Partnerships Specialist (Industry Engagement – Safe Online) – P3  

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, protection.

Every year, over 1 billion children experience violence. Violence in childhood undermines all other investments in children: in their health, education and development, often with negative lifelong consequences and intergenerational impact. Recognizing the devastating impacts of violence against children, in 2015 world leaders committed to end all forms of violence, abuse and neglect by 2030, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. In July 2016, the UN Secretary-General launched the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children and an associated Fund.

The Partnership Specialist position’s purpose is to deepen collaboration with key stakeholders and provide an interface for environmental scanning, knowledge exchange, resource mobilization, and policy influence around the topic of online child safety.

About Safe Online: 
Safe Online is one of End Violence’s key priority areas and it focuses on how digital technologies and connectivity impact and facilitate existing and new forms of child sexual abuse and exploitation, as well as other forms of violence against children in digital environments. Safe Online’s investment portfolio has reached US$48 million, funding 60 projects focused on preventing and eliminating online CSEA with impact in over 70 countries. In 2022, additional US$20 million will be invested in new programmes and solutions, significantly growing the overall portfolio. The investments range from supporting programs at country level, large-scale research projects (e.g. Disrupting Harm), to designing new and scaling-up existing technology-based solutions. Beyond investing in individual projects, Safe Online has built a strong collaborative network of partners who are working to share the knowledge, learnings and solutions in this field to maximize collective results for children at risk and those who are victim of online CSEA. Safe Online is also increasingly contributing to global policy discussions on child online safety with governments, tech industry, regulators, and others, ensuring that the safety of children is at the heart of intersections between connectivity and safety; privacy and protection; and technology and human rights.

How can you make a difference? 

The Partnerships Specialist / Industry Engagement reports to the Safe Online Director. The Specialist is accountable for leading engagement efforts and development of mutual value alignment with industry partners. The Partnership Specialist position’s purpose is to deepen collaboration and knowledge exchange between industry and the Safe Online community and align with advocacy and resource mobilisation efforts. S/He may also serve as focal point and resource for colleagues on specific thematic areas of strategic relevance for the development partnerships (including in the areas of technology, data science and child rights).

The position will work within the Safe Online team under supervision of the Safe Online Director and in close collaboration with industry partners. The expectation is to perform the following key tasks:

Partnerships & Industry Engagement

• Build trust and credibility with key stakeholders (external and internal) 
• Strengthen connections and programmatic links of Safe Online with partners, specifically industry, academia and research networks, and child protection and data science/technology communities
• Navigate trust building between tech industry and other sectors and aligning with the strategic goals of the Safe Online work
• Provide support to and create opportunities to leverage industry partnerships and Safe Online networks to maximize the impact of funded research and promote the work in the wider community
• Identify opportunities and contribute to resource mobilisation efforts with existing and new partners, or through mutual value alignment for design of collaborative programmes/ concepts 
• Support Safe Online grantee community and Safe Online team in engagement efforts with industry and data science/ technology communities of practice

Strategic Portfolio Management

• Lead strategic development and implementation of Technology Tools and Research & Data pillar of work
• Provide technical advice on Safe Online’s strategy and the investment approach, particularly to funding rounds and technical support to the grantees 
• Identify opportunities for alignment across priority initiatives, across thematic areas and types of violence against children and coordination across stakeholders
• Create linkages between technology, digital development and data science communities and child protection, youth participation and violence prevention communities ? including children and youth ? for strategic positioning and generation of new opportunities in resource mobilisation and advocacy
• Translate research and collective insights to strategic development of the portfolio including, through opportunities to expand and connect current evidence generation work to innovation, transparency and knowledge generation efforts
• Identify new opportunities for initiatives through active engagement in communities of practice 
• Contribute to visibility and advocacy opportunities at key events and meetings

Programmatic Implementation & Delivery

• Coordinate design, implementation and delivery of programmes in collaboration with industry partners and the wider ecosystem
• Manage programmes including relationships with grantees and supporting synergies and collaborations in Safe Online community and with key industry partners
• Conceptualise, prepare and facilitate meetings or events with partners, capturing key decisions and strategic discussion to inform key stages and elements of programmatic design and delivery, and managing regular communication
• Set up, manage and implement programmes including creating relevant materials, overseeing and ensuring coordination of all key stakeholders
• Perform other related duties as assigned by the supervisor to ensure the success of the team, including support to the Safe Online team with technical inputs or contributions to wider team initiatives, strategies and grantee work
• Contribute to a positive and constructive team culture

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

Minimum requirements:

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in one of the following fields: international relations, political science, communications, economics, international development, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: public affairs, diplomacy, advocacy, partnership management, resource mobilization, external relations, or other relevant area.
• Familiarity with child protection and industry landscapes and processes.
• Diplomatic communication and negotiation skills to establish and maintain trusted partnerships for achievement of objectives and to develop close and effective working relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Current knowledge of child protection issues, trends, as well as strong technical knowledge of CSEA, online and offline, as well as wider VAC.
• Deep understanding of digital and frontier technologies and how they impact children’s safety and well-being is required;
• In-depth knowledge of partnership development and resource mobilization.
• Demonstrated track record of public speaking.
• Experience working with and negotiating among technology industry stakeholders to advocate for children’s safety in their platforms, core technologies, and systems.
• Demonstrated ability to formulate new approaches in respect of financing for SDGs and outreach- related activities.
• Skill in the mapping and identification of new opportunities or requirements for partnerships
• Diplomatic communication and negotiation skills to establish and maintain trusted partnerships for achievement of objectives and to develop close and effective working relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Current knowledge of development and technology issues, strategies, as well as programming policies and procedures in the digital harms and online child safety fields.
• In-depth knowledge of partnership development and resource mobilization.
• Demonstrated ability to formulate new approaches in respect of resources management and outreach- related activities.
• Skill in the identification of new opportunities or requirements to meet challenges in the field and propose changes.
• Excellent communications skills, verbal and written.
• In-depth familiarity with political and governmental processes, as well as technology industry engagement
• Ability to conduct sound strategic analysis.
• Excellent verbal and written communications and analytical skills;
• Oral and written fluency in English is required; knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is desirable.

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?

• Builds and maintains partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• 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.

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 candidates from a programme country are encouraged to apply. 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

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.

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