Vacancy Announcement – Health Officer, NO-2 (Temporary Appointment), Guwahati, India, SAR Post Number 126895 (This post is open for Indian 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, CARE

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens addressing inequity not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. Therefore, the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Click here to learn more about what makes us proud working for UNICEF!

How can you make a difference?

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you.

Purpose for the job:

The Health Officer reports to the Health Specialist for supervision. The Health Officer provides professional technical, operational, and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for the Health Programme within the Country Programme, from development planning to delivery of results, by preparing, executing, managing, and implementing a variety of technical and administrative programme tasks to facilitate programme development, implementation, programme progress monitoring, and evaluating and reporting of results.

Key functions, accountabilities, and related duties/tasks:

Support to programme development and planning

• Conduct and update the situation analysis for the development, design, and management of health-related programs in the States of Meghalaya and Manipur. Research and report on development trends (e.g., political social, economic, health) for higher management use to enhance program management, efficiency, and delivery of results.
• Contribute to the development and establishment of sectoral program goals, objectives, strategies and results-based planning through analysis of health needs and areas for intervention and submission of recommendations for priority and goal setting.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical program transactions, preparing materials/documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support program planning, results-based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluating results.
• Prepare required documentations and materials to facilitate the program review and approval process.

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

• Work closely and collaboratively with internal colleagues (SBC, WASH, SPSP, Education, DRR) and partners (FBOs, CBOs, Educational Institutions Government)- to discuss operational and implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations and/or alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and decisions. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts to assess programs and to report on require action/interventions at the higher level of program management.
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral program resources (financial, administrative, and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocation and goals, organizational rules, regulations, procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management and stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
• Prepare regular and mandated sectoral programme/ project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Conduct regular program field visits in Meghalaya and Manipur, and surveys and share information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support, take appropriate action to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks, and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices on health related issues to support program implementation, operations, and delivery of results.

Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with health sector government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to enhance program implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to deliver concrete and sustainable results.
• Draft communication and information materials for CO program advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for health programs.
• Participate in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) on health programmes to collaborate with interagency partners/colleagues on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of health UNDAF development and planning process.
• Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Identify, capture, synthesize and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practice to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable program results.
• Assist with oversight of research and ensure results are available for use in knowledge products.
• Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.

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

Education:

A university degree in one of the following fields is required: public health/nutrition, pediatric health, family health, health research, global/international health, health policy and/or management, environmental health sciences, biostatistics, socio-medical, health education, epidemiology or another relevant technical field.

Experience:

• A minimum 2 years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: public health/ nutrition planning and management, maternal and neonatal health care, or health emergency/humanitarian preparedness.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.

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.

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…

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages Ambiguity and complexity (1)

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.

UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.

Remarks:

• The position is based in Guwahati, India.
• This post is open for Indian Nationals only.
• The selected applicant will have a temporary appointment contract till 30 September 2024.
• 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/.
• UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). 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 does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process, including application, interview, meeting, traveling, processing, training, etc.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

For more information about UNICEF India, please refer to the link http://unicef.in/Wherewework