Join our team as Chief of Field Office (NO‑4) and provide strategic leadership for UNICEF’s presence and programme delivery in Nampula Field Office. Reporting to the Country Representative, you will lead the Field Office to translate the Country Programme into high impact results for children, ensuring strong alignment with equity, humanitarian development nexus priorities, and decentralised service delivery.
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
The Country Programme of Cooperation between the Government of Mozambique and UNICEF (CPD) for 2022-2026 aims to support Mozambique to accelerate efforts towards achieving the targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and meeting its commitment to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of children, in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action. It derives from the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), 2022–2026 and aligns with the Government Five-Year Plan 2020–2024, the National Development Strategy 2015–2035 and relevant sector policies and programmes.
For more information about UNICEF Mozambique's work please follow this link
You can also access and explore all new UNICEF vacancies via the UNICEF Mozambique website link herein.
How can you make a difference?
Under the guidance of UNICEF Country Representative, and with support of the Programme Specialist the Chief Field Office (CFO) is accountable for managing and leading the total programme commitment of a field office in the province within the country programme. The CFO represents UNICEF in his/her Area of Responsibility (AoR), leads and oversees the various programme sectors and operational service teams ensuring the delivery of quality results in accordance with UNICEF’s programme of cooperation, country programme management plan, provincial workplans, and overall vision set forward by the Representative.
Join our team as Chief of Field Office (NO‑4) and provide strategic leadership for UNICEF’s presence and programme delivery in Nampula Field Office. Reporting to the Country Representative, you will lead the Field Office to translate the Country Programme into high impact results for children, ensuring strong alignment with equity, humanitarian development nexus priorities, and decentralised service delivery. You will represent UNICEF with provincial and district authorities, partners and the UN system, while fostering an enabling, safe and high performing work environment for staff.
KEY END-RESULTS EXPECTED
- Effective management of UNICEF presence, staff and assets in the Area of Responsibility, providing strategic leadership and oversight of UNICEF’s programme delivery in Nampula, ensuring alignment with CPD priorities, humanitarian-development nexus, and geographic targeting.
- Effective coordination of the humanitarian and emergency response as the A-HCT lead/co-lead and ensuring the effective double-hatting of the cluster coordination arrangements.
- Strategic planning to ensure the provincial work plans are aligned to the CO results and are reviewed against recommendations Situation Analysis focusing on contextual understanding of the Vulnerability analysis, the equity focus and UNICEF’s comparative advantage in Nampula.
- Programme funds are optimally tracked and utilised and DCTs (under the area of responsibility) are timely liquidated and in compliance with HACT requirements, with regular tracking and follow-up.
- Lead programme delivery in the area of responsibility, regularly performing reviews of programme implementation in the Field Office, early identification of implementation risks and underperformance, and proactively escalate issues requiring Section/SMT action to review RWPs, output-level progress.
- Leadership for programme monitoring effectively conducted to improve programme performance, and programme status reports prepared in a timely manner and in accordance with procedures. Ensure systematic use of real-time data for decision-making, including gender, age, and disability disaggregation.
- Promote evidence generation and learning, feeding into programme adaptation and CPD design, ensuring systematic documentation of good practices and lessons learned.
- Rights-based and results-based programming approach fully incorporated into all phases of programme and project processes.
- Lead strategic engagement with provincial and district authorities, positioning UNICEF as a key partner in decentralized service delivery while also strengthening localization agenda, ensuring: increased engagement of local partners; capacity strengthening of civil society
- Effective partnerships and collaboration achieved and maintained for advocacy, technical cooperation, programme development/management/coordination, information sharing and networking.
- Effective knowledge management systems adopted and utilized to strengthen area/country programme management.
If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: 
JD Chief Field Office NO4.docx
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Minimum requirements:
- Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Social Science, Public Administration, Sociology, Social Work, International Development, International Relations, Government and Public Relations, Public or Social Policy, Social or Community Development or another relevant technical field.
- Work Experience: 8 years of relevant work experience in Programme Management, Knowledge Management, Programme Coordination, Programme Monitoring and Evaluation, Emergency Response, Advocacy, Capacity Building, Partnership Development, Humanitarian Work, Child Safeguarding and any other related fields.
- Skills: Leadership, Strategic Planning, Rights and Results based programming, Budgeting
- Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Portuguese is required.
Desirables:
- Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language
- UN Experience, Familiarity with emergency and humanitarian context
- 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
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
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.
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 male and female candidates 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.
Visa residence requirements: i.e. 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.
There will be no relocation package offered for this post. The successful candidate will be responsible for his/her own relocation and settlement in the city where the post is based.
There is a salary calculator tool for local staff through this link. Please run simulations for an estimate of monthly and annual salary based on the post’s level and location. When running the simulation, please select Mozambique (NEW) as the Duty Station.
Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.