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, commitment

Over the past decade, the scale, range and complexity of UNICEF programmes and operations have  increased significantly. UNICEF income has doubled to over $8 billion, with a commensurate increase in staffing, and programme scope and ambition have expanded to accelerate progress towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover, the organization has to work in more complex and unpredictable operating contexts as a result of the relentless surge in emergencies and humanitarian needs. Today’s volatile world is facing increasingly severe (geo)political divides, conflict, natural disasters due to climate change and economic uncertainty. It is essential that UNICEF risk management guidance and practices keep in line with the size and pace of risk exposures and enable the organization to take the right amount of the right type of risks to maximize results for children.

The incumbent will contribute to strengthening UNICEF’s enterprise-wide risk management, which in turn would help to secure success in its work for every child – recognizing that the biggest risk is not reaching children. It enables a proactive and resilient organization to safely face the risks posed by the current environment and confidently take the risks required to achieve its objectives.

By implementing an evolved risk management framework, UNICEF strives for:

• Using risk management as an active management tool to enable taking the right amount of the right type of risks, informing planning and decision-making;
• Being a forward-looking organization that systematically anticipates potential issues before they may happen, effectively manages expectations and takes proactive actions to reduce vulnerabilities and secure success;
• Building a comprehensive and lean system of risk assessment, control and assurance functions working efficiently together based on a shared understanding of key risks;
• Applying risk mitigation, control and oversight efforts proportionate to levels of risks associated with the delivery of results for children;
• Fostering an open culture of risk-awareness that encourages everybody to transparently flag risks ahead of time, confidently take necessary risks, and plan for and learn from failure.

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF has established a new position of Chief Risk Officer in the Office of the Executive Director with a view to launch an evolved “ERM 2.0” framework in 2024, based on a new risk management vision, strategy and implementation plan (See 2024-8-Update-enterprise-risk-management-EN-ODS.pdf (unicef.org)). This aims to further strengthen Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) as a true enabler for delivery in an uncertain and volatile environment, which requires a more overarching portfolio view of risks at different levels of the organization, and a more coordinated approach integrated in programmatic and strategic planning and decision-making. The new office of the Chief Risk Officer will identify systemic and emerging top risks that require an organization-wide response, provide clarity on risk appetite (i.e. the willingness to accept being exposed to certain risks) and facilitate reporting to governance bodies, as required. The office will support and champion good risk management practices and instill a culture of risk awareness in UNICEF country and regional offices and at headquarters divisions. It will also facilitate sharing lessons across the organization and shaping United Nations inter-agency and donor collaboration on shared risks.

The Enterprise Risk Manager will help the Chief Risk Officer to launch the ERM 2.0 framework and assist in the day to day activities related to standing up the new Chief Risk Office in the Office of the Executive Director, which could include amongst others:

• Coordinate, facilitate and monitor the implementation of effective risk management practices for UNICEF’s strategy, operations and programmes
• Support in conducting a strategic risk assessment (grounded in the UNICEF strategic plan and with input from senior leadership) to define top risks requiring a corporate-level response and discussion in the Senior Management Risk Committee

• Assist in the preparation and facilitation of Senior Management Risk Committee meetings by supporting risk owners with deep dives on top risks, and drive strategic thinking on implications and trade-offs

• Support in developing an initial organization-wide risk appetite statement and subsequently operationalize and further refine it
• Revise key risk policies and procedures in line with the new vision, simplifying guidance and the taxonomy of risk categories
• Review and further define roles and responsibilities and governance mechanisms for risk management across the organization
• Conduct ad-hoc thematic risk analysis, provide tailored support to high-risk countries, and capture and share best practices across country offices and regions
• Help to drive change across the organization by instilling a risk-aware culture and enable scale-up and integration of risk management practices in planning and decision-making, including by developing training material and piloting simplified risk register tools and dashboards
• Assist in driving a communication campaign to propagate the new vision and risk philosophy as part of the launch of ERM 2.0 and in setting up a risk practitioner network and community of practice across the organization
• Engage actively with other risk-related functions, and other relevant stakeholders (e.g. other UN agencies and donors) as required to ensure cross-cutting and end-to-end risk management
• Represent the Chief Risk Office in meetings as required

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

The following minimum requirements:

• Education:

• Advanced University degree in business or public administration, science or engineering, development, or related fields.
• Further qualifications in enterprise, operational or financial risk management are an asset

• Work Experience:

• A minimum of eight years of professional experience with a fair share in (enterprise-level) risk management, strategy, or related fields.
• Consulting experience combined with strong practical experience in applying risk management pragmatically in complex organisations and / or international development is an asset.

• Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

• Skills

• Strong analytical and systems thinking and demonstrated problem-solving skills;
• Ability to develop a strategic perspective and creatively think outside the box;
• Interdisciplinary mindset with a broad interest in various fields and eagerness to learn;
• Well-honed interpersonal and influencing skills across seniority levels and a thoughtful listener;
• Pragmatic hands-on management style and the ability to reduce complexity and deliver results;
• Ability to work autonomously, under pressure, demonstrating initiative and flexibility;
• Team player able to establish working relationships with many teams in a multicultural environment;
• Excellent writing skills and attention for detail;
• Competence with digital tools and ability to work quickly and accurately with them;
• Willingness to work in a fast-paced, ambiguous and constantly changing environment;
• A positive, can-do attitude and a sense of humour

The following desirables:

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.
• Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language.

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 [add the 8^th competency (Nurtures, leads and manages people) for a supervisory role].

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

[Remove below text if not a child safeguarding elevated risk role]

[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, or is a safeguarding response role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) apply.

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 deliver the best results for children. F

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.