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, care

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 favouritism. 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 fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. Therefore, 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.

Job organizational context:

South Asia has over a quarter of the world’s children with large and complex programmes. Planning and programming contexts are challenging because of on-going humanitarian situations, including refugees due to political instability, protracted conflict in Afghanistan, earthquakes, flooding, health emergencies and other climate change induced crises. Further, 5 countries offices including India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal host large programmes with many field offices.

Within this complex and volatile context, the Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) Planning, Monitoring, Data and Analysis section supports countries/COs in advancing equity-focused policies, programmes and interventions for children in the region. Special attention is given to strengthening risk informed, conflict sensitive, equity-focused programming and developing inclusive policies and programmes towards greater social cohesion and resilience of systems and communities. Our capacity to accelerate progress for children will also depend on our capacity to seize the opportunities of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to influence government and partners to strengthen national policies programmes and results for children. In this regard, and in the context of the UN-reform, strengthening UN inter-agency collaboration through the Regional United Nations Development Group (R-UNDG) and the Delivering as One (DaO) approach is essential to support United Nations Country Teams (UNCT) in operationalizing quality and sustainable programmes, yielding results for children and young people in the region.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Regional Chief of Programme and Planning, the incumbent of the post will guide the regional office in quality assurance, planning, and oversight processes; maintain effective knowledge of innovation and key planning products in the region; support preparation of UNICEF key planning and programming events included but not limited to preparation of submissions of Country Programme Documents (CPDs), and related documents for submission to the Executive Board, syntheses/writing of key programme and planning documents: Country Offices Analysis Reports (COAR), Regional Office Analysis Reports (ROARs), Workplans, Annual Management Plans (AMPs); contribute & support to the regional office planning such as Mid-Year Reviews (MYRs), End-Year Reviews (EYRs), development of and Mid-Term Reviews (MTR) of the Regional Office Management Plan (ROMP), analysis and reporting of the regional and country offices KPIs in the context of management for results.

The post will significantly contribute the rollout of the UN-Reform including support to the design and quality assurance of Common Country Analysis (CCAs), and United Sustainable Develop Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCFs), and especially to UNICEF COs to ensure the road-maps of CPDs are aligned with the UNSDCF, and that the SitAns contributes to the CCAs.

Contribute to the preparation and design of the Regional Management Team meeting and support preparation of reports with key action points, including monitoring and reporting on the progress.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Strategic Planning, knowledge management and capacity building

• Provide technical guidance and strategic inputs to the design of key regional meetings (Regional Management Team (RMT); Deputy Representatives and Operations (DROPS); Planning, Monitoring, Data and Analysis network) as well as of staff trainings on UNICEF Programme, Policies and Procedures (PPP, RRBM) ensuring that these learning events contribute to the development and implementation of policy and programmatic standards and priorities across UNICEF Programmes in the region.
• Support Country Programme Planning processes (midterm reviews, country programme preparation, Situation Analysis) with a focus on regional quality assurance mechanisms to ensure that Country Programme Planning exercises are in alignment with the latest guidance and organizational priorities.
• Provide inputs to UNICEF country offices for the development of UNSDCFs and participate in inter-agency meetings and missions as required to support UN coherence initiatives, particularly as they relate to the integration of RRBM into CCA, Strategic Prioritisation Retreat (SPR) and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals through the Regional UNDG Peer Support Group.
• Ensure capacity skills building in RRBM for UNICEF staff and partners and skills building related to overall strategic planning.

Support to regional office planning, monitoring and reporting

• Make professional contributions to and provide technical assistance for the planning objectives, priorities, and activities in UNICEF’s multi-year and annual planning in consultation with child-rights and implementing partners. This includes coordinating the development, planning and monitoring of the Regional Office Management Plan, including preparation of the Regional Office annual planning and reporting exercises, regional review of Country Office Annual Reports and preparation of the Regional Office Annual Report, as well as overall guidance for knowledge management services within the Regional Office.
• Contribute to the preparation of Regional Strategic documents, including briefing documents, statements and information for the Regional Director for the Executive Board sessions and other missions as required.
• Contribute to country office preparedness for the Executive Board sessions.

Setting regional standards for programme performance, planning, and monitoring

• Provide technical guidance to Country Offices and contribute to policy dialogue on key UNICEF policies and procedures to ensure the highest standards in programme design, implementation and reporting.
• Coordinate with COs and partners to ensure that monitoring systems are properly designed, and that data collection and analysis from field visits are coordinated and standardized across programmes to feed into to programme performance monitoring, with special attention to humanitarian response.
• Drawing on monitoring and analysis of key programme performance and management indicators, provide professional input to management reports, including relevant sections of the annual reports.
• Coordinate the analysis and presentation of the KPIs for COs and RO, and contribute to the preparation of the Regional Office Management Meetings (ROMTs)
• Contribute to the development and Mid Term Review of the ROMP

Planning & Monitoring Internal Planning and Reporting

• Coordinate internal planning and reporting for the Planning, Monitoring, Data and Analysis section.

Networking and partnership building

Interact as needed with key relevant divisions in UNICEF Headquarters and Planning Units in the other UNICEF Regional Offices to exchange knowledge and ideas and to contribute to global and regional learning focusing on effective approaches, challenges and lessons learned in programme planning, monitoring, review and reporting

Impact of Results: 

Technical and administrative decisions are regularly made to ensure timely and appropriate inputs to country offices on programme planning, including quality assurance issues through coordination and consolidation of regional office inputs to key Country Programme planning documents so as to ensure that these meet quality standards and that they are aligned to organizational policies and priorities. Judgement, analytical capacities and drafting skills are required to prepare high quality documents for presentation to the Executive Board; to ensure Regional Office oversight to Country Office Annual Reports; to prepare the Regional Office Annual Reports and other strategic documents of relevance to the region.

Recommendations are made on the quality of official documents such as CPDs, UNDSDCFs, Work Plans, CCAs, Situations Analysis, Country Office Annual Reports. Such recommendations have a direct impact on the effectiveness of resources. Collaboration with Regional Institutions, design and support for regional and sub- regional initiatives involve regular decisions which are directly linked to the use of UNICEF resources including staff time.

Misinterpretation of country situational analysis and trends can lead to wrong direction of the country programme resulting in country objectives not being met and a significant proportion of UNICEF resources misappropriately spent. Ineffective coordination and interaction with regional advisors, country offices and regional partners, UN and other, will negatively affect the credibility and acceptability of UNICEF interventions. Ineffective support of capacity building  and training activities can adversely affect UNICEF capacity for programme planning and implementation.

Supervision is limited to guidance on overall regional framework and organizational policy and priorities from the Regional Programme and Planning Chief. Within these limits, the incumbent is expected to perform independently and consults with supervisor when major decisions and actions must be undertaken.

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Advanced university degree in social sciences, international relations, public administration, public policy, community development or another related field.
• Work Experience: Eight years progressively responsible professional work experience at the national and international levels in social development, management, planning, monitoring or other related field required.
  Relevant experience/exposure to emergency is an asset.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English required. Knowledge of another UN language is an asset.

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…

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)

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

Core Values (Required)

Care

Respect

Integrity

Trust

Accountability

Sustainability

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 measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as 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 female 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.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.