This position is open in the context of the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) scheme sponsored by the Government of the Republic of Korea and is addressed exclusively to candidates with Korean citizenship.
For general information on the Korean JPO Programme and additional conditions see the following website: https://UNrecruit.mofa.go.kr
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, Partnerships
This position is open in the context of the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) scheme sponsored by the Government of the Republic of Korea and is addressed exclusively to candidates with Korean citizenship.
The Public Partnerships Division (PPD) works to strengthen UNICEF’s position as a partner of choice for children’s rights among governments and inter-governmental actors around the world. The Division is doing this by positioning children’s rights in the intergovernmental and multilateral fora and engaging with governments and public institutions as resource, policy, and programme partners. A key premise for PPD is that the engagement with countries should be holistic based on multiple aspects of partnerships, including policy advocacy and resource mobilization.
How can you make a difference?
The Humanitarian Partnerships and Financing Officer would be part of the Humanitarian Partnerships and Financing Team in PPD. Under the supervision of the Team Lead, the Officer will contribute to the humanitarian financing policies, mobilization, management and development of resources and partnerships for UNICEF’s humanitarian action. UNICEF Humanitarian Action for Children covers seven regions with over forty individual humanitarian appeals annually.
Support the Humanitarian team in identifying and designing new and innovative partnerships approaches with Member States, with focus on humanitarian response. The overall results will focus on:
- Strengthened partnerships by exploring all possible sources of new and existing funding channels and horizontal cooperation opportunities in support of UNICEF’s humanitarian action.
- Effective support to UNICEF country offices for humanitarian resource mobilization.
- Through coordination and relationship management, effective engagement ensured with key humanitarian actors such as OCHA and support deliverables related to management of CERF and Humanitarian Country Based Pooled Funds.
- Increase evidence-base for humanitarian quality funding and support humanitarian financing inter-agency policy work.
- Create political space and influence partnerships for children’s rights through a broad range of policy issues related to humanitarian financing and humanitarian engagement in the context of the Grand Bargain.
Training component and learning elements: JPO Programme Offerings:
- Use of yearly JPO training funds for internal/external training opportunities
- One-week orientation in New York
- Career Coaching
- Mentoring and Buddy Programme
- Stretch assignments
Duties, Responsibilities, and expected outcomes.
Resource Mobilization and Partnerships Development:
- Contribute to the development and implementation of resource mobilization strategies for UNICEF’s humanitarian action for children, focusing on quality and flexible funding.
- Identify partnership entry points through gathering financial and political intelligence of donors and aligning them with UNICEF priorities.
- Develop and coordinate enhanced horizontal and vertical communication processes on humanitarian funding and related opportunities.
- Organize and coordinate briefings on humanitarian crises for key partner meetings.
- Collaborate with communication colleagues to increase visibility of UNICEF’s humanitarian results and funding needs.
- Facilitate bilateral meetings between senior management (including field representatives) and partner representatives in New York and Capitals, supporting resource mobilization for humanitarian response.
- Manage contributions efficiently to build trust and credibility, including due diligence, grant creation, allocation, and timely quality reporting.
Field Office Support:
- Provide technical support to Country Offices in emergencies (especially L2 and L3 corporate level crises) in developing resource mobilization strategies and plans.
- Offer guidance on quality donor reporting, recognition, and visibility.
- Continuously collect and disseminate partner intelligence and mapping to guide resource mobilization and partnership priorities.
- Coordinate the analysis, monitoring, and reporting of UNICEF humanitarian financial data, including substantive inputs for flagship reports (e.g., SitReps, OCHA’s Financial Tracking System) and other ad hoc reporting requests.
- Participate in and summarize results from internal and external meetings on humanitarian funding, including Emergency Management Team Meetings.
Strategic Analyses and Humanitarian Financing:
- Monitor, analyze, and report on global humanitarian financing perspectives affecting children, providing strategic advice to senior management on developments and trends.
- Track and share emerging trends and directions through mapping exercises and documentation.
- Represent UNICEF and report on discussions at inter-agency humanitarian financing meetings.
- Contribute to inter-divisional discussions on financing solutions that offer more predictable and flexible funding for humanitarian activities.
- Support UNICEF’s participation and positioning in high-level inter-agency meetings related to humanitarian financing and partnerships, including developing statements and briefing packages for events such as the Grand Bargain, IASC Results Group on Humanitarian Financing, and high-level pledging events.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- Bachelor’s degree in social science, international relations, public administration, law, or related field.
- Two years of specialized experience with research (secondary-sources minimum), databases, analyzing and synthesizing information, producing accessible outputs to inform decision making.
- Experience in inter-governmental processes would be an asset.
- Experience in humanitarian contexts would be an asset.
- Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
- Other skills: Knowledge of office computer systems (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and internet research tools.
- Ability to work in an international and multicultural environment. Competencies required: commitment, embracing diversity, integrity, teamwork, and drive for results; communication, judgment, planning, setting standards and monitoring work, analytical and conceptual thinking.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills, with a strong attention to detail.
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
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.
General requirements for the JPO Programme of the Republic of Korea
- Korean citizenship
- Fluency in Korean and English language
- Completed university degree with a Bachelor’s degree
- A certificate of English language proficiency. Applicants should score a minimum of (1) TOEFL iBT 100 or (2) TEPS 430 or (3) IELTS 7 or (4) TOEIC 900
* Please note the following:
➢ TOEFL ‘Home Edition’ score is accepted while ‘MyBest Scores’ are not accepted
➢ IELTS General Training and Academic test are both accepted
➢ Test scores are valid for 2 years after the test date
- Be no older than 32 years of age as of 31 December 2024 (born after 1 January 1992). The maximum age limit for those who served in the military will be extended accordingly: one year will be extended for those who served for less than one year; two years will be extended for those who served for more than one year and less than two years; three years will be extended for those who served for two years or more.
- Male applicants shall have completed the Korean military service or be exempted from it. Those who will be discharged from military service in the year of the application may also apply.
- Applicants can apply for a maximum of two JPO positions sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea during the year of application.
- Applicants should submit their application electronically directly to the Organization. All documents should be in English.
- Candidates for this position must apply online via the UNICEF’s Talent Management System portal link provided.
- Applications must be received no later than Friday, August 9th, 2024 (23:59 KST).
- Applications received after this date will not be considered. Applicants will receive a confirmation of receipt.
- Only short-listed candidates will be contacted thereafter.
- Please note that applicants can apply for a maximum of two JPO positions sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea during the year of application.
Required application documents (only complete applications will be considered)
- A completed application and motivation letter through the talent management system
- A scanned copy of applicant’s Resident Register
- A copy of university (bachelor’s or Master’s) degree
- A copy of English proficiency test certificate
- Only for male applicants who have completed the national military service): A certificate of Korean Military Service in English. The maximum age limit for those who served in the military will be extended in accordance with the Support for Discharged Soldiers Act and the military service law.
*Those who are exempted from the service or to be discharged from the service in the year of the application may apply.
**Age limit for male candidates who have completed the service:
• less than one year will be extended for one year;
• one year above and two years under will be extended for two years;
• two years or more will be extended for three years.
- Only for low-income applicants: A scanned copy of applicant’s certificate of National Basic Livelihood Security Recipients issued in Korean and its unofficial English translation
- Only for applicants with disability: A scanned copy of applicant’s certificate of person with disability issued in Korean and English
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.