most vulnerable populations, remains paramount in the region. LACRO will enhance its capacity and expertise on health systems to guide COs in scaling up efforts in this area.

How can you make a difference?

The Senior Immunization Specialist reports to the Regional Advisor, Survive & Thrive, for general guidance and direction. The Senior Specialist is the authoritative and expert adviser to the Regional Advisor, Survive & Thrive, Country Offices and governments in developing policies, strategies, programmes and systems for UNICEF’s support to immunization in the context of the regional Survive & Thrive Programme. The Senior Specialist is responsible for providing technical leadership, management advice, advocacy and programme support and capacity building to Country Offices throughout the region. Facilitates application, adaptation and achievement of UNICEF global and regional goals, polices, and strategies in the area of Immunization programme in countries of the region. Provides UNICEF Immunization (EPI) programmes and interventions with innovative leadership including managerial advice, vision, oversight, knowledge management, policy development, strategy articulation, situation appraisal, harmonization of programme strategies, capacity building, monitoring & evaluation support, representation, networking and strategic partnership creation.

1. Advisory Capacity and Policy Development:

4. Technical Leadership and Support:

Regional and Country Offices expand, lead and deliver programmes at a high quality standard in area of expertise due to strong technical leadership.
Combines cutting-edge technology and programme innovation with operational and political perspectives that empower and position UNICEF programmes in immunization/health as a leader in the field and support immunization/health SDGs. Advocates and provides leadership for the scaling up of UNICEF’s immunization strategy implementation, through a results based approach.
Leads a team of regional immunization specialists to ensure the highest quality and relevance of a) countries’ situation analyses; b) programmatic response; c) capacity building; d) advocacy; e) monitoring and evaluation; f) documentation and sharing of best practices and lessons learned, ensuring a supportive oversight  conducive to the achievement of goals and planned results by the UNICEF country offices and ensuring that UNICEF maintains and strengthens its technical leadership in the area of immunization.
Provides  technical support on immunization to Country Offices, government counterparts and to other programme partners, identifying entry points for implementation of effective interventions, including community-based actions, to improve health/immunization in the Region. Contributes to the promotion of the development of appropriate programme communication strategies. Ensures effective collaboration with other sections and units at the Regional Office, including with the rest of the Survive & Thrive team, Social and Behavour Change, , Gender, Communication & Advocacy, Monitoring, Evaluation, Supply , Emergency and other groups, to optimize regional support to the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Country Offices’ work on immunization.

Performs or participates in any other duties appropriate to the purpose of this post, assigned by the supervisor, the Deputy Regional Director or the Regional Director, and delivers the results as required.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: [HRLAC-SJP-SrImmuSpec-P5.pdf]

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

The following minimum requirements:

• Education: Advanced degree in one of the disciplines relevant to the following areas: Medicine, Public Health, Paediatric Health, Global/International , Health Policy and Management, Family Health, Socio-medical Sciences, Health Education, Epidemiology, or other fields relevant to immunization.
• Work Experience: At least ten (10) years of progressively responsible professional work experience in all aspects of programme management, and/or advisory capacity, in the technical area or programme sector resulting in recognized expertise in the technical area related to immunization and/or child survival and health care.
• Skills: Knowledge of theories and practices in:
  Childhood Immunizations;
  Child and Maternal Health;
  Health Promotion and Disease Prevention;
  Public Health;
  Health Financing;
  Knowledge Management;
  Educational interventions in Health Care;
  Health Education;
  Environmental Health;
  Computer software application, including word processing, spreadsheets and corporate software packages.
• Language Requirements: [Fluency in English is required, and at least proficiency in Spanish. Knowledge of French or Portuguese and another official UN langauge (Arabic, Chinese or Russian) is considered an asset.

The following desirables:

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.

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…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others

(8) Nurtures, leads and manages people

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 benefits to our staff, including 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 male candidates 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.

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

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.