Senior Manager, Geneva Digital Inclusion Ecosystem Building and Governance

The UNOPS Global Portfolios Office (GPO) brings together diverse expertise to help partners deliver impact worldwide. With hubs in New York, Geneva, and Vienna, and expert teams operating globally, GPO leads multi-regional initiatives that advance sustainable development, climate action, and peacebuilding - including in some of the world’s most challenging environments. By leveraging our collective expertise and global networks, GPO supports UNOPS’ strategic priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals across more than 130 countries. We work closely with major global partners - including governments, international financial institutions, and UN agencies - to deliver a wide range of services, such as project management, fund management, hosting services, and HR support.

From Geneva, UNOPS facilitates the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), working with governments, other United Nations (UN) agencies and partners by providing quality servces, integrated solutions and management support through strategic, cost-effective and results-oriented approches. This includes supporting platforms and hosting high-profile, flagship initiatives and funds focusing on health, nutrition, water and sanitation, sustainable cities, environment, energy, climate and trade. UNOPS is a recognized resource for the UN system in Geneva – from fund management and oversight and advisory services, to providing hosting solutions to a range of global initiatives, as well as operational support to partner organizations.

UNOPS Geneva Office is providing support to a wide range of portfolios, including UNICEF.

This position is a Partner Personnel role. The selected candidate will be hired by UNOPS under its rules and regulations and will be engaged as UN Partner Personnel for UNICEF - Digital Inclusion (DI) and will operate under the effective management and supervision of UNICEF.  UNOPS is supporting UNICEF-DI as a UN Partner and acting on its behalf to provide recruitment and administrative support for this position.

About UNICEF Digital Inclusion

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

UNICEF’s Digital Inclusion team accelerates access to affordable, sustainable, safe and resilient digital infrastructure for every child. We do so by supporting governments and partners to expand equitable and affordable connectivity across child-facing service locations such as schools, health facilities, and social protection locations, and addressing related infrastructure such as electricity and computer. Our work empowers children and their communities through information, opportunity, choice and dignity. The Digital Inclusion team includes functions that support Giga, the joint partnership between UNICEF and ITU to connect every school to the internet. 

Digital Inclusion team is part of the Digital Impact Division (DID), which is at the heart of reshaping how UNICEF delivers lasting results for all children everywhere, and is committed to harnessing the full potential of emerging digital technologies to advance UNICEF’s mission. DID works in close collaboration with a network of colleagues in more than 190 countries and territories at country, region and headquarters levels to leverage technologies and capabilities that accelerate progress on UNICEF’s goals, strengthen community resilience, and expand access to essential digital services and information. 

UNICEF Digital Inclusion works with a cluster of Geneva-based foundations and partner organisations that stewarding digital public infrastructure and in collaboration with internet

The role will serve as the strategic advisory and institutional development lead for Geneva-based  ecosystem building. The role will provide strategic guidance to mission-aligned foundations, associations and partner organisations to establish, govern, fund and operate effectively in Geneva, while overseeing the development of the systems, documentation and controls needed for transparent selection, due diligence, catalytic support, donor reporting and ecosystem learning.

The role will not manage or control the ecosystem entities. Instead, it will provide strategic advice to their boards and leadership on institutional development, governance and accountability, and help independent organisations contribute focused capabilities to UNICEF’s digital inclusion priorities. The fundamental function of this role is to incubate and advise the development of the entities in the portfolio from their start-up/nascent incoming stage to greater maturity.

This role will work under the supervision of the Deputy, Digital Inclusion, and in close cooperation with the Head, Geneva Digital Inclusion Ecosystem and Portfolio Development.

The fundamental function of this role is to incubate and advise the development of the entities in the portfolio from their start-up/nascent incoming stage to greater maturity and flourishing in the Geneva ecosystem. 

Governance and Institutional Oversight 

• Provide strategic oversight of the establishment of new entities end-to-end, including statutes and purpose clauses, founding capital, supervisory-authority registration, tax-exemption applications, banking, and first-year governance calendar, due diligence documentation and conflict-of-interest tracking.
• Oversee an accurate map of which entity holds which asset, contract, licence and intellectual property, and advise boards on inconsistencies, emerging risks and mitigation measures. 
• Advise boards on governance effectiveness and oversee the secretariat function across several partner foundations and associations, including board and committee calendars, agendas, resolutions, minutes, conflict-of-interest registers, and statutory filings with the supervisory authority.
• Oversee each entity’s compliance framework and advise boards on regulatory obligations and risks — annual accounts, audit coordination, tax-exemption maintenance, beneficial-ownership and registry updates — working with external fiduciaries, auditors and counsel rather than performing these functions personally.

Funding Strategy and Financial Oversight

• Provide strategic oversight of and manage the funder cycle, including proposals, grant agreements, restricted-fund tracking, reporting calendars and donor compliance across multiple funders and entities.
• Oversee budgets, forecasts and board-level financial reporting, and advise boards on financial sustainability and risk.  Coordinate with external bookkeepers and auditors.  Oversee procurement and payment controls proportionate to small organisations.
• Advise on fundraising strategy and lead high-level engagement for philanthropic and public-sector funders, including oversight of institutional documentation for donors during due diligence.

Geneva Ecosystem and Host-Country Engagement 

• Lead strategic engagement with Swiss cantonal and federal counterparts, including relevant regulatory and supervisory authorities, the international-organisations ecosystem, host-country services, and Geneva’s philanthropy, academic and private-sector networks.
• Advise boards and leadership on the institutional and host-country requirements that determine whether they can establish a presence in Geneva, including legal forms, permits and residence, banking, office space, employment arrangements, and the sequencing of these requirements.
• Serve as senior advisory point of contact for organisations and donors exploring establishing a foundation in Geneva, and convert enquiries into structured processes.

Communications and Convening

• Provide strategic direction and oversight for communications for the cluster, including website and publication cycles, announcements, newsletters, social channels, and message consistency across entities.
• Provide board-facing and funder-facing strategic advice and decision materials, and review and edit the work of colleagues and partners.
• Set strategic objectives for and oversee convenings, workshops, consultations and side events in Geneva and around international meetings, including budget, logistics, invitations and follow-up.
• Manage external suppliers, including designers, event producers, translators, fiduciaries and counsel.

Monitoring and Progress Controls 

Required:

An advanced university degree in law, business administration, public administration, international relations or a related field is required.   

A first University degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced University degree. 

Required:

• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in institutional leadership and governance, business operations and administration and strategic management within foundations, associations, non-profits, international organisations or professional-services firms, including direct responsibility for governance and financial oversight.
• Demonstrated working knowledge of Swiss foundation and association law and practice, including the supervisory-authority relationship, tax-exemption regimes and the practical mechanics of establishing an entity in Switzerland is essential. 
• Established familiarity with the Geneva institutional environment: cantonal administration, host-country arrangements, international-organisation practice, and the local philanthropic sector is required. 
• Evidence of having provided strategic advice and institutional oversight across more than one organisation at a time, in environments without large support functions.
• Strong written communication skills.  Ability to prepare board-level advice, decision papers and reports to a publishable standard.

Desired:

• Experience advising boards composed of senior external stakeholders, with the confidence and judgment to provide clear guidance on governance requirements.
• Demonstrated experience with advising new entities and their founders through establishment and maturity phases.
• Familiarity with open-source or technology non-profits and their particular governance questions — trademark stewardship, licensing, contributor agreements, fiscal hosting.
• Familiarity with technology, digital public infrastructure, or public-good non-profits and their governance questions, including trademark stewardship, licensing, contributor arrangements, fiscal hosting, and data or technology safeguards.
• Experience with philanthropic donors and their diligence expectations.

• UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the selection process, which may include various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of a wide range of nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. We strive to sustain and strengthen this diversity, fostering an inclusive working environment where all personnel are treated with respect and have equal access to opportunities.
• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to a fair and transparent selection process and welcome diverse perspectives, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and persons with disabilities.
• We are committed to enabling all candidates to perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require support or reasonable accommodation to complete any assessment, please inform our human resources team upon receiving your invitation.
• UNOPS has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment, and other forms of abusive conduct, including discrimination, abuse of authority, and harassment. To uphold these standards, background checks are conducted for all final candidates to help ensure that individuals with a history of such conduct are not hired. By applying for a position with UNOPS, candidates acknowledge and consent to these verification processes.
  

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
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• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda. 
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.