Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Managerial leadership
2. Program development and planning.
3. Program management, monitoring and quality control of results.
4. Advisory services and technical support.
5. Advocacy, networking and partnership building.
6. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building.

1. Managerial leadership:

• Establish the section’s annual work plan with the education team and set priorities and targets. Monitor work progress and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards.
• Establish clear individual performance objectives, goals and timelines; and provide timely guidance to enable the team to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently. Plan and ensure timely performance management and assessment of the team.
• Supervise team members by providing them with clear objectives, goals, direction, and guidance to enable them to perform their duties responsibly, effectively and efficiently.

2. Program development and planning:

• Provide technical guidance and operational support to ensure that current and comprehensive data is available to guide UNICEF’s strategic policy advocacy, intervention and development efforts on education programs and to set program priorities, strategies, and implementation plans.
• Keep abreast of national, regional and international development priorities on education to leverage UNICEF’s position and competencies with donors, national governments, communities and constituents to advocate and promote education initiatives and policies.
• Supervise the development of education programs/projects (as a full component of the CO and/or UNDAF program. Establish plans of action, program goals and results, using resultsbased planning methodology and terminology (RB.
• Guide and coordinate the timely preparation of program recommendations and related documentation for inclusion in the Country Office Program recommendation ensuring alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, regional strategies and national priorities.
• Collaborate with colleagues and partners to develop partnership frameworks to address specific needs and to leverage resources for enhancing education programs/projects. Ensure synergy, integration, coherence, and harmonization of programs and projects with UNICEF Strategic Plans and priorities, donors’ development strategies and policies, national priorities, and UN System development interventions and initiatives.

3. Program management, monitoring and quality control of results: 

• Plan and collaborate on monitoring and evaluation initiatives to establish benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators, to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results on education programs.
• Participate in major monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to engage stakeholders to take required action and interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare and assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths, and/or weaknesses in program and management; identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Monitor programs and projects to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Plan, approve, monitor, certify, and control the use of program resources (financial, human, administrative and other assetcertifying & verifying compliance with organizational rules, regulations and procedures, donor commitments and standards of accountability and integrity. Ensure timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Prepare and submit program and project reports to donors and other partners to keep them informed on program progress and critical issues.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Advisory services and technical support:

• Provide technical advice to key government officials, NGO, UN system and other country office partners on strategies and best practices to influence approaches and policies, and to support social, economic, political, and legal development planning, implementation and delivery of results on education programs and related issues.
• Coordinate and ensure the availability of technical experts (with Regional Office/Hto ensure timely support throughout all stages of programming and project implementation.
• Participate in strategic discussions to influence policy and agenda setting for combating all forms of discrimination against children by advising on and advocating strategies and approaches to promote universal access to equitable and inclusive education for children in the country.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Advocacy, networking and partnership building:

• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking and advocacy with local and national governments, UN system agency partners, donors, internationally recognized institutions, NGOs, funding organizations, research institutes and private sector to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities, leverage funds, to promote goals and achieve sustainable and broad results on education programs.
• Prepare communication strategies, implementation plans and activities for maximum communication impact and outreach to promote awareness, establish partnerships for sustainable results, and to support fund raising for UNICEF and Country Office programs on education.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in interagency (UNCdiscussions and planning on education and related issues to ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF development planning and agenda  setting process. Collaborate with interagency partners and colleagues on the UNDAF planning and preparation of programs/projects including emergency preparedness.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building:

• Promote critical thinking, innovative approaches and good practices for sustainable education programming initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory services.

• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce and implement best and cutting edge practices on education and management. Institutionalize and disseminate best practices and knowledge learned.

• Contribute to the development of policies and procedures, and introduce innovation and best practices to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects.

• Organize, plan and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of stakeholders to promote sustainable results on education and related programmes/projects.

Education:

An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: education, economics, psychology, sociology or another relevant technical field.

Experience: 

• A minimum of eight years of professional experience in program planning, management, and/or research in education at the international level is required.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience in team management and supervision role as well as good leadership skills 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.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English and Arabic is required, as well as an intermediate level of French. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanisor a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

 Core Values

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability
• Sustainability

 Core Competencies (For Staff with Supervisory Responsibilitie 

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (2)
• 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)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

Technical competencies must be demonstrated in the following areas:

•  Good understanding of the overall global development context, including issues such as: poverty, conflict, and the impact of these factors on education and viceversa; and intersectoral approaches to address such issues in collaboration with other sectors (including Social Policy, Child Protection, Nutrition, WASH, Health and Communications within UNICE.

•   Good knowledge of global developments in education and international engagement strategies, including the application of the equity lens and human rights perspectives to programming.

•  Good ability to support policy dialogue: translation of analytical findings and evidence into development program and policy discussions around equity and learning with partners, including government, development partners, CSOs and academia in relevant areas.

•  Good education sector planning knowledge/ability, including the range of modalities for delivering education, linkages between different subsectors (e.g. ECD, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Inclusive Educatio, costeffectiveness and efficiency issues, key institutional structures, components and processes, as well as governance issues.

•  Good education and policy sector analysis capacity, including understanding of the core education data sets and indicators; tools for analysis of equity; determinants of student access and learning; budget, costing, and financial management in education systems; political economy; and education policy and strategic planning.

•  Good ability to support engagement with partners e.g. Sector Wide Approaches, Global Partnership for Education, Education in Emergency Clusters, Education Provider Forums, Delivering as One, Intersectoral partnerships such as in ECD, as well as networking with other key partners.

•  Good understanding of gender and inequity issues in relation to education and development and the application of gender / equity analysis to policy and planning in education.

•  Good understanding of policies and strategies to address issues related to resilience: risk analysis and risk management, education in conflict situations, natural disasters, and recovery for CO and RO based post and where relevant.

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, socioeconomic 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 zerotolerance 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 promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.

Remarks:

[If applicable] This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is: a role with direct contact with children, works directly with children, is a safeguarding response role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checkapplies.

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

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

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 (vaccinatiorequirements, including against SARSCoV2 (Covi. 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(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.