The Venezuela Country Office operates in a complex and evolving humanitarian and development context in which children and families may be affected by multiple and overlapping risks, including natural hazards, public health emergencies, climate-related events, population movements and disruptions to essential social services. The major earthquake of June 2026 has added a significant humanitarian and recovery dimension, requiring UNICEF to sustain immediate humanitarian assistance while supporting the restoration and strengthening of essential services and national and local systems. At the same time, the Country Office must maintain readiness to respond to new or concurrent emergencies throughout the country.UNICEF Venezuela will therefore require a strong and integrated approach linking emergency preparedness, humanitarian response, early recovery and recovery, disaster risk reduction, anticipatory action and resilience.
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
How can you make a difference?
Under the general guidance of the Representative, you are responsible for leading the Country Office’s emergency preparedness and humanitarian response coordination, providing authoritative advice on humanitarian risks and response priorities, and supporting the effective fulfilment of UNICEF’s humanitarian coordination responsibilities.
You lead multi-hazard risk analysis, preparedness planning and the coordination of integrated humanitarian response planning, drawing on the technical contributions and implementation capacities of Programme Sections and operational functions. You maintain a consolidated overview of humanitarian needs, response progress, critical gaps and preparedness requirements, and facilitates timely action through the responsible managers.
Working in close collaboration with the Deputy Representative Programmes, you ensure that humanitarian coordination priorities and agreed response commitments are connected to programme planning, implementation and review processes. Programme delivery is pursued through the established programme management arrangements, supported by the Emergency Manager’s coordination, analysis and follow-up.
You provide strategic and functional oversight of UNICEF’s support to the clusters, sectors and Areas of Responsibility under its leadership or co-leadership, as applicable to the country coordination architecture and delegated responsibilities.
You also provide specialized leadership and advice on disaster risk reduction, anticipatory action, emergency preparedness and recovery transitions, supporting their integration into the Country Programme and strengthening national and local preparedness and response capacities.
Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:
- Emergency Preparedness.
- Emergency Responses.
- Emergency Project Management.
- Resource Mobilisation.
- Inter-Agencys and Implementing Partners Coordination.
- Country Early Warning.
- Other Duties.
If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:
Chief Emergency Level 5 JD.pdf
To qualify as a champion for every child you will have…
Minimum requirements:
- Education: Advanced University degree in one of the following fields: social sciences, public administration, international law, public health, nutrition, international relations, business administration or other related disciplines. Preferably a combination of management, administration, and relevant technical fields
- Work Experience: Minimum Ten years of progressively responsible professional work experience at the national and international levels in all aspects of programme/project management and administration. Developing country work experience (for IP).
- Skills: team management, emergency strategies, disaster prevention, response-gap analysis, early Warning/Early Action system, IASC Early Warning system.
- Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Spanish is required.
Desirables:
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- Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian)
- Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.
- Specialized training/experience in emergency response management is highly desirable.
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, discrimination, fraud, corruption and other forms of serious misconduct.UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference, safeguarding and background verification checks. These checks may include verification of academic credentials and employment history, screening against relevant United Nations misconduct databases, and requests for misconduct disclosures from current and former employers, professional associations, other relevant organizations and participating organizations under inter-agency safeguarding initiatives, including the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS), where applicable.Appointment, selection and continued engagement are subject to the satisfactory completion of all required checks. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information and consent to enable UNICEF to undertake these checks.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.
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.