Chief Social Policy at United Nations Children’s Fund: (Deadline 11 August 2023)

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, protection

UNICEF Rwanda is based in Kigali. It is committed to realizing the rights of all children to help them build a solid foundation and have the best chance of fulfilling their potential.

UNICEF Rwanda is currently through its Country Programme 2018-2024 and its goal is to improve the health, nutritional status, protection, education, and wellbeing of children, focusing on those who are poor, vulnerable or at risk.

The Social Policy Section plays a vital role in supporting social policy programming and related advocacy from strategic planning and formulation to delivery of concrete and sustainable results.

To learn more about UNICEF work in Rwanda, please visit the country website

https://unicef.sharepoint.com/sites/RWA/

How can you make a difference?

You will report to the Representative directly for general guidance and direction, and be responsible for leading, managing and supervising all stages 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 programmes working with government and civil society partners as well as linkages and support to teams working on education, health and nutrition, child protection, and water and sanitation.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Managerial leadership

• 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
• Establish clear individual performance objectives, goals, and timelines; and provide timely guidance to enable the team to perform their 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.

 2. Improving data on child poverty & vulnerability for increased use for policy and programme action

• Oversees 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.
• Provides timely, regular data-driven analysis for effective prioritization, planning, and development; facilitates results-based management for planning, adjusting, and scaling-up specific social policy initiatives 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 effect of social welfare policies on the rights of children

 3. Strengthening social protection coverage and impact for children

• Supports Government to develop social protection policies, legislation, and programmes with attention to increasing coverage of and impact on children, with special attention to the most marginalized.
• Identifies, generates, and presents evidence to support this goal in collaboration with partners.
• Promotes 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
• Undertakes improved monitoring and research around social protection impact on child outcomes and use of data and research findings for strengthening programme results.

4. Improving use of public financial resources for children

• Undertakes budget analysis to inform UNICEF’s advocacy and technical assistance to Ministries of Finance 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
• Identifies policy options for improved domestic financing of child-sensitive social protection interventions.
• Undertakes and builds 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.

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

• Where the national decentralization processes are taking place, collaborates 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.
• Collaborates 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.

6.  Strengthened advocacy and partnerships for child-sensitive social policy

• Oversees the correct and compelling use of data and evidence on the situation of children and coverage and impact of child focused services
• 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 agenda 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.

7.  UNICEF Programme Management

• 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. Ensures risk analysis and risk mitigation are embedded into overall management of the support, , in close consultation with UNICEF programme sections, Cooperating Partners, and governments.
• Ensures effective and efficient planning, management, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the country programme. Ensures that the social planning programme enhances policy dialogue, planning, supervision, technical advice, management, training, research and support.

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.
• At least eight years of relevant professional experience is required.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as a strong asset.
• Background and/or familiarity with emergencies is considered a strong asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of French 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…

(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 (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people as this is has supervisory role

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its distinct 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 promoting 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:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to delivering the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable male candidates from industrial countries 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). 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.