Deputy Representative, P5, Niamey, Niger

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, passion.

Niger is a landlocked Sahelian country of 24 million population predominantly by young and rural people (81.3%). Children aged 0-14 is 51% of the total population and 20% for those aged 15-24. Although poverty has declined, inequality persists, as the progress made has been lost owing to a combination of many vulnerabilities. While two thirds of the country is a desert, it also experiences high population growth, accelerating natural disasters, the effects of climate change and significant insecurity in the cross-border regions of the central Sahel.

The current country program of UNICEF in Niger is aligned to the UNSDCF and covers the period 2023 – 2027 with the aim at ensuring all girls and boys, from birth through adolescence, survive, thrive, learn, develop to their full potential, are protected from all forms of violence and exploitation, and thus contribute to positive social change in their communities.

UNICEF supports the delivery of a set of interventions targeting the most vulnerable children and adolescents, especially those affected by humanitarian emergencies and migration on the : (a) use of high-impact health and HIV interventions; (b) use of quality nutrition and food services and benefit from good nutrition practices; (c) adoption of good hygiene practices and access and use safe water and basic sanitation services; (d) access to quality education and training that ensures the acquisition of basic skills; (e) are protected from violence, exploitation, abuse and child marriage; and (f) benefit from social policies and social protection that facilitate their socioeconomic inclusion.

UNICEF Niger operates from the capital city, Niamey, as well as from 4 zonal offices, Agadez, Maradi, Diffa and Tahoua.

How can you make a difference?

The Deputy Representative reports to the CO Representative for general supervision and direction. The Deputy Representative serves as the principal adviser on the overall management of the CO, development of CO policies and strategies; and under delegated authority, for coordinating and managing all phases of the Country Office Programme, from formulation to delivery of results in accordance with UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework, ethics, and integrity.

The Deputy Representative supports the Representative in leading and leveraging partnerships with both public and private sectors for the achievement of results and fulfilment of the rights of children.

In fragile and humanitarian contexts, the Representative ensures the delivery of a timely, efficient and principled humanitarian action and advocacy in accordance with UNICEF global Policy and Framework for humanitarian action.  Where clusters are activated, the Representative ensures that UNICEF CLA responsibilities are fulfilled.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

1. CO Programme planning and development :

• Coordinate the planning and updating of the situation analysis by the various sectors in the CO to establish comprehensive data and information for programme development planning, management, monitoring and evaluation.
• Provide advice to the Representative on strategies, direction and planning of programmes and projects to translate analytical data/information (from situation analysis) and national priorities and goals into concrete country programmes and projects that advances UNICEF goals in the country on child rights, survival and development.
• Guide and advise the various sectoral teams throughout the process of programme formulation, planning and preparation of the Country Programme ensuring harmonization of approaches and alignment with the UNICEF Strategic Plan, corporate guidelines, policies/procedures and regional and national priorities.
• Provide technical and operational guidance to the heads of sectors and their team, as delegated by the Representative, throughout all stages of the programming process to ensure cooperation, collaboration and harmonization of programmes and projects.
• Coordinate necessary technical programming support from PD/Regional Office.
• Review the country programme recommendation before approval by the Representative to ensure the quality of the country programme recommendation and alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic plan, compliance with policies and procedures and that documentation materials are completed accurately and comprehensively to facilitate Executive Board review and approval.

2. Support to the Representative on managing the CO :

• Serve as officer in charge in the absence of the Representative.
• Monitor and assess programmes and operations and provide advice on best and innovative programming and management practices to enhance programming and operations.
• Advise the Representative on CO annual work planning, setting priorities/targets and establishing performance measurements. Monitor implementation and progress of work plans; collaborate with colleagues to assist, advise and guide the Representative to ensure achievement of results according to targets and performance standards. Take timely decisions to achieve results and/or alert the Representative for timely action.
• Establish clear individual performance objectives, goals and timelines; and provide timely guidance to his/her team to enable them to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently. Plan and ensure timely performance planning, management and assessment.

• Work collaboratively with the Representative and the various sectors to facilitate/contribute to the preparation of the CO budget proposal. Monitor critical issues to resolve problems and/or recommend to the Representative appropriate action to ensure appropriate and optimum use of resources.

3. Monitoring and quality control of Programmes :

• Participate in meetings/events and annual/mid term reviews with government and other counterparts/stakeholders to contribute to strategic programme discussions, planning and assessments.
• Evaluate overall programme progress; identify weaknesses, bottlenecks and potential problems. Collaborate with the sectors and/or other partners and stakeholders to resolve issues and/or advise the Representative on resolutions to ensure delivery of results as planned and allocated.
• Monitor the optimum and appropriate use of programme resources (financial, human, administrative and other assets) and verify compliance with organizational rules, regulations and procedures, donor commitments and standards of accountability and integrity. Approve disbursements and allocations in accordance with delegation of authority established by the Representative.
• Coordinate and/or provide advice on the preparation of mandated programme and operational reports. Confirm accuracy of reports prior to approval by the Representative.

4. Representation, alliance building and UN System coordination:

• Represent UNICEF (as appropriate/delegated) in organizational, regional, global, public information/relations events and key meetings to contribute to strategic discussions on programming issues, policy dialogue, discuss initiatives, report on progress achieved, present papers/ideas and/or advocate UNICEF’s vision in the Country that is consistent with UNICEF Strategic Plan and supportive of national development goals and priorities.
• Represent the UNICEF Representative in the UN Country Team (UNCT) to collaborate with RC and UN system partners to strengthen UN system interagency coherence, collaboration, cooperation and harmonization of programming, common services and operations. Ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF development planning and agenda/priority setting.
• Collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF (One) country development planning of programmes/projects.
• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships with government institutions, national stakeholders and global partners/allies/donors/academia to advocate UNICEF goals to advance child’s right to survival, development and well being, mobilize resources, seek cooperation and establish alliances.

5. Business Engagement and Partnerships:

• Lead the creation of a conducive and optimal environment, capacities and systems within the country office, to allow the business and public sectors to be engaged appropriately for achieving programmatic results.
• Systematically integrate considerations and strategies around work with and on the private sector into programme strategies and plans; articulate the private-public sector joint contribution to achieving results for children in support of the Country Programme; and where applicable, the programmes globally.
• Ensure the consideration and integration of the Business Sector[1] as an active stakeholder across programme sectors in the country programme planning process and (SitAn, Stakeholder Mapping, ToCs, Strategy Notes, Results Framework and Country Programme Management Plans) and subsequent roll out strategies and plans.
• Actively engage in identification and prioritization of potential Business and Public Sector stakeholders who can contribute significantly to achievement of country office results and global Strategic Plan Goals.
• Lead the office to build strategic engagements with the Business Sector to advance UNICEF’s programmatic goals through different engagement modalities at outlined in the Programme Guidance for Country Offices on Engagement with Business.
• Support the development and smooth execution of the resource mobilization strategy from public and private sectors, linking to the programme results. Engage with partners on concrete initiatives, linked to programmes initiatives that are supported by them.
• Lead the planning, monitoring and reporting of achievements and results (qualitative and quantitative) of business engagement and partnerships initiatives within the country programme planning cycle and process, to create a holistic results narrative.
• Ensure alignment and stay updated on the latest developments, tools and guidance linked to Business for Results (B4R) through the Regional Offices, Regional Programme Networks, Regional Support Centers for PFP and Headquarter Divisions especially Programme Division. Lead the application of these tools and the capacity building of staff to integrate private sector engagement systematically in all programme areas.

6. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building:

• Advise the Representative and other internal colleagues in the CO on the conceptualization, development and implementation of policies and procedures, use of latest information technology and introduction of innovation and best practices in the CO to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy in programming and operations.
• Coordinate the collection, institutionalization and sharing of lessons learned to enhance performance and to use lessons learned in development/policy planning.
• Promote learning and development through planning and organization of training events, activities and other capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies/productivity of staff members.

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

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: social sciences, international relations, government and public relations, public or social policy, sociology, social or community development, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of ten years of professional development experience that combines technical and managerial leadership in development cooperation at the international level, some of which served in developing countries is required. Relevant professional experience in any UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Fluency in English and French is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) or a local language 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

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

• Nurtures, leads and manages people (3);
• Builds and maintains partnerships (3);
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3);
• Drive to achieve results for impact (3);
• Innovates and embraces change (3);
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (3);
• Thinks and acts strategically (3);
• Works collaboratively with others (3).

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 benefits to our staff, including 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.

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

Please note that Niamey is a Category E non-Family duty station. The Rest and Recuperation Cycle is 8 weeks.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.