Apply: UNICEF Social Policy Chief

By Development Diaries
August 12, 2021

Deadline: 30 August, 2021

Location: Luanda, Angola

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has opened applications for the role of Chief Social Policy.

Across 190 countries and territories, UNICEF works for every child, everywhere, every day, building a better world for everyone.

Responsibilities

Establish the section’s annual work plan with the social policy team
Set priorities and targets and monitor work progress to ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards
Establish clear individual performance objectives, goals and timelines; and provide timely guidance to enable the team to perform its duties responsibly and efficiently
Plan and ensure timely performance management and assessment of the team
Supervise team members by providing them with clear objectives and goals, direction and guidance, to enable them to perform their duties responsibly, effectively and efficiently
Oversee 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 policy decision making
Provide timely, regular data-driven analysis for effective prioritisation, planning, and development
Analyse the macroeconomic context and its impact on social development, emerging issues and social policy concerns, as well as implications for children, and propose and promote appropriate responses in respect of such issues and concerns, including government resource allocation policies and the effect of social welfare policies on the rights of children
Develop social protection policies, legislation and programmes with attention to increasing coverage of and impact on children
Promote strengthening of integrated social protection systems, providing technical support to partners to improve the design of 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, water and sanitation, child protection and HIV
Undertake improved monitoring and research around social protection impact on child outcomes, and use of data and research findings for strengthening programme results
Undertake budget analysis to inform UNICEF’s advocacy and technical assistance to ministries of finance, planning commissions, and social sector to improve equitable allocations for essential services for children
Work with sector colleagues to build capacity to undertake costing and cost effectiveness analysis on priority interventions
Identify policy options for improved domestic financing of child-sensitive social protection interventions
Undertake and build capacity of partners for improved monitoring and tracking of public expenditure
Collaborate with central and local authorities to improve policies, planning, budgeting, consultation and accountability processes so that decisions are child-focused and service delivery more closely respond to the needs of local communities
Collaborate with the central and local authorities to strengthen capacity on quality data collection, analysis for policy development, planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring of essential social services, with emphasis on community participation and accountability
Oversee the correct and compelling use of data and evidence on the situation of children and coverage and impact of child-focused services
Establish 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
Identify other critical partners, promote awareness and build capacity of partners, and actively facilitate effective collaboration within the UN family
Manage and coordinate technical support around child poverty, social protection, 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
Ensure risk analysis and risk mitigation are embedded into overall management of the support in close consultation with UNICEF programme sections, cooperating partners, and governments
Ensure effective and efficient planning, management, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the country programme
Ensure that the social planning project enhances 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 decentralised information systems

Requirements

Advanced university degree (master’s degree or higher) in Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, or a related technical field
Ten years, minimum, of relevant professional experience
Experience working in a developing country is a strong asset
Background and/or familiarity with emergency is a strong asset
Fluency in English
Knowledge of Portuguese is a strong asset
Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is desirable

To apply and for more information, click here.