Generic Vacancy Announcement - Education Talent Group, P-5

UNICEF is seeking talented leaders in the Education programme sector at the P-5 level. This is a Generic Vacancy Announcement (GVA) for the Talent Group for Education at the P-5 level in Country and Regional Offices and at Headquarters locations (HQ). Talent Groups at UNICEF are exclusive lists of pre-vetted, highly qualified professionals intended to fast-track recruitment processes as positions become available. After a rigorous selection process, successful candidates will be placed in the P-5 Education Group. While placement in the Talent Group does not guarantee a position, it is an important resource for filling P-5 level vacancies globally for roles of Chief of Education, Regional Adviser, Education or Senior Adviser, Education. Candidates placed into the Talent Group will be reviewed when a relevant position opens and if found suitable and offered placement through a direct selection process. Contracts may be Fixed Term (FT) or Temporary Appointment (TA).

UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child. Education is a fundamental human right: Every girl and boy in every country is entitled to it. Quality education is critical to development both of societies and of individuals, and it helps pave the way to a successful and productive future. When all children have access to a quality education, rooted in human rights and gender equality, it creates a ripple effect of opportunity that influences generations to come.  At UNICEF we are committed to ensuring that all children – regardless of gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background or circumstances – realize their right to a quality education. To that end, UNICEF supports innovative programmes and initiatives that focus on the world's most excluded and vulnerable children, including girls, the disabled, ethnic minorities, the rural and urban poor, victims of conflict and natural disasters and children affected by HIV and AIDS.

Watch this video - "What Does Education Mean to You?" 
https://youtu.be/Un5msddQl6U

For every child, quality education…

UNICEF is seeking talented leaders in the Education programme sector at the P-5 level. 

This is a Generic Vacancy Announcement (GVA) for the Talent Group for Education at the P-5 level in Country and Regional Offices and at Headquarters locations (HQ). Talent Groups at UNICEF are exclusive lists of pre-vetted, highly qualified professionals intended to fast-track recruitment processes as positions become available. After a rigorous selection process, successful candidates will be placed in the P-5 Education Group.  While placement in the Talent Group does not guarantee a position, it is an important resource for filling P-5 level vacancies globally for roles of Chief of Education, Regional Adviser, Education or Senior Adviser, Education.  Candidates placed into the Talent Group will be reviewed when a relevant position opens and if found suitable and offered placement through a direct selection process. Contracts may be Fixed Term (FT) or Temporary Appointment (TA).

To learn more about working in Education at UNICEF, please visit: https://www.unicef.org/education/

How can you make a difference? 

The Chief of Education normally reports to the Representative or Deputy Representative in a Country Office. The Regional Adviser normally reports to the Regional Director or Deputy Regional Director in a Regional Office and the Senior Adviser is based in a UNICEF Headquarters Education Section working under the guidance of the Global Chief of Education.

The Chief of Education is accountable for the development, design, planning, implementation and management of the Education programme within a country programme.  S/he leads a group of professional and support staff to develop and manage the education programme in collaboration with other programmes and sectors and with government and key development partners.

This will involve:

1. Managerial leadership Program development and planning
2. Program management, monitoring and quality control of results
3. Advisory services and technical support
4. Advocacy, networking and partnership building
5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

The Regional Adviser Education supports the Regional Director or Deputy Regional Director, the Regional Management Team and Country Offices and other partners in developing policies, strategies, programmes and systems and is responsible for providing technical leadership, management advice, programme support and capacity building to country offices throughout the Region.

This will involve:

1. Advisory Capacity and Policy Development
2. Strategy Coordination
3. Knowledge Management
4. Capacity Building
5. Technical Leadership and Quality Assurance
6. Advocacy and leveraging
7. Regional Monitoring and Assessment
8. Representation
9. Communication, Networking and Partnership
10. Emergency Preparedness and Response

The Senior Adviser is responsible for one or more key programmatic (or cross-cutting) areas of the education section (e.g. access to education, issues affecting girls, education in emergencies, data and analysis, innovations, etc.). S/he conceptualizes, directs, coordinates, and supervises, in collaboration with internal and external partners, innovative initiatives and programs in his/her area of responsibility based on the monitoring of developments at the international, regional and national levels; responsibilities include analysis and synthesis of data and trends; and responding to corporate priorities.

This will involve:

1. Global policy and technical guidance
2. Gaining active support and engagement of countries in programmes and initiatives.
3. Developing analytical approaches, tools, methodologies and strategies.
4. Strengthening regional and country programme strategies and national education sector plans.
5. Linking with other sectoral programs
6. Wide representation and advocacy of UNICEF as a global sectoral leader
7. Emergency preparedness
8. Management of the HQ education section

To qualify as a champion for every child you will have…

• An Advanced University Degree (Master's or higher) in education, economics, psychology, sociology or other social science field is required. 
• A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible relevant work experience at the national or international levels in programme planning, management, and/or research in Education.
• For HQ Senior advisors and Regional advisors, proven ability to work effectively in an advisory capacity.
• For Country Office (CO) and Regional Office (RO) based posts and where relevant, familiarity with emergency response, an asset.
• Experience in providing technical leadership in any of the following areas is an asset: Early Childhood Education and School Readiness;  Equitable Access;  Quality of education and child-friendly schooling; Innovations in education; Education in Emergencies and Post-Crisis Transitions; Girls' Education and Gender Equality; Data, monitoring and evaluation;  Partnerships
• Demonstrative capacity to identify and monitor gender disparities in education, as well as develop and implement gender mainstreaming in programme policy and management.
• Experience working in the UN or other international organization, an asset.
• Fluency in English is required.  Knowledge of another official UN language or a local language is an asset.

Technical expertise must be demonstrated in the following areas:

• In-depth understanding of the overall global development context, including issues such as: poverty, conflict and the impact of these factors on education and vice-versa; and inter-sectoral approaches to address such issues in collaboration with other sectors (including Social Policy, Child Protection, Nutrition, WASH, Health and Communications within UNICEF).
• Extensive knowledge of global developments in education and international engagement strategies, including the application of the equity lens and human rights perspectives to programming.
• Strong ability to undertake policy dialogue: translation of analytical findings and evidence into development programmes and policy discussions around equity and learning with partners, including government, development partners, CSOs and academia in relevant areas.
• Strong education sector planning knowledge/ability, including the range of modalities for delivering education, linkages between different sub-sectors (e.g. ECD, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Inclusive Education), cost-effectiveness and efficiency issues, key institutional structures, components and processes, as well as governance issues.
• Strong education policy and sector analysis capacity, including understanding of the core education data sets, indicators, tools for analysis of equity, determinants of student access and learning, budget, cost and financing, education system management, political economy and the ability to apply those to education policy and strategic planning.
• Rigorous programme management in education, including programme design, costing, monitoring and evaluation (including areas like classroom assessment, standardized learning assessment, examinations, impact evaluation) and reporting.
• Strong ability to engage with partners (e.g. Sector Wide Approaches, Global Partnership for Education, Education in Emergency Clusters, Education Provider Forums, Delivering as One, Inter-sectoral partnerships such as in ECD), as well as networking with other key partners.
• Strong understanding of gender and inequity issues in relation to education and development and the application of gender / equity analysis to policy and planning in education.
• Good understanding of policies and strategies to address issues related to resilience for CO and RO based post and where relevant: risk analysis and risk management, education in conflict situations, natural disasters, and recovery.

For every child, you demonstrate…

Our core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

Remarks

Internal applicants already holding fixed term appointments at P-5 in the Education functional area do not need to apply to this GVA process.

Review of applications, submitted by the deadline, will be done on a rolling basis throughout 2017, based on the needs of the Organization and Education Sector.

The selection process will involve various assessments.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply. Qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.