Innovation Manager (Energy, Infrastructure and Climate Portfolio), P-4, Office of Innovation, Stockholm, Sweden, #128990

The Office of Innovation is looking for you who will manage portfolio and project delivery for the adoption and scale of innovative solutions and initiatives in countries to accelerate programme goals and results by supporting innovation within the UNICEF Sustainable Climate Action Plan accelerators.

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 fulfill 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.

Yet the current pace of progress for children will not get us to children-related SDGs targets. This, if left unaddressed, will leave tens of million children behind. Unprotected. Uneducated. Unfed. Unable to reach their full potential.

 

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

 

For every child, hope

 

The Office of Innovation (OoI) works to catalyse UNICEF’s and all its partners’ expertise and resources against key children-outcomes bottlenecks, with a view to continuously ideate and scale the most effective solutions with transformational potential at scale to achieve the child-related SDGs. 

The office is doing this by continuously exploring new ways of accelerating results for children, investing across a range of mid to late stage solutions, and harnessing internal and external expertise towards continuously iterating and finetuning the most promising solutions for children through a systematic portfolio management approach, and leveraging all stakeholders’ innovation energy, knowhow and resources from intergovernmental, multilateral, private sector and non-governmental fora (think tank, academia).

 

For every child, innovate

The world is failing to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, the current way of working is not delivering the scale of results needed to improve children’s lives. New approaches to financing, programming, data and digitalization are critical for UNICEF to support partner governments improving outcomes for children across most key areas of development.  
 
The Office of Innovation (OoI) is responsible for sourcing, adapting, iterating, and scaling innovation solutions to address the world’s biggest development and humanitarian problems.  The office takes a portfolio approach to managing innovations that we believe will have a transformative impact on children’s lives. 
 
OoI takes a problem-led approach, carefully defining the needs of children, teachers, health workers, parents and government partners and finding solutions to solve the problems identified. A solution can be physical product (e.g a diagnostic), a cutting-edge technology, a new financial model, an AI data model, a new way of working or even a new process. UNICEF takes a systems approach to innovation, trying to understand the entire value chain and designing solutions to meet the user needs within it, and then tapping into or generating demand.  
 
OoI Portfolios are centred around the problems they aim to solve. A collection of solutions from around the world that UNICEF believes will deliver transformative change for children is what constitutes a portfolio. How Innovation Managers select, invest, focus, prioritise and drive the direction and multi-country scale of the solutions is key to the successes and failures an innovation portfolio will experience.

How can you make a difference? 

The role of the Innovation Manager is multi-faceted. Starting with understanding the problem at hand in depth, this requires an ability to listen, collect and interpret data, probe, and research. The Innovation Manager will identify solutions that can solve the problem and will typically be operating with scant resources versus the size of the task, therefore Innovation Managers need to be industrious, proactive, independent, and make calculated decisions. The incumbent develops and manages relationships with the owners of the innovations, field colleagues (if not the owner) and programme colleagues in NYHQ. The Innovation Manager needs to be able to be at the cutting edge of emerging technologies and emerging theory around the innovation portfolio discipline and be able to launch global initiatives where major problems with no solutions are identified. 
 
The post holder will manage portfolio and project delivery for the adoption and scale of innovative solutions and initiatives in countries to accelerate programme goals and results by supporting innovation within the UNICEF Sustainable Climate Action Plan accelerators.
 
Aligning projects, programmes, and innovation with UNICEF’s strategic objectives are key as are investing limited resources to deliver and scale innovation systematically. In addition, ensuring implementation and delivery of priority solutions and projects is part of the role.
 
The Innovation Manager leads solution delivery according to governance and innovation strategy by planning and executing solutions and initiatives within the portfolio, working with relevant teams and partner stakeholders to analyze, (re)define, monitor, and manage implementation in support of UNICEF’s objective and priorities. 
 
Competencies for delivery and scale:

Portfolio Management;
Project management; 
Coordination;
Relationship Management;
Partnership and Fundraising;
Business modelling and finance;
Being Data Informed;
Technological awareness

In coordination with UNICEF Programme Group, Countries/Regions, and Partners, and OoI colleagues the Innovation Manager will be responsible for:

• Developing the portfolio vision, strategy, and execution against it, strategically feeding it into the innovation pipeline, planning cycles, programme documents, workplans and governance structures to support country programme delivery.
• Working with countries and regions to understand needs and then identify, validate, and scale key solutions including the review and analysis of the portfolio, implementing measures to maintain effectiveness and adoption of innovation better.
• Staying abreast of emerging trends, technologies (including AI) and solutions and how they may apply to the problems the Innovation Manager is trying to solve.
• Identifying private sector solutions and building modalities for adaptation and adoption.
• Providing expertise and advisory function in one or more of the following areas with focus on its application to innovation and programme delivery: emerging & sustainable technology, decentralized and innovative finance, advanced robotics & autonomous systems, business modelling, artificial intelligence and machine learning, internet of things.
• Being responsible for innovation solution delivery in coordination with countries and regions from initiation, definition of needs, launch, execution, to monitoring.
• Developing and implementing fit-for-purpose deployment strategies to deliver and scale of innovation as an integral part of country and regional programmes to deliver on UNICEF’s strategic goals.
• Shaping business cases, models, and market development approaches to activate the demand and supply of innovation aligned with growth strategies.
• Tracking and analysing technology, users, economic and country/regionals trends to ensure that innovation delivery and scale strategy is responding to new developments for portfolio impact.
• Identifying, mobilizing, and optimizing resources and partnerships, keeping the portfolio investments aligned with the organization’s broader strategy and needs including proposals, engagements, and communications.
• Leading and provide support to Innovation Project Teams for timely delivery and scale-up of solutions and initiatives.
• Developing funding pitches and attract funds to support country office innovation work.
• Being an expert in emerging innovation thinking and associated methods and technologies.
• Working with startups, major industry players, and academia.
• Having a good understanding of how the public sector operates in developing countries.

 

Key functions, accountabilities, and related duties/tasks:

1. Develop and maintain the innovation portfolio vision.
2. Work with Country Office, Regional Office, and HQ colleagues to understand and validate the key problems to solve.
3. Lead the development of new solutions leveraging UNICEF’s strengths.
4. Effectively manage innovation projects and support project managers where OOI is not playing the leadership role.
5. Define scope, set objectives, and develop solution roadmaps taking an agile approach.
6. Establish project teams on key initiatives.
7. Develop business cases for priority innovation initiatives, clearly outlining and projecting needs and demand.
8. Frequently revisit, interrogate, and improve business plans.
9. Source solutions, both internally working with country offices and externally working with the private sector and academia.
10. Identify gaps where no solution exists, and UNICEF needs to drive the creation of new innovative solutions.
11. Raise funds to support portfolio initiatives.
12. Keep colleagues informed of emerging trends and technologies by issuing briefs, thought pieces and Point of Views (POVs) on innovation opportunities.
13. Lead a review of the portfolio based on the 5D model at least annually.
14. Plan and host industry consultations to incentivize R&D and understand what is possible.
15. Work with MEELR colleagues to develop validation frameworks to build evidence base of portfolio solutions.
16. Drive scale up of evidence-based solutions across multiple countries working closely with regional and country office colleagues.
17. Represent UNICEF Innovation at high profile engagements and speaking events.
18. Contract consultants, companies, and partner organisations to support delivery of innovation programmes and solutions.
19. Manage consultants for specialist tasks.
20. Manage grants under the supervision of the Senior Advisor.
21. Ensure INVENT, the UNICEF knowledge management platform, is up to date and accurately representing the latest in innovation work in your field.
22. Work closely with the communications team to develop communications assets to drive awareness, attract donors and market solution.
23. Engage the UNICEF innovation governance structure for progressing, pausing, and exiting major global innovation initiatives.
24. Foster collaboration with other UNICEF divisions including Programme Group, Supply Division, Division of Data Analytics and Planning and ICTD.
25. Establish and engage in relevant networks (internal and external).

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  Innovation Manager_Energy, Infrastructure and Climate Portfolio.pdf

 

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: Business Administration, Innovation, or related field.
  A first-level university degree plus an additional two years (a total of 10 years) of experience, may be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree.
• Work Experience: At least a minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience is required at national and international levels in innovation.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

Desirables:

• Experience managing portfolios in private or public sectors is an asset.
• A demonstrable understanding of systems innovation is important.
• Knowledge of and experience working with Artificial Intelligence is highly desired.
• Track record in scaling innovative solutions (in product, data, policy, tech, financial innovation) is highly desirable.
• Experience working in energy or climate innovation an asset.
• Experience working and living in middle- and lower-income countries is an asset.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.

 

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…

Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (1)
Works collaboratively with others (1)
Builds and maintains partnership (1)
Innovates and embraces change (1)
Thinks and acts strategically (1)
Drive to achieve results for impact (1)
Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

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 measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as 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. 

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.

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

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.

In case of any questions, please contact us at swe-ooi-recruitments@unicef.org