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, hope

Giga (giga.global) is a partnership between UNICEF (unicef.org) and the ITU (itu.int) working to connect every school in the world. The team (https://giga.global/about-us/) has experience and background in building technology products, finance and investment, design, and infrastructure.  It’s a global team, with two “centers of gravity” (in Barcelona, Spain and Geneva, Switzerland) but with many team members located around the world.

Giga is broken into three main areas: Mapping, Finance, Procurement, supported by cross-cutting support services. The Country Engagement Team supports the initiation and implementation of all three areas of Giga’s support in countries. The Mapping team maps schools and their connectivity, creating a real-time display of access and need on Project Connect (https://projectconnect.unicef.org/map). The Finance team works to create the financing (grant, loan, and investment) for connectivity. The Procurement works closely with UNICEF Supply Division to support governments through public procurement processes for contracting sustainable, high quality and affordable school connectivity. There are also crosscutting teams that support on communications, partnerships, staff wellbeing, operations and finance.

We aim to have agility and flexibility in how we work, and to be driven by realtime data about what we’re doing.  We also work within the political and global framework of the UN, which means that we can collaborate with policy makers and regulators, governments, civil society, and of course, most closely with our 135 country offices, in everything we do.

How can you make a difference?

Under the general guidance of the Giga Partnerships Manager, this post will develop a pipeline of, manage and optimize the impact and results from partnerships with international and national businesses to deliver upon the Giga’s and UNICEF’s strategic objectives for partnerships, with a focus on corporate partners, and driving annual activity plans which align with this strategy. Successful outcomes will ensure that the partnerships meet financial resource targets as well as meeting targets for leveraging reach, influence and respect.

The post is responsible for developing and maintaining the relationships with these partners, alongside the lead market, and supporting the strategic direction, management, growth and renewal of these high value partnerships. This post will work closely with UNICEF divisions such as Private Fundraising and Partnerships, Programme Divisions, Department of Communication and others including National Committees to deliver on set out strategies.

Summary of key functions

1. Develop and maximize a portfolio of high-impact international and national partnerships with corporates to deliver against Giga’s resourcing gaps, technological needs, and engagement goals.
2. Works in close alignment with the Giga Partnership lead, the Giga tech team, respective communication and contracting teams across UNICEF, and in collaboration with any ‘lead’ National Committee/Country Office to meet Giga’s partnerships and resource mobilization objectives.
3. Identifies, develops and monitors progress on these partnerships as defined by Giga and UNICEF as priority:
   • Delivers upon the income and strategic targets set out by Giga’s partnerships team
   • Ensures an agreed vision and partnership strategy is developed, up-to-date, and implemented.
   • Holds a coordinated global activity plan for the work streams for all partnerships managed.
   • Coordinates the implementation and decision-making related to partnership strategies.
4. Contributes to and coordinates strategies, mapping, events, and activities to identify, develop, close, and implement partnerships with corporates and builds out strategic documentation, road shows, case studies, and recognition materials to amplify Giga’s portfolio with corporate partners.

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

• Master’s degree in Business Management, International Relations, Marketing, Social Sciences, Fundraising, or a related field is required. *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree
• A minimum of five (5 years of progressively responsible work experience in corporate fundraising, commercial or non-commercial account Management, or marketing, of which a minimum of two years in an international context is required.
• Experience working in start-ups and scale-ups with capabilities of building processes and teams from scratch is highly desirable.
• Proven experience of working across teams to manage complex partnerships and/or campaigns and ability to influence buy in for the resources needed to execute partnerships
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Spanish is highly desirable. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian) 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: UNICEF Values

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.

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.

Remarks:

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.

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