Social Policy and Economic Specialist, NOC, Fixed Term, Dhaka, Bangladesh #127962 (For Bangladeshi Nationals only)

UNICEF Bangladesh Country office seeks an experienced Social Policy & Economic Specialist responsible for providing the technical support for the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of all stages of the public finance for children stream of social policy programming and related advocacy from strategic planning and formulation to delivery of concrete and sustainable results.

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.

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For every child, a future

How can you make a difference?

Under the general guidance of the Chief of Social Policy, Evaluation, Analytics, and Research, the incumbent is responsible for providing technical support to the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of all stages of the public finance for children stream of social policy programming and related advocacy from strategic planning and formulation to delivery of concrete and sustainable results. This includes programmes aimed at improving (a) public policies to reduce child poverty; (b) social protection coverage and impact on children; (c) the transparency, adequacy, equity, and efficiency of child-focused public investments and financial management; and (d) governance, decentralization, and accountability measures to increase public participation and the quality, equity, and coverage of social services. This encompasses both direct programme work with government and civil society partners as well as linkages and support to teams working on education, health, child protection, water and sanitation, and HIV.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Improving data on public finance for increased use for policy and programme action:

• Supports the collection, analysis, and user-friendly presentation of data on multidimensional and monetary child poverty, including strengthening national capacity to collect routinely, report, and use data for fiscal policy decision-making.
• Provides timely, regular data-driven analysis for effective prioritization, planning, and development; facilitates results-based management for planning and adjusting public spending to reduce child poverty. 
• Analyzes the macroeconomic context and its impact on social development, emerging issues, and social policy concerns, as well as implications for children, and proposes and promotes appropriate responses in respect of such issues and concerns, including government resource allocation policies and the effects of social welfare policies on the rights of children.
• Conceptualizes and leads strategic investment case analysis, and value for money analysis including cost-benefit analysis (CBA), cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), and social returns on investments (SROI) to inform budget allocation and most effective investments in children. 
• Provides analysis on public finance management (PFM) systems to inefficiencies in public expenditure impacting the delivery of child-sensitive social services. Identify PFM bottlenecks throughout the budget cycle at the national and sectoral level including PFM sub-systems (domestic resource mobilization, procurement, implementation of Programme-Based Budgeting, cash management, procurement, etc.) that are critical for ensuring service delivery.
• Provide regular policy briefs, analyzing budget allocation trends of child-focused ministries/divisions to enhance knowledge and bring up emerging issues. Conduct regular reviews of levels of investment for children and develop strategy notes to support the Social Sector Ministries to enhance their capacity to increase investment for children.

2. Improving monitoring and use of public financial resources for children:

• Undertakes technical assistance to Ministries of Finance, planning commissions, and social sector ministries to improve equitable allocations for essential services for children. Works with sector colleagues to build capacity to undertake costing and cost-effectiveness analysis on priority interventions to help inform policy decisions on child-focused investments.
• Supports the identification of policy options for improved domestic financing of child-sensitive social protection interventions.
• Undertakes and builds the capacity of partners for improved monitoring and tracking of public expenditure to support transparency, accountability, and effective financial flows for essential service delivery, including through support to district-level planning, budgeting, and public financial management as well as facilitating community participation.
• Support the development of social protection financing strategies with particular attention to increasing coverage of and impact on children, with special attention on the most marginalized.
• Promote the strengthening of integrated social protection financing and expenditure systems, providing technical support to partners to improve the design of cost-efficient payment systems for cash transfers and child grants and improve linkages with other social protection interventions such as health insurance, public works, and social care services as well as complementary services and intervention related to nutrition, health, education, WASH, and child protection.

3. Strengthening the capacity of local governments to plan, budget, consult on, and monitor child-focused social services:

• Where national decentralization processes are taking place, collaborates with central and local authorities to improve policies, planning, budgeting, consultation, and accountability processes so that decisions and child-focused service delivery more closely respond to the needs of local communities.
• Collaborates with the central and local authorities to strengthen capacity on quality data collection, analysis for policy development, planning, implementation, coordination, and monitoring of essential social services, with emphasis on community participation and accountability.

4. Strengthened advocacy and partnerships for public finance and fiscal space for children:

• Supports correct and compelling use of data and evidence on the situation of children and investments in child-focused services – in support of the social policy programme and the country programme overall. 
• Establishes effective partnerships with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society and local leaders, the private sector, and other UN agencies to support sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to achieve global UN agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Identifies other critical partners, promotes awareness and builds capacity of partners, and actively facilitates effective collaboration within the UN family.
• In collaboration with relevant partners, develop systems for monitoring the effect of public expenditure on key child outcomes
• Oversees the development of knowledge products that effectively convey data and evidence on public investments with specific attention to equity concerns and attainment of SDG targets.
• Develop technical notes for thematic dialogues on public finance for children (PF4C) and provide technical in appropriate public finance forums to facilitate dialogues.
• Technical support to the Generation Parliament initiatives and Members of the Parliamentary Caucus to have better oversight of national plans and budgets in order to create demand for better budgets for children.

5. UNICEF Programme Management:

• Manages and coordinates technical support around public finance and governance ensuring it is well planned, monitored, and implemented in a timely fashion so as to adequately support scale-up and delivery. Ensures risk analysis and risk mitigation are embedded into the overall management of the support, in close consultation with UNICEF programme sections, Cooperating Partners, and governments.
• Supports and contributes to effective and efficient planning, management, coordination, monitoring, and evaluation of the country programme. Ensures that PF4C initiatives enhance policy dialogue, planning, supervision, technical advice, management, training, research, and support; and that the monitoring and evaluation component strengthens monitoring and evaluation of the social sectors and provides support to sectoral and decentralized information systems.

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

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, or another relevant technical field. 
• A minimum of five years of relevant professional work experience is required.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as a strong asset.
• Background and/or familiarity with emergencies is considered as a strong asset.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills are required, particularly in the areas of macroeconomics, public finance management, and financing of social sectors.
• Knowledge of PFM procedures, processes, and standards is required, specifically for upstream PFM (planning and budgeting) in medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) settings.
• Knowledge of Government sectoral financing and management processes and procedures is required.
• Strong drafting skills are required. The person will be requested to draft clearly and concisely to support the production of UNICEF’s own products (Budget briefs, etc.) as well as to support quality assurance and improvements to reports produced for UNICEF or with UNICEF’s financial support.
• Demonstrated experience of value for money analysis – CBA, CEA or SROI
• Knowledge of STATA or other statistical analysis programmes is required.
• Fluency in English and Bangla is required.

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.

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. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates are encouraged to apply.

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. 

[CO/ HQ specific: visa residence requirements: i.e.: UNICEF shall not facilitate the issuance of a visa and working authorization for candidates under consideration for positions at the national officer and general service category.]

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.