Associate Director, Early Childhood Development – D1  

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 fulfil 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, dedication 

There has been important progress for young children in recent decades. However, around the world, millions of children are not receiving adequate nutrition, stimulation and responsive care, are missing out on healthcare and learning opportunities, and are exposed to unhealthy environments, violence and stress. The failure to give children the best start in life perpetuates cycles of poverty and disadvantage that can span generations, undermining the strength, stability and prosperity of nations. The 2023 UNICEF Vision for Early Childhood Development provides a framework for UNICEF’s organization-wide support to early childhood development, focusing on children from birth to the age of school entry. It also acknowledges the centrality of adequate policies, programmes and practices in protecting and fulfilling the survival, growth and development rights of all children in early life, including in fragile and humanitarian settings.  

At global, regional and country levels, UNICEF is leading on this agenda, in active partnerships to leverage financing, scale up programmes, develop and implement multi-sectoral policies and strategies, and promote awareness on the importance of early years. A global call for action has been made to boost national investments and engage communities and families in the demand for integrated packages of interventions to ensure a fair start to all young children. There has been a steady increase in the inclusion of early stimulation, responsive care, early learning and pre-primary programmes and policies around the world that needs to be accelerated. 

The Associate Director, Early Childhood Development (D1) reports to the Director, Child Nutrition and Development (D2) and provides global thought leadership, strategic vision and technical guidance to UNICEF’s programming for early childhood development, in support of UNICEF’s SDG commitments.  

The Associate Director leads UNICEF’s work on ECD to advance the organization’s position as thought leader and further strengthen its global credibility in that area. The post incumbent will: 

Provide intellectual and strategic vision, leadership, advisory support and guidance to ensure that the agenda for young children’s development is institutionalized, actively pursued and sustained in UNICEF’s advocacy, policy, programming and humanitarian work, and serves to achieve the organization’s Child Rights mission and Strategic Plan results; 

Provide strategic, technical, managerial and advocacy leadership in the formulation and implementation of ECD-focused and EC-supportive policies and programmes within UNICEF’s overall mission of child survival, growth, learning, protection and development; 

Stimulate development of normative standards and guidance; 

Contribute to measurement of progress in global child development outcomes, Sustainable Development Goals 4.2.1 more specifically; 

Facilitate and pioneer good practices and innovative action to ensure UNICEF’s fulfillment to promote, protect and help realize the rights of all children, especially the youngest to give them the best start in life; 

Advise senior leaders of the organization on policy matters related to ECD;  

Translate strategies into results for young children; 

Undertake high level advocacy both within and outside the organization; 

Strengthen existing and lead establishment of new strategic partnerships across national and subnational governments, private sector, academia and donor community; 

Mobilize resources and develop organizational and staff capacity at all levels of UNICEF and beyond.  

How can you make a difference? 

The Associate Director – ECD’s key functional accountabilities include: 

Global Leadership in ECD; 

Strategic planning, monitoring and implementation. 

Global technical oversight and support to Regional & Country ECD for multi-sectoral programming; Partnerships and resource mobilization; 

Capacity development and knowledge generation and dissemination. 

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

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

Qualifications  

Advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Early Childhood Development, Social Sciences, Public Health, Education, or other relevant disciplines and/or in relevant field is required. 

A minimum of 13 years of progressively responsible professional work experience at the national and international levels in social development, more specifically in the area of early childhood development policies formulation and programme implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation. 

Proven international – “hands-on” programme management experience in different regions and countries is highly desirable. 

Fluency in English (written and verbal) is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset. 

Person Profile 

Excellent knowledge and familiarity with ECD programme strategy, planning, implementation guidance and evaluation. 

Proven competencies in the management of multicultural teams oriented to the provision of technical support and analysis. 

Experience responding to emergencies is desirable. 

Proven communication skills and proven record in interaction with donor community and fundraising. 

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  

Competencies

Builds and maintains partnerships (level III) 

Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (level III) 

Drive to achieve results for impact (level III) 

Innovates and embraces change (level III) 

Manages ambiguity and complexity (level III) 

Thinks and acts strategically (level III) 

Works collaboratively with others (level III) 

Nurtures, leads and manages people (level III) 

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Remarks

This position is classified as “rotational” which means the incumbent is expected to rotate to another duty station upon completion of their tour of duty.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

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 may also be 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.

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