UNICEF Refugee Response Office in Poland is looking for a qualified consultant to provide strategic and operational support for the management and implementation of UNICEF’s social inclusion interventions within the child protection programme in Poland, humanitarian coordination and reporting.

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture., coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to protection

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

UNICEF Poland Refugee Response Office has been established in 2022 to support the Government of Poland in development and implementation of policies and measures to meet the needs of refugee children and families from Ukraine. The Child Protection Programme focused on 3 key areas: alternative care for un-accompanied and separated children, social inclusion of most vulnerable refugee children, prevention of violence against children and access to justice.

2026 is a transition year for the child protection programme, focused on completion of handover of capacities to national partners, ensuring sustainability, documentation and smooth closure of partnerships with implementing partners.

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide strategic and operational support for the management and implementation of UNICEF’s social inclusion interventions within the child protection programme in Poland, humanitarian coordination and reporting. These include cooperation with Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy on the piloting of the Foreigner Integration Centers, protection of most vulnerable refugee children and families accommodated in collective accommodation centers, contribution to the Protection Sector work, \maintaining the HPM reporting system and SitRep development. In addition, the consultant will support the closure of the child protection programme through documentation of agreed interventions, knowledge management, advocacy for sustainability, gender focal point. The consultant will work under the supervision of the Chief of Child Protection.

Scope of Work:

The consultant will implement the following tasks:

• Review the MHPSS capacity building partnership documents of CP section and develop unified capacity building matrix aligned with UNICEF technical MHPSS guidance and clearly defining roles of various partners.
• Review and provide recommendations to the materials for development of local integration strategies and capacity building for social welfare staff developed under the TSI project.
• Provide monthly summaries of the situation of children and vulnerable groups in collective accommodation centers, the relevant legislation and regulations, system gaps, solutions, advocacy actions.
• Organize at least 2 joint meeting of UNICEF partners in collective accommodation centers to review situation, progress, challenges, remaining gaps and advocacy points.
• Provide technical assistance to the team of Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy to the draft national social integration strategy and at least 5 consultations on building the national community of practice on social integration.
• Develop a matrix and plan for delivery of capacity building programme for Foreigner Integration Centers, consult it with Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy and provide monthly summaries of results achieved Coordinate the implementation of the joint Work Plan between UNICEF and Wroclaw municipality, the PDs with Empowering Children Foundation and Nomada Association.
• Participate in 6 meetings of the Protection Sector. Draft inputs to the annual plan and progress reports.
• Coordinate the HFI reporting within CP section, including provision of guidance to partners, quality review, coordinate drafting of CP SitRep inputs, draft CP donor reports.
• Review at least 6 office documents against UNICEF gender policies and provide recommendations for alignment. 
• Act as a focal point for the finalization of the business model for Spilno Hubs and its dissemination. 
• Take part in the office knowledge management exercise and be in charge of the documents related to the social inclusion interventions of the child protection section.

Estimated Duration of the Contract

180 working days between April 2026 and October 2026.

Consultant's Work Place and Official Travel

The consultancy will be office-based in Warsaw, with 6 local travel is foreseen.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please indicate for which consultancy you are applying and  submit a professional fee (in USD) based on the corresponding number of days to undertake this assignment.

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

Minimum requirements:

• A master’s degree in social work, sociology, law, psychology, or other related fields required;
• At least 7 years of proven relevant experience in the field of social inclusion, child protection, refugee protection;
• Experience in gender equality programming and familiarity with UNICEF gender policies;
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of the Polish social services and refugee integration policies, programmes and services at national and local level.
• Proven expertise in developing and writing reports for various audiences.
• Excellent skills in monitoring programme results.
• Demonstrated work experience in working with a range of stakeholders including governmental authorities, humanitarian actors and international organizations;
• Excellent organizational, project management skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to be flexible and deliver results under tight deadlines;
• Fluency in English and Polish

Please submit a full CV and a financial proposal (in USD) in your application. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

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

The 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 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is either a role with direct contact with children, a role that works directly with identifiable children’s data, a safeguarding response role, or an assessed risk role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) apply.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts. 

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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

Remarks:  

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

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

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.