To concretise the GenU approach in South Africa and shift towards actionable plans, the services of a consultant are required. The consultant will lead the integration of a local university’s entrepreneurship training content into the Youth Agency Marketplace (YOMA) digital platform to scale youth access to entrepreneurship training. This includes content assessments, cost–impact analysis and negotiating partnership terms (subject to agreement). The role also involves brokering partnerships across private, public and civil society sectors to build a pipeline of gig and work opportunities for the YOMA impact marketplace and developing incentives to encourage opportunity listings. In addition, the consultant will support project management and coordination for the broader project.
Contract duration: 5.5 months
Work arrangement: remote with travel
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.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
YOMA (Youth Agency Marketplace) is UNICEF’s digital platform that connects youth to learning and earning opportunities aligned with labour market demand and development priorities.
To concretise the GenU approach in South Africa and shift towards actionable plans, the services of a consultant are required. The consultant will lead the integration of a local university’s entrepreneurship training content into the Youth Agency Marketplace (YOMA) digital platform to scale youth access to entrepreneurship training. This includes content assessments, cost–impact analysis and negotiating partnership terms (subject to agreement). The role also involves brokering partnerships across private, public and civil society sectors to build a pipeline of gig and work opportunities for the YOMA impact marketplace and developing incentives to encourage opportunity listings. In addition, the consultant will support project management and coordination for the broader project.
If you would like to know more about this consultancy on the detailed deliverables and expected outcomes, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: 
TMC0001532 External ToR.docx
- Minimum requirements:
- Education: Master`s degree in Higher Education, Development Studies, Economics, Public Policy, Public Administration, Business administration, programme management, Digital Innovation, Youth Development Studies
- Work Experience: Minimum 10 years’ work experience including mid-to-senior professional roles within:
o National youth development interventions
o Civil society or private sector led youth-support programmes
o Advisory boards /steering committees focused on youth livelihood support
o Education programme and/or curriculum design for youth
o Digital learning ecosystems or EdTech platforms. Including capability to develop functional system requirements, user journey mapping and conduct business process optimization
o Programme Management within government or private sector
o Partnerships, resource mobilization, stakeholder engagement, negotiations
- Demonstrate previous experience delivering national strategies, digital support platforms, governance frameworks, and policy advisory reports.
- Strong knowledge of youth unemployment challenges, youth livelihood and empowerment trends, youth in governance, and labour market trends
- Familiarity with Generation Unlimited and UNICEF agendas is desirable.
- Experience negotiating with higher education institutions and training providers, including negotiations on intellectual property usage and associated fees, integrations with university owned technology platforms, and scaling self-paced or blended learning programmes
- Knowledge of assessing cost versus impact (return on investment modelling) for development initiatives.
- Experience working with digital talent marketplaces, gig economy platforms, learning management systems (LMS) and youth-facing digital platforms. Includes managing interoperability and integration between platforms.
- Strong negotiation skills in complex institutional environments.
- Experience engaging corporates, SMMEs, Civil society organisations, and Government stakeholders.
- Evidence of priori involvement in stakeholder mapping, facilitation of workshops and consultations, and synthesis of complex information into tangible actions.
- Familiarity with partnership models and incentive frameworks for attracting ecosystem partners and convening partnerships. Able to structure MoUs, partnership frameworks, letters of Intent, and aligning multi-stakeholder initiatives.
- Experience with labour market systems analysis, skills and demand forecasting, and unpacking employer needs.
- Demonstrates ability to translate employer needs into technical platform requirements, operational recruitment workflows and matching algorithms.
- Strong programme management experience, including workplan development, risk management, results-based management (RBM), monitoring and evaluation systems, project oversight, etc.
- Demonstrated experience coordinating multi-stream programmes with the ability to consolidate multiple technical inputs into coherent strategic outputs.
- Experience working with UN agencies and Government
- Specialized skills/experience:
- High-level stakeholder diplomacy, ability to manage ambiguity and evolving design processes
- Cross-sector communication capability (academic, corporate, development actors)
- High emotional intelligence and political sensitivity
- Knowledge of gig economy, freelancing, informal economy and regulatory considerations
- Systems’ thinking and ecosystem mapping
- Data interpretation and dashboard design
- Functional (non-technical) understanding of API (application programming interface) integrations and digital interoperability of online platforms
- Ability to produce executive-level briefing materials
- Excellent analytical writing and communication skills; experience producing strategy documents, policy frameworks, with ability to communicate these to executives.
- Language Requirements: Demonstrates proficiency in required languages; English, local or UN language
- Technical Requirements: Detailed technical proposal. The proposal would need to state what technical methodology/approach the applicant would use to achieve the desired outcomes
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 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 reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities 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 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 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.
Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal (Talent Management System):
- An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
- Cover letter
- A detailed technical proposal: The proposal would need to state what technical methodology/approach the applicant would use to achieve the desired outcomes
- A separate financial proposal TMC0001532 Financial proposal.docx
Remarks:
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.
All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.