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

The Health Specialist (Maternal Newborn and Child Health) reports to the Health Specialist (Level 4) for guidance and general supervision. The Health Specialist supports the managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and reporting the programme progress of  the maternal, newborn and child health programme including New Vaccine Introduction in the Middle Income Countries within the regional office Health Programme. The Health Specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the administration and achievement of concrete and sustainable results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM), organizational Strategic Plans and goals, standards of performance, and accountability framework.

How can you make a difference?

1. Support to programme development and planning

• In coordination with the Health Specialist, support the development, design and management of the Middle East and North Africa maternal, newborn and child health including immunization programme.
• Participate in strategic programme discussions on the planning of the regional maternal, newborn and child health programme. Keep abreast of development trends to enhance programme management, efficiency, and delivery.
• Contribute to the development/establishment of sectoral programme goals, objectives, strategies, and implementation plans based on results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM) through research, data collection, analysis and reporting of maternal newborn and child health for development planning and priority and goal setting. Prepare required documentations for programme review and approval.
• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies, and to determine regional priorities and competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.
• Ensure the maternal, newborn, and child health regional programme priorities, implementation modality are aligned with UNICEF’s internal procedures and policies, regulatory frameworks activities.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programmes/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

• 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 concrete and sustainable results for the maternal, newborn and child health programme.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises and programme reviews/sectoral reviews organized by the regional and country offices with the government and other partners (WHO/UNFPA) as required to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results in alignment with the global Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP) and Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality (EPMM) coverage targets and milestones and new vaccine introduction in the Middle Income Countries
• Support country programme implementation through country missions, surveys and/or exchange of information with regional and country partners/stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks, potential problems and provide necessary technical support to resolve issues.
• Support the preparation of regular and mandated programme/project reports for donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Provide technical support to the implementation of the regional and country offices maternal, newborn and child health and immunization planned programmes and activities.
• Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information, and consideration.
• Support regional emergency preparedness initiatives for programme development, contingency planning and/or to respond to emergencies and as requested by country offices.

4. Networking and partnership building

• Prepare communication and information materials for regional office programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships/alliances, and support fund raising for the maternal, neonatal and child health and development programmes.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in appropriate inter-agency discussions and planning and to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on planning and preparation of maternal, newborn and child health programmes/projects, ensuring organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the development planning and agenda setting.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Support evidence generation through taking stock of lessons learned from global, regional, and country best practices to inform policy and leverage resources for action.
• Contribute to identifying, capturing, synthesizing, and sharing lessons learned, experiences and case studies from regional and country maternal, newborn and child health implementation to inform capacity development trainings as well as address gaps and refine relevant regional, national and sub-national guidance and strategies.
• Support country office on innovative approaches and good practices and to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders on trainings on areas such as:  Integrated Community and Case Management (iCCM), Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illnesses (IMNCI), Emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC), Respectful Maternity Care (RMC), Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) and others to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results on MNCH
• Support capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of stakeholders to promote sustainable results on maternal,  newborn and child health inclusive of immunization programmes.
• Support in the documentation of immunization programme initiatives including new vaccine introduction.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: Health Specialist Level 3.doc

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: public health/nutrition, pediatric health, family health, health research, global/international health, health policy and/or management, environmental health sciences, biostatistics, socio-medical, health education, epidemiology, or another relevant technical field.
• Work Experience: A minimum of five years of professional experience in maternal, neonatal and child health care including expertise in health emergency/humanitarian preparedness.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Desirables:

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as 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

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

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 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.