Technology for Development Manager

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.

For every child, Hope

How can you make a difference?

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. Technology for Development (T4D) in UNICEF is the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) for a more efficient and rapid implementation of programmes for children. Technological for Development and innovation are essential for structural transformation and critical to enable developing countries make progress at scale towards the sustainable development goals and address multiple challenges including child rights.

The Regional Technology for Development (T4D) Manager will report to the Regional Director/Regional Deputy Director with a dotted reporting line to the Regional Chief ICT.  

The purpose of this role is to lead and manage the demand for Technology for Development (T4D) programmatic support in LACR. UNICEF programmes increasingly leverage digital means for effective programme delivery, national systems strengthening and monitoring. The T4D Manager will provide technical support and guide programme and T4D teams at Regional and Country Offices level in i) the identification, assessment and integration of ICT and digital innovation into UNICEF programming; ii) strengthening of internal and partner’s capacity to lead and support T4D related initiatives; iii) identifying and engaging with key partners to influence integration of digital transformation into national and regional systems strengthening strategies; iv)  building and maintaining business relationships; v) applying reusable and replicable technical buildings blocks; and v) maximizing the potential for the scale-up and sustainability of technology and digital innovation for UNICEF programming.

The Regional T4D Manager will provide advisory assistance to Government and Civil society partners to establish policy, budget and regulatory environments that allow the widespread use of technology and support efforts to build infrastructure to connect the unconnected and enable counterparts to implement digital shared platforms.

The Regional T4D Manager will work closely with Regional and Country Office programme staff and in close liaison with Regional Office ICT and T4D Regional and Country Office teams, and the central ICT/T4D Division where applicable. 

The Regional T4D Manager may supervise international and local staff members.  This role may also oversee the work of consultants and institutional services.

Summary of the key functions, accountabilities and related duties or tasks include:

1. Digital/Data Solution Implementation
2. Strategic Oversight and Policy Compliance
3. Support to Counterparts in the implementation of Digital Transformation and Technology for Development
4. Resource Mobilisation
5. Portfolio Coordination and Project Management
6. Knowledge Management
7. Digital Capacity Building
8. Digital Innovation
9. Business Analysis
10. Leadership and People Management
11. Support to Counterparts in the implementation of Digital Transformation and Technology for Development

1. Strategic Planning, Oversight and Policy Compliance

• Lead the integration of digital development and technology innovation into the programme planning lifecycle. Align with programme priorities and participate in planning meetings to ensure T4D functional accountabilities.
• Lead in development and implementation of the technology and digital innovation strategy for the Regional Office and Country Offices in the region; bring visibility to T4D gaps, opportunities, and scale-up strategy in support of Regional and Country Office priorities. Work directly with RO/CO section chiefs to co-create strategies on how technology and innovation can support the country programme.
• Oversee quality assurance during planning and deployment of T4D initiatives; participate in establishing and maintaining standards, documentation and support mechanisms for T4D.
• Support Country Offices in the development and maintenance of Country Office level disaster recovery plan and utilise ICT emergency preparedness checklist.
• Provide oversight and quality assurance to the Country Office’s T4D Governance Committees and ensure compliance of T4D initiatives with the Principles for Digital Development (http://digitalprinciples.org/) and UNICEF and UNICEF Technology Playbook.  Contribute to system strengthening, including governance in country, infrastructure.

 2. Digital/Data Solution Implementation

• Provide guidance and technical oversight to the Regional Office and Country Offices in the Region in the identification, selection, concept design, deployment and sustainability of T4D interventions to address bottlenecks towards the achievement of programme results.
• Guide the review of technical solutions to ensure UNICEF standards and Technology Playbook are followed; contribute to project management processes, generation and review of terms of reference and vendor selection.
• Advise on implementation strategy of digital technology initiatives, including technical oversight, troubleshooting and the documentation of challenges and resolutions.
• Manage business and programme relationship services to define high-level requirements for T4D solutions; document and match requirements and guide the design, development and deployment of appropriate T4D solutions that are in line with the UNICEF Technology Playbook.

3. Support to national and regional counterparts in the implementation of Digital Transformation and Technology for Development

• Contribute to counterparts’ engagements through policy dialogue on digital transformation with senior officials of countries in the region, regional institutions and development partner agencies.

• Contribute to project and program development supporting digital infrastructure, e-/digital government, shared platforms and integrated digital solutions and the digital ecosystems.

 • Provide technical expertise and inputs on a range of policy and regulatory issues to promote counterparts to be digitally enabled.

• Provide technical support and input to counterparts (including governments) in areas of digital solutions, including in infrastructure, health, education/skills, WASH, Climate and social protection.

 4. Resource Mobilisation

• Build partnerships and networks at senior level of engagement with partners such as local solution providers, innovators, NGOs, cultural and religious organisations, private sector, local media, ICT authorities, communications commissions, and academia to build and provide a space to nurture and test new and innovative technologies and build local capacity.
• Represent the Region in high level external, inter-agency or partner forums on digital development and technology innovation.
• Lead identification of opportunities for resource mobilisation and new partnerships.  Lead proposal and donor development efforts in close collaboration with Regional Office, where applicable.
• Support the Regional Office and country offices to build and sustain effective close working partnerships with high-level government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing and transfer of knowledge, skills and tools to foster and facilitate technology-enabled programming.
• Support the Regional Office and country offices Coordinate with stakeholders to provide input and advise on standards, procedures and partnerships for T4D interventions and their transition to relevant government and civil society Institutions.
• Provide technical and strategic guidance to a wide range of stakeholders and partners on UNICEF policies, practices, standards and norms on technology for development.
• Oversee development of a catalogue of potential Regional and country specific T4D partners and their profiles/areas of engagement to promote and enhance UNICEF goals for outcomes for children using Technology for Development.

 5. Portfolio Coordination and Project Management

• Lead in deploying a portfolio approach and developing a digital roadmap for adapting common solutions prioritized for UNICEF programming (e.g. Digital Public Goods).  Use UNICEF’s INVENT global online portfolio for T4D and innovation to record solutions and their status.
• Manage projects and initiatives, ensuring timely delivery throughout the lifecycle from assessment through to implementation and ongoing operations, while ensuring consistent stakeholder engagement.

6. Knowledge Management

• Oversee the identification, capturing and sharing of lessons learned from T4D for integration into broader knowledge development planning, advocacy and communication efforts.
• Collaborate with Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation focal points to ensure documentation and clear monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for innovation and T4D projects including baseline data collection, on-going monitoring, as well as first phase data collection and analysis.
• Contribute and share to regional and global digital development and technology innovation networks and activities.

 7. Digital Capacity Building

• Identify data needs of programmes and partners and propose solutions. Lead capacity building of programme staff and partners in analyzing the large amounts of data generated through T4D initiatives including the use of data visualization techniques and analytics tools.
• Lead capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies, capacity and knowledge within the programmes on digital development.  Train UNICEF staff, partners, government counterparts and other end users in digital development and technology innovation.

 8. Digital Innovation

• Guide Regional and Country Office programme sections to identify and assess new T4D initiatives, or new phases of on-going initiatives, with immediate potential to improve UNICEF and partners impact at scale.  Coordinate with Regional and Country Office programme sections to identify significant product, organizational and process opportunities.
• Develop staff capabilities across the region in appropriate use of frontier technology and innovations such as UAVs, wearables, IoTs, mobile money, blockchain etc.  Maintain up to date knowledge of the latest trends and developments.

 9. Business Analysis

• Utilise human/user-centric design methods to support user-acceptance testing, evaluation, documentation and analysis (e.g. design thinking)
• Lead the development and maintenance of an inventory of technology and innovation interventions, assets, resources, and networks.

 10. Leadership and People Management (For supervisory positions)

• Promote team culture of performance management, providing timely guidance, feedback, and support to supervisees.  Promote a team environment of staff well-being, accessibility, and inclusion.
• Ensure team results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards. Develop work plans and targets based on strategic division and organizational priorities.

Impact of Results

The scale-up of UNICEF T4D’s strategic integration in programming and digital innovations has allowed UNICEF to effectively support programme partners in closing gaps to meet children’s needs, often under complex environments, and in line with existing national systems.

Any failures not properly addressed or corrected by the T4D Manager will have high operational and damaging impact to UNICEF offices. The absence or lack of a sound management of the Regional T4D Manager’s leadership and guidance will affect UNICEF’s ability to support counterparts and implementing partners and potentially affect UNICEF ICT globally and possibly have legal or financial repercussions affecting UNICEF’s brand and reputation.

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

Education

An advanced university degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) is required in Digital Transformation, Business Analysis, ICT Management, Computer Science, Innovation, Digital Development, Engineering, International Development or another relevant technical field.

A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent) in a relevant field combined with 10 years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

Experience

A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in Information Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) in a large international organization or corporation is required. Including:

• Strong understanding of digital connectivity and interdependency with platforms and digital applications/services and adaptative requirements of the enabling environment. Firm understanding of digital technology and digitally enabled business model trends and enthusiasm to stay abreast of new innovations.
• Experience identifying, designing, and implementing solutions for complex, large-scale projects with technical components – including supervising external vendors and software developers; responsibility for business analysis, budgets, contracts, project management and procurement, etc.
• Experience with ICT, mobile and web-based technologies, particularly designing or deploying tools appropriate to the region.
• Exposure to UNICEF, UN or other INGO programmatic areas, including health, nutrition, child protection and/or education, and experience in applying technical solutions to address programmatic issues.
• Experience strategically leading and managing people.

Experience in the following areas is desirable:

• Government and societal digital/ data-driven development.
• Digital technologies for socio-economic development and for transformation in Government, NGO’s and other counterparts.
• Experience in open source, mobile and emerging technology applied to UNICEF programme areas.
• Prior experience working in T4D/ICT4D program design, service design, and field deployment/implementation in developing countries.
• Experience with RapidPro, Primero, DHIS2, ODK and other global public good technologies, and deploying, maintaining, and scaling these technologies.
• Software programming experience

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and working knowledge in Spanish, French or Portuguese 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

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.

Core Competencies

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (2)
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
• Works Collaboratively with others (2)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

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 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 promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. 

Remarks:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable females and males are encouraged to apply.

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

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also 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 cancelled.

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.

Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government 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.

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