Process Optimization and Expanded Services Lead

At the heart of UNICEF's work is the program countries. Each office works in line with UNICEF's mission as part of a specific program of cooperation with local governments. Their work is based on a five-year plan based on a situation analysis and is provided with technical assistance by the regional offices. UNICEF's work is part of other UN activities in the country.

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

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. 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 personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

UNICEF’s Global Shared Services Centre (GSSC) provides services to UNICEF offices around the world in the areas of Finance, Master Data Management, Human Resources Administration, Payroll, and IT Customer Care. Our mission is to be a Centre of Excellence for the global delivery of efficient services within a culture of customer service, continuous business improvement, knowledge-sharing and innovation to support the effective achievement of UNICEF's program results worldwide.

New services of Recruitment Administration Services - RAS and Individual Consultant Services - ICS, and Travel have been added in 2026. Payroll & Offboarding were restructured and further streamlining and integration are in progress.

Assignment context and brief context of the project:

RAS and ICS have successfully completed initial implementation and are now entering a critical phase where service stabilization, standardization, and optimization are required. International Travel is continuing to refine and scale the business model. Payroll & Offboarding (Offboarding) has identified essential streamlining and customer-experience lessons from the UNICEF Future Focused Initiative (FFI) process. While core service delivery capabilities are now in place, targeted investment is needed to rapidly strengthen service design, improve client experience, enhance operational efficiency, and embed industry-leading practices.

This initiative proposes a time-bound GSSC investment in dedicated implementation capacity to accelerate service maturity and deliver tangible improvements to service quality, productivity, client satisfaction, and business outcomes. Resources will be embedded within service teams and focused on delivering practical improvements, operational solutions, and sustainable capabilities.

Objective of the project: to accelerate the maturation of new services through dedicated delivery-oriented resources that will:
• Stabilize and optimize service operations.
• Improve client experience and service quality.
• Strengthen standardization, automation, and process performance.
• Identify and implement industry best practices and service management disciplines.
• Build sustainable capabilities that can be maintained following project completion.
• Generate measurable business value through enhanced efficiency, effectiveness, and user satisfaction.

Approach: the project will establish a coordinated 'sprint team' steered by Business Performance and Modernization (BPM) while embedding dedicated resources within priority service areas. Each resource will report to the relevant service line and will be accountable for implementing specific service improvements, business processes, tools, standards, and client-facing enhancements.

Under the direct supervision of the Finance Manager, the Process Optimization and Expanded Services Lead will support the ICS team in strengthening and optimizing end-to-end contract administration processes and related service improvements. Key responsibilities will include:
• Project manage the development of the technical systems and tools to transition from manual to automated and efficient standard service delivery. Identify and advance opportunities for automation and system enhancements by documenting business requirements, coordinating stakeholder inputs, driving the project plan with technology partners, supporting solution testing and validation, and implementation.
• As project manager, coordinate and support the monitoring and implementation of agreed service improvement initiatives by preparing progress updates, action trackers, dashboards, meeting materials, and other coordination tools, contributing to measurable and sustainable improvements in ICS operations.
• Support the review, documentation, and simplification of end-to-end processes, including identification of process gaps, bottlenecks, recurring issues, risks, and opportunities for greater efficiency and standardization.
• Contribute to workflow optimization by reviewing existing ways of working, identifying opportunities to reduce manual steps and improve hand-offs, and supporting the design and implementation of practical process improvements.
• Contribute to the development, update, and maintenance of standard operating procedures, process maps, knowledge articles, checklists, templates, and other knowledge management materials to promote consistency, accessibility, and sustainability of ICS operations.
• Support service analytics and performance monitoring by compiling, reviewing and analysing data, case volumes, turnaround times, service levels, productivity, recurring issues and client feedback; contribute to the evolution and maintenance of dashboards and monitoring tools to identify trends and inform service improvements and decision-making.
• Coordinate and support client feedback and continuous improvement mechanisms, including periodic surveys and other feedback channels, to assess client experience, identify recurring pain points and translate findings into practical service enhancements.
• Assist in reviewing and improving client-facing guidance, communications, tools, and other service touchpoints to strengthen clarity, accessibility, and the overall client experience throughout the process.
• Collaborate with ICS colleagues, other GSSC service teams, Business Performance and Modernization, HR colleagues, and relevant technical stakeholders to implement and embed practical improvements that strengthen service quality, efficiency, and client satisfaction.
• Support knowledge transfer and capacity building and consistency within ICS and across teams by documenting implemented improvements, sharing good practices and developing guidance and learning materials to ensure that improved processes and ways of working can be sustained beyond the project period.