Make the internet safer for every child. In this role, you’ll turn evidence into policy, mobilize business accountability, and embed safety‑by‑design, well‑being‑by‑design, and child rights due diligence across Malaysia’s digital ecosystem—partnering with government, industry, and civil society to cut online risks and champion children’s digital rights. Be the force behind a safer internet — submit your application now.
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 hope
Visit our UNICEF Malaysia website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF locally.
How can you make a difference?
1. Support children's digital rights programme development and planning
- Conduct and update the situation analysis for the development, design and management of a children's digital rights programme. Research and report on development trends (e.g. economic, social, health) and data for use in programme development, management, monitoring, evaluation and delivery of results.
- Contribute to the development and establishment of children's digital rights programme goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning through research, analysis and reporting of the children's digital rights landscape, particularly child online protection and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting.
- Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical, programme, operational, and administrative transactions, preparing related materials and documentation, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, supporting programme planning, result-based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluating of results.
- Prepare the required programme documentation, materials and data to facilitate the programme implementation.
- Build a strong, collective and shared narrative from UNICEF to enhance engagement with government and private sector on the wider child online protection ecosystem through an office-wide approach with the industry/business/private sector (telecommunication companies, financial institutions, gaming companies, internet service providers) and in our policy and public advocacy efforts.
- Provide support to T 4D and CRB for the stakeholder mapping of the various entities in the digital space, including but not limited to the government bodies and regulators, public sectors, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), international organizations, academia, etc. along with the associated risk analysis.
2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results
- Work closely and collaboratively with CRB, T4D and communications colleagues and partners to discuss implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations and/or to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level interventions and/or decisions. Keep records of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
- Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews with government and other counterparts to assess the programme, and to report on required action/interventions at the higher level of programme management.
- Monitor and report on the use of programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verifying compliance with approved allocations, organizational rules, regulations, procedures and commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on critical issues and findings 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 and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.
3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation
- Conduct regular programme exchanges internally (C4B, T4D, Communications) and externally 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, CSOs, UN system and other country office partners on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices in children's digital rights, particularly COP, to support programme implementation
- Develop and implement the strategic way forward, based on CP's identified interventions in the new country programme, advocacy strategy with CSOs and the office-wide advocacy strategy.
- Provide technical assistance to ensure that appropriate support services are available, including ensuring children and the public have access to safe, suitable and accessible reporting channels for OCSEA and other potential harm,
- Provide support to implement the specific component on COP within the recently approved National Child Policy and its action plan.
- Produce policy briefs, position papers, and recommendations for UNICEF and partners to advocate for children's digital rights
- Support implementation of advocacy strategies, and dissemination of evidence-based materials.
4. Networking and partnership building
- Build and sustain close working partnerships with government counterparts (Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Ministry of Communication, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Ministry of Digital, Malaysia Cybersecurity Agency) and industry partners/stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on children's digital rights, particularly COP.
- Support the office to engage with existing industry forums and corporate sustainability platforms and benchmarks for concerted advocacy and relationship building for accelerating progress on this important area to create potential for stronger action by businesses and cooperation with government agencies.
- Mobilize business accountability for mitigating online risks and harms, including through safety by design, child rights due diligence, and compliance to minimum standards, as well as work with government on strengthening the ethics and governance frameworks around technology.
- Draft communication and information materials for programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for children's digital rights programme.
5. 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 practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
- Research and report on best and cutting-edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
- Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders.
If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: 
CLASSI~1.PDF
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Minimum requirements:
- Education: A university degree in one of the following fields is required: public administration, international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, international law, business studies, or another relevant social science field.
- Work Experience: A minimum of two years of relevant professional experience in the area of child protection is required.
- Experience working in an upper middle-income country/context, in Malaysia is considered an asset
- Background and/or familiarity with the technology sector is considered a strong asset.
- Demonstrated ability to work harmoniously in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships both within and outside an organization.
- Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Bahasa Malaysia is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or another local language is considered an asset.
Desirables:
- Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.
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.
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.
UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable candidate with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
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.
UNICEF shall not facilitate the issuance of a visa and working authorization for candidates under consideration for positions at the national officer and general service category.
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.