TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT: Reports Officer, (NO-2), Lilongwe, Malawi, # 127673, 364 days (Open to Malawian Nationals Only)

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, empowerment

The UNICEF Malawi Country Programme (2024-2028) works through a One-UN approach based on the new United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSCDF) Strategic Priorities. 2024-2028).  All four strategic priorities of the UNSCDF2024-2028 hold significance to UNICEF and the priorities identified for children: i) Economic Development, ii) Governance, iii) Human Capital Development, and iv) Climate Change. UNICEF co-leads the further elaboration and results in developing the Human Capital Development strategic priority. The intent of the UNICEF Country Programme Document (CPD )2024-2028 is fully aligned with these priorities, which are also directly linked to the pillars of Malawi Vision 2063, and the Malawi Implementation Plan (MIP, 2030). To this extent, UNICEF’s strategy for the CPD includes Child Survival and Development (Health, Nutrition and WASH), Education, Learning and Child Protection, Social Policy (Social Protection and Public Finance for Children), Gender Equality, Inclusion and Innovation within a robust evidence-informed environment. These are focus areas under the Human Capital Development Enabler of the MIP (2030). The Country Programme envisages the progressive fulfilment of the rights to survival, development, education, protection and participation of all children, including adolescents, especially the most vulnerable and those at risk of being left behind, in an inclusive, resilient and protective environment. Besides Malawi’s 2063 vision and 2021–2030 implementation plan (MIP), the African Union’s Agenda 2063; UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, Gender Action Plan III, Innovation Strategy; and the SDGs. The country programme includes child survival and development, learning, skills development and protection, and social policy. All components are supported by the programme and operational effectiveness and efficiency imperatives. Risk-informed programming across the humanitarian and development nexus in all three outcome areas will strengthen disaster preparedness, enhance climate adaptation/mitigation and response, and increase the resilience capacity of institutions, communities and young people. Programming aligns with UNICEF Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s Transformative Agenda.

The Communication Advocacy and Partnerships team aims to build donor trust by ensuring visibility of their programmes and through quality reporting.  The team is committed to promoting children’s rights and presenting UNICEF as the primary player in Malawian’s child rights. Through strategic donor engagements and proactive resource mobilization, we aim to ensure that we have mobilized resources essential for the success of UNICEF Malawi’s programmes. As a Reports Officer, you will lead the donor reporting effort to showcase the results achieved for children.

How can you make a difference?

The Malawi Country Office offers an exciting career opportunity for you to join our dynamic Communication Advocacy and Partnerships team. As a Reports Officer, you will collaborate closely with senior management, other programme sections within the office to ensure seamless coordination, meticulous review, and timely submission of donor reports. Additionally, you will engage with key donors and national committees to ensure that reporting complies with their specific requirements and quality standards, and that timely submissions are made to headquarters to ensure adherence to donor conditions. In your role, you will report to the Partnerships Specialist with a matrix reporting line to the Chief Communication, Advocacy and Partnership for general guidance.

Under the supervision of the Partnerships Specialist, the incumbent will be responsible for all aspects of reporting based on information gathered from program sectors in the country office. The incumbent will assist with the timely preparation and dissemination of country reports for review by the Chief of Communications, Advocacy, and Partnerships and the Country Deputy Representative. The incumbent will prepare briefing documents for the country representative to use in donor meetings.

This position therefore offers a unique opportunity for a qualified, motivated, and committed individual to make a significant impact on quality reporting and donor relations. Professionally, you will contribute to the overall achievement of transformative results for children by delivering on the following key responsibility areas, but not limited to:  

1. Collaborating with staff to compile, produce and disseminate high quality mandatory UNICEF reports, including the Situation reports( SitRep), Annual Report, donor briefings, etc.
2. Ensuring timeliness and quality donor reporting. This includes gathering of information, consolidation, editing, layout and branding of all required reports for Malawi in compliance with donor requirements.
3. In collaboration with the Communication team, supporting programme sections to implement donors’ visibility requirements and report on them in donor reports through human interest stories etc.
4. Ensuring donor tracker is developed, updated and submitted to the teams to ensure that teams submit reports on time.
5. Identifying teams’ capacity needs and build capacity on quality reporting for all program staff.

You are encouraged to download the detailed job description  TOR Reports Officer.docx to view the full role and its requirements.

To qualify as a champion for every child you will have…

Education:

• A university degree in marketing, international relations , communications and  development related field.

Experience:

• Two years of progressively responsible professional work experience at the national or international levels in one or a combination of the following fields of work: reporting, partnerships communication, programme management, monitoring and evaluation.
• Proven experience in reporting on donor projects like FCDO, KFW, EU, ECHO etc.

Technical knowledge and skills:

• Excellent skills in reporting writing, analysis and review are required.
• Strong coordination skills are required.
• Strong skills in reporting for donors like ECHO, EU, FCDO, KFW, USAID an asset.
• Strong skills in developing donor briefs for donor meetings required.
• Ability to work under pressure and in multicultural environment is required.
• Attentive and considerate team player

Language:

• Fluency in English required. Knowledge of the local working language (Chichewa) of the duty station is 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: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues

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.

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. All selected candidates will, therefore, 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.

Remarks:

The position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate.

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates as well as suitable persons living with  disability are encouraged to apply.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID).

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 medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/.

The vacancy announcement is open to internal UNICEF staff holding permanent, continuing and fixed term appointments and external candidates.

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

To effectively contribute to the delivery of results for the children of Malawi, the UNICEF Malawi Country Office operates within a dynamic and results-oriented setting. We foster an environment characterized by creativity, innovation, collaboration, teamwork, a commitment to professional growth, and a safe workspace. Consequently, we are actively searching for individuals who are driven to enact tangible change and dedicated to serving Malawi’s children with resourcefulness, resilience, agility, and a commitment to professional excellence.