Senior Health Specialist – Strategic Planning for Immunization – P5  

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.

UNICEF is a leading technical agency for immunization. Together with its partners, UNICEF supplies vaccines to reach approximately 45% of the world’s children under five years. In over 100 countries, UNICEF works with governments, non-governmental organizations, and other UN agencies to procure and distribute vaccines, keep supplies safe and effective, engage communities and help ensure affordable access for even the hardest-to-reach families.

Strategic and Annual Operational Planning are essential elements of a well-functioning immunization programme. UNICEF advocates for and actively supports improved planning and budgeting for immunization. Staff in UNICEF country offices work closely with counterparts in the Expanded Programme on Immunization during the development of Strategic and Annual Operational Plans. At Global and Regional levels, UNICEF works on producing tools and guidance, share lessons learned and best practices, and co-ordinate Technical Assistance.

In 2021, WHO and UNICEF published the National Immunization Strategy (NIS) approach and guidance to support countries in their strategic planning in line with Immunization Agenda 2030, Regional Frameworks and National Health Sector Strategies. The NIS approach is an opportunity to engage countries towards more strategic planning and promote better integration of immunization into national health sector planning.

How can you make a difference? 

We are looking for a dedicated professional with a strong background in immunization programs, strategic planning, and international collaboration. If you are passionate about advancing global health and making a significant difference in immunization efforts worldwide, we encourage you to apply.

In this role, you will have a pivotal impact on our efforts to advance global immunization programs. Your primary responsibilities will include leading and enhancing strategic and annual operational planning processes, as well as conducting reviews for immunization programs with a focus on achieving the Immunization Agenda 2030 goals. You will play a critical role in integrating these programs into Primary Health Care services and expanding our immunization strategies in Middle-Income Countries (MICs).

Key responsibilities will involve providing technical assistance to regions and countries in the areas of immunization program reviews and strategic planning. Collaboration with global immunization partners such as WHO, the Gavi Secretariat, and the US Centers for Disease Control will be essential to the success of this role.

In addition, your responsibilities include: 

• In the role of Health Specialist at UNICEF, you will be involved in enhancing UNICEF’s approach to estimating the costs of implementing a National Immunization Strategy using the NIS.Cost approach. This includes recruiting and supervising health economic consultants and ensuring that the work on cost estimates is closely aligned with the programmatic planning process. You will also oversee cross-country analyses of NIS content, including the cost estimates.. Your efforts will also extend to programme management, monitoring, and quality control, ensuring that UNICEF’s technical assistance is executed effectively, results are tracked accurately, and standards of quality are consistently maintained.
• Additionally, you will provide advisory services and technical support to regions and countries, guiding them through immunization program reviews and strategic planning. Your role will include advocacy, networking, and partnership building. Finally, you will be responsible for innovation, knowledge management, and capacity building, promoting new approaches and ensuring that best practices and knowledge are effectively shared and applied to strengthen immunization programs. A more detailed Job Description can be found in the link Senior Health Specialist – Strategic Planning for Immunization (P-5) New York HQ.docx

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

Minimum requirements:

Education:

• An advanced university degree (Master’s) in health services management, social sciences, behaviour change communication, engineering or another relevant technical field is required. 

Work Experience:

• A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience at international levels in immunization program management, leadership, planning, monitoring, and evaluation of immunization programmes is required.
• Excellent communication skills, multitasking, and result-driven as well as ability to manage competing priorities, are required.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Desirables:

• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as 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

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 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.

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.

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