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.

UNICEF’s partnerships cone is made up of three divisions that Audience and Market Insights (AMI) support: Private Fundraising and Partnerships (PFP), Global Communication and Advocacy (GCA), and Public Partnerships Division (PPD). AMI works with each of these divisions, supporting fundraising, advocacy, and communications. Both PFP and GCA have recognized the need for improved audience understanding to power the advocacy, communication, and fundraising agendas. As the divisions shift requirements and demands for audience understanding AMI needs to continue evolving to meet these new requirements and ensure delivery of insights that help support and drive both agendas, within the divisions and within countries.

Within this broader context, the teams focused on high value income (Global Philanthropy, Foundations and Corporate Partnerships) want to continue to drive high levels of growth with the support of stronger audience insight that enables more giving at higher levels.

For every child, a Champion

This position will help increase UNICEF fundraising net revenues, private sector engagement and both communication and advocacy effectiveness by designing, conducting, and interpreting research to produce insights that ignite the decision-making within Fundraising and Communications. This post will influence and make recommendations for hard-to-reach audiences to teams in HQ functions, as well as working with key markets that have a significant focus on identified audiences.

The Market Research Manager, under the overall guidance and direction of the Chief of Audience and Market Insights, is accountable for managing market research projects, playing a key role in the formulation of UNICEF and PFP strategies, and ensuring the growth in the effective use of audience and market insight for hard-to-reach audiences.

The role holder is responsible for establishing research plans and overseeing work progress to ensure the achievement of goals according to plans, resource allocation, and strategies, and through collaboration that meets the requirements from the UNICEF Competency Framework as well as our organizational values.

The role holder will have shared responsibility for strategic recommendations for high value teams when delivering work that includes but is not limited to situation analysis, trends, brand tracking, audience quality, research that can support media plans, and measurement frameworks. Additionally, the role holder will have responsibilities in decision making concerning AMI funds and human resources that have a significant impact on hard-to-reach audience projects.

How can you make a difference?

1. Managing research with high value donors (e.g., foundations, major donors, corporate and multi stakeholder platforms such as WEF)
   1. Align priorities with the Chief Audience and Market Insight and set research path to meet the insight needs of High Value teams.
   2. Collaborate with external parties to bring innovative approaches and best practices.
   3. Facilitate development of the research path, identifying incipient needs and opportunities for collaboration across high value teams.
   4. Provide overall policy guidance, and direction, and coordinate activities. Provide consultation on problem areas and operational issues.
   5. Monitor work progress and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards.
2. Understanding business needs and how insights can enable decision-making.
   1. Meet with relevant stakeholders to define the business needs with hard-to-reach audiences.
   2. Establish realistic briefs provided for new research projects that meet business needs and secure investment from client teams.
   3. Ensure any investment into insight projects is well aligned to stakeholder requirements.
   4. Work with key stakeholders to ensure resources and capabilities are in place to capitalize on findings from research.
3. Designing insight plans.
   1. Ensure new research project results are actionable and address business issues.
   2. Ensure high-quality execution of research studies.
   3. Provide business partners with relevant high-quality research recommendations.
   4. Support the Chief to ensure accountability for actions identified within research outputs.
   5. Make use of the latest developments in research and utilize imaginative approaches to provide fresh strategies for insight plans, securing and maintaining buy-in from business owners.
4. Analyzing and presenting audience and market research findings
   1. Work with business partners to deliver executive summaries for all research that contain AMI recommendations and business owner responses and actions.
   2. Demonstrate how developed insights satisfy the criteria defined by UNICEF, as well as delivering to the quality indicators identified in the project initiation.
   3. Provide guidance on sensitive and specialized issues, and on strategic issues, demonstrating how audience understanding can help address the issue.
5. Stakeholders and systems
   1. Collaborate with client teams to ensure appropriate comprehension and buy-in for AMI recommendations, ultimately judged by client team investment and satisfaction with project outcomes.
   2. Partner with AMI colleagues and other teams to make the best use of skills available at UNICEF, demonstrating the effectiveness of shared team impact.
   3. Utilize the agreed management systems and technical systems within AMI and PFP.

To qualify as a Champion for every child you will have…

Education:

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: Marketing, Business Administration, Social Sciences, or a related technical field.
• Alternatively, a first-level university degree in combination with two (2) years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• Formal training in statistics, including certifications in statistical methods, data analysis, and quantitative research is an asset.

Experience:

• A minimum of 8 years of progressively responsible professional experience in Market Research, at least 4 years working in Fundraising or/and Marketing or Business Analysis is required.
• Knowledge and experience in fundraising and communications in a non-profit context is an asset.
• Knowledge and experience of working within a global organization is an asset.
• Experience of working in the UN, and humanitarian/development organizations is an asset.

Language requirements:

• Proficiency in English is required.
•  Working knowledge of French or another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, or Spanish) 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

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (1)
• 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) are required.

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: our competency framework.

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 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 delivering the best results for children.

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

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.