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, education

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbkJiMmvKqk

How can you make a difference?

Purpose for the job:

Under the supervision of the Education Manager SSU, the Education Specialist (Knowledge and Financial Management) will play a critical role in enhancing the effectiveness of UNICEF’s educational initiatives in Afghanistan. This position involves managing and synthesizing knowledge related to program activities and financial management to support decision-making and improve program outcomes. The role will encompass both programmatic and knowledge management efforts to advance key educational priorities. The role will enhance the scope and quality of our program implementation, information management, and communication efforts aimed at promoting education for children in Afghanistan. Additionally, they will provide support to the broader team in organizing and managing various program meetings and events.

Responsibilities include actively collaborating with field offices and the Kabul team on each grant concerning budgeting, location-specific targeting, contracts, as well as financial and target reporting. The Specialist contributes to the achievement of results according to plans, allocation, results-based-management approaches and methodology (RBM), as well as UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance, and accountability framework.

1. Program Knowledge Management, and Reporting

• Develop and implement strategies for knowledge management to ensure that valuable lessons and data from field operations are captured, analyzed, and utilized effectively.
• Facilitate the sharing of best practices and lessons learned across different teams, donors in collaboration with communication team.
• Serve as the coordinator for donor report preparation, ensuring the accurate and timely submission of high-quality reports. Coordinate with the Communications Section to track grant-specific visibility plans and collaborate on Human Interest Stories for donor reports, thematic reports, or annual reports.
• Lead the production of the Afghanistan Humanitarian Situation Report for the Education Section yearly, in collaboration with UNESCO.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews, and annual sectoral reviews with implementing partners and private sectors and prepare reports for the Chief of section

2. Programme development and planning

• Support in preparing project proposals.
• Support the development of a results framework for the overall education program, taking into consideration the specific targets of each grant. Coordinate with the Emergency Section and Planning Unit to develop the Education HAC (Humanitarian Appeal for Children) targets. Coordinate across all Field Offices to aggregate results and report on HAC targets.
• Establish, in collaboration with the M&E/IM specialist, a clear accountability framework with programmes, for the delivery of results for children, across different grants, taking into consideration the different results by the grant.
• Support the development of the Annual Workplan and Mid-year and Annual Reports. Coordinate with the Planning Unit.

3. Financial and budget management

• Oversee financial planning, budgeting, and expenditure tracking for education programs funded by various donors (WB, ADB, EU, ECHO, GPE, ECW, others), in close coordination with the office Budget Specialists and Grant Managers.
• Ensure financial resources are utilized efficiently and align with the objectives and expected outcomes of the education plan and donor conditionalities.
• Develop and implement a robust system for producing detailed monthly financial reports that track expenditures against the allocated budget for each grant. These reports should include a comprehensive analysis of spending patterns and in particular salaries for the entire team in Kabul and across all zonal offices, budget variances, and forecasts to guide efficient resource allocation.
• Ensure the timely submission of budget modifications and financial reports; closely monitor due dates for financial reports, support the development of timely disbursement requests to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, and monitor the need for grant extensions.
• Coordinate internally with Program Assistants to operationalize financial decisions, such as Change of Funding Sources, reimbursements, budget allocations to various cost centers to zonal offices, or other supporting sections in the office.
• Support the Kabul team and zonal office teams to coordinate with the Program Management Unit (PMU) to improve timely payments to Implementing Partners.
• Track the Section’s monthly performance against office-wide financial management indicators (CMT), ensuring the Chief is well informed and appropriate timely remedial actions are taken to address red flags.
• Support in the implementation of a continuous risk management process that includes the development of a compliance monitoring framework to oversee the adherence to financial regulations and donor stipulations. Regularly update the framework and report periodically to the team any compliance issues, and remedial actions taken to safeguard funding.

4. Collaboration, and capacity building

• Work closely with field offices, the Kabul team, and external partners to enhance program implementation and operational efficiencies.
• Support internal and external communications to promote education initiatives, including preparing updates and informational materials for various stakeholders and donors.
• Provide technical support and capacity building to field staff and partners in financial and knowledge management, working closely with the Program Management Unit (PMU)

5. Communication and knowledge management 

• Systematization of the Education knowledge materials on SharePoint
• Create a directory for all verified reports/studies/assessments/implementation reports.
• Maintain the education SharePoint and education part of ACO’s website.
• Ensure communication between the education section with Operations Sections, Communications and Resource Mobilization
• Assist in organizing and facilitating program meetings, workshops, and other events to ensure effective communication and collaboration among team members and stakeholders.
• Support the Sections learning processes by documenting lessons learned and ensuring reflective learning is built in to learning and development plans, staff retreats and other learning opportunities

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

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: education, public administration, international relations, social sciences, or any other relevant studies
• A first University Degree (bachelor’s 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 years of professional experience in programme planning, management, and/or research in education, and financial management is required.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Familiarity/ background with emergency is considered as an asset.
• Fluency in English is required, and local languages (Dari & Pashto) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, 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 promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children.

Remarks:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates are encouraged to apply.

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). 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 cancelled.

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.

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.