The Education Specialist (Learning and Skills Assessment) will provide technical assistance to UNICEF Country and Regional Offices and to national governments to develop, implement, and use assessments and tracer studies that inform sector policy, planning, and financing, while improving learning and skills outcomes and employability.

This is a re-advertisement, candidates who have already applied do not need to re-apply.

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 Education

How can you make a difference

Around the world, UNICEF is delivering on its Every Child Learns Education Strategy 2019–2030, which aims to ensure equitable access to quality education, improved learning outcomes, inclusion, lifelong learning, and continuity of learning in both humanitarian and development settings. In 144 countries, UNICEF works to provide quality learning opportunities that prepare children and adolescents with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in today’s world. UNICEF focuses on supporting three key transitions in a child’s learning journey: ensuring children are ready for school by age 5; acquiring foundational and socio-emotional skills by age 10; and being prepared for life and work by age 18. Leveraging innovation, data, and cross-sectoral collaboration, UNICEF works with governments and partners to help education systems become more resilient, relevant, inclusive, and empowering — with a focus on reaching the most marginalised children and adolescents.

Education professionals in UNICEF’s Centres of Excellence provide strategic policy and technical assistance to Country Offices and governments, enabling them to design and deliver equitable, inclusive, and high-quality learning opportunities for all children and adolescents. Their work supports the CoEs’ mandate to provide predictive, integrated, and trackable technical assistance that aligns with national priorities, strengthens system resilience, and maximises impact.

The team plays a central role in helping countries implement UNICEF’s Every Child Learns Education Strategy 2019–2030 and the UNICEF Strategic Plan 2026–2029, which is built around three key transitions in a child’s learning journey: 

  1. Readiness for school by age 5 – ensuring children enter primary education with the cognitive, social, and emotional foundations for learning.
  2. Acquisition of foundational and socio-emotional skills by age 10 – guaranteeing all children achieve basic literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional competencies as the building blocks for lifelong learning.
  3. Preparation for life and work by age 18 – enabling young people to complete a quality secondary education and gain the skills necessary for further education, employment, and active citizenship. 

These transitions underpin UNICEF’s three strategic goals:

  • Equitable access to learning opportunities for all children and adolescents.
  • Improved learning and skills for all, with a focus on foundational skills, transferable skills, and job-specific skills.
  • Continuity of learning and protection in emergencies and fragile contexts, ensuring that crises do not derail a child’s education.

Purpose of the Job

Under the supervision of the Senior Adviser (Education Financing), the Education Specialist (Learning and Skills Assessment) will provide high-level technical assistance and strategic support to advance UNICEF’s global strategy on learning and skills measurement. The role will guide UNICEF’s work on strengthening national assessment systems and their use in improving the performance of education and skills programmes, with a focus on transferable skills (including socio-emotional learning), digital skills, green skills, and secondary education learning outcomes.

The Education Specialist (Learning and Skills Assessment) will provide technical assistance to UNICEF Country and Regional Offices and to national governments to develop, implement, and use assessments and tracer studies that inform sector policy, planning, and financing, while improving learning and skills outcomes and employability. The role will also contribute to global standardsetting, methodology development, and partnerships to promote inclusive and actionable learning and skills assessments and tracer studies. These will support system-wide education reform, equitable resource allocation, and improved performance of education and skills programmes, including in emergency settings.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

The Education Specialist (Learning & Skills Assessment) will provide high-level technical assistance and strategic guidance to UNICEF Offices, Centres of Excellence (CoEs), governments, and partners. In alignment with the UNICEF Strategic Plan 2026–2029 and the Every Child Learns Education Strategy 2019–2030, the Specialist will advance learning and skills assessment as a core driver of education system strengthening, equitable resource allocation, and improved learning outcomes for all children.

  1. At-Scale Programme Design
  2. Education Sector Planning
  3. Education Sector Institutional Reform
  4. Capacity Development & Institutional Strengthening
  5. Quality Improvements at Scale
  6. Policy Reform in Education

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: Download File JD_Education Specialist (Learning and Skills Assessment)_P-4

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

Minimum requirements:

  • Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Education, Statistics, Economics, Social Science, Psychometrics, Learning Measurement, Skills Measurement and any other related fields.
    A Bachelor or equivalent (First Level University Degree) in a relevant area combined with 2 additional years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree. This is applicable to internal (FT, Continuing and Permanent) staff only.
  • Work Experience: At least 8 years of relevant work experience in learning and skills assessment, education and labor market monitoring, or related is required. 
  • Skills: Proven experience in supporting the design and implementation of national and large-scale learning and skills assessments or tracer studies. 
  • Experience in developing tools for assessing transferable skills, digital skills, green skills, or secondary education learning outcomes.
  • Working knowledge in psychometrics, test development, and sampling.
  • Working knowledge of global reporting frameworks such as SDG 4.1.1a/b and 4.7 indicators.
  • Strong technical expertise in data analysis and visualization using statistical software (e.g., SPSS, Stata, R) and Visual Basic for Applications. 
  • Solid understanding of the broader education policy landscape, including sector planning and financing, monitoring frameworks, and the use of learning, skills and employment data for system reform.
  • Demonstrated ability to contribute to and engage in policy dialogue with governments and partners on skills assessment, linkages between education outcomes and labor market demands and education system strengthening.
  • Experience working in a developing country.
  • Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of French is desirable. 

Desirables:

  • Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
  • Experience with learning and skills assessments in emergency, displacement, or fragile contexts.
  • Excellent communication, writing, and presentation skills, including the ability to translate technical findings into actionable policy recommendations.
  • Familiarity with digital assessments, computer-based testing, or remote learning assessments.
  • Understanding of intersectional equity issues in learning and skills assessment (e.g., disability-inclusive measurement, gender-responsive assessments). • Experience collaborating with global and regional assessment programs (e.g., LLECE, PASEC, SACMEQ, SEA-PLM, PISA).
  • Proficiency in data visualization platforms (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) and innovative communication of learning data. 
  • 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 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.

In this role, you will collaborate with colleagues across multiple locations. For effective collaboration, we encourage flexible working hours that accommodate different time zones while prioritizing staff wellbeing.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.

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Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify. Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.