Temporary Appointment Child Protection Specialist, P-4, NYHQ (Post No. 102103)

Child Protection Specialist, Child Protection Information Management System (Primero Global Coordination /Project Lead)

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Job organizational context:

Under the general guidance of the Chief of Child Protection Section and direct supervision of the Senior Advisor for Child Protection in Emergencies, the Child Protection Specialist provides continued supervision and leads the coordination, deployment, and further development of Primero platform, the result of four years of organizational work towards a new and innovative child protection information management system for case management and referral and monitoring violations committed against children. The Child Protection Specialist works in close collaboration with other team leads and members of the NYHQ Child Protection Section, as well as with CP Regional Advisors and CP country teams in the deployment, technical support and monitoring of Primero to facilitate improved case management and incident reporting in emergency and other contexts.  The Child Protection Specialist will also work in close collaboration with members of EMOPS, the Innovation Unit, UNICEF ICTD, Communications, and staff of other UN Agencies, and Government officials, international and local media, subject matter experts, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors ensuring successful communication strategy implementation.

Purpose of the job

In line with the priority result areas of the 2016-2017 Child Protection Annual Work Plan, specifically Output 4 (Increased capacity of UNICEF staff, governments and other partners on generation, analysis and use of data to inform child protection programming. (SP output e), Activity 1 Task 7 (Develop an integrated case management model including guidelines for child protection in development and humanitarian settings. This will inform training and capacity building to ROs and COs for use and adaptation of the model. This includes inter alia: i)  Further testing and roll-out of  Primero, including lessons learned from the GBVIMS, CPIMS and RapidFTR ii) Finalisation and roll-out of interagency GBViE case management guidance including in collaboration with the GBV Guidelines and GBViE Resource Pack iii) Digitization of child records and use of information technology in case management for children's protection in emergencies iv) Finalisation and roll-out of guidance on data handling in child protection information management systems (in up to 10 countries) v) other work related to database development, ICT4D and data security), this position will strengthen the information management capabilities of UNICEF and partners through adaptation, adoption and implementation of Primero as a next generation case management and incident monitoring platform with multiple modules (CPIMS+, GBVIMS+, MRMIMS+). These results with be achieved by building on lessons learned from existing Primero implementations and partnerships,  seeking positive outcomes and the establishment of a good practice model, and through research initiatives to provide an evidence base for improved programming for child protection and case management.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

1. Coordinate Field Support

Based on the 2014-17 Strategic Plan, identify and assist country offices in the strengthening of data management and case management through the deployment, configuration and adoption of Primero as the CP sector IM platform in countries affected by humanitarian situations, in particular L3 countries, and in prioritized development contexts..

End Result: Primero is adopted, in a coordinated and transparent manner, in at least 10 emergency countries (L3 prioritized) as a case management and incident monitoring tool, leading to improved data management and case management practices for UNICEF and partners.

2. Coordinate Programme Development

• Support the management of the next cycle of Primero application development, including requirements in the establishment of a business case for Primero, and manage global Primero Support LTAs on behalf of country offices and regional offices.
• Liaise closely with the 3 relevant Steering Committees (CPIMS SC, GBVIMS SC, MRMIMS SC) in terms of Primero guidance, uptake and field responsiveness.
• Work together with 3 Steering Committees (CPIMS SC, GBVIMS SC, MRMIMS SC) in coordination for support to country deployments.
• Convene the quarterly Primero Project Board meetings, co-chaired by the UNICEF Chief of Child Protection and the UNICEF Chief Information Officer.
• Act as the Chair of the Primero Coordination Committee with representation from UNICEF ITCD, Programme Division, UNICEF Innovation, and UN and INGO partners from the above mentioned Steering Committees, to assess and mitigate risk, deliberate issues of shared concern and assure adherence to project charter.
• Closely manage the software development vendors selected on the global Primero Support LTAs and conduct daily project management tasks of software development and functionality refinements.
• Manage support contracts for all Primero deployments and instances (and manage requisitions against LTAs where required).

 End Result(s): Primero is competently led through the second phase of software development, with improved functionalities and improved data management processes.  In this development, UNICEF Country Offices are engaged and respective requirements are incorporated into phase two development.  Additionally, Steering Committee partners are engaged thoroughly in the second phase of software development and in Primero country deployments.  Primero is also thoroughly supported in field deployments, with resources and a help desk on call for any issues experienced by users.

3. Engage in Partnerships and Advocacy

• • Work with senior managers and CO senior staff to mainstream Primero as a CP standard IMS tool, informing other organisational IM approaches.
  • Advocate for data security safeguards of Primero as both inputs to UNICEF’s work in data security of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of affected populations and in terms of organisational policy towards data security/digital identity for children.
  • Engage partners both within and outside of Steering Committees in the adoption of Primero and capacity development for case management.
  • Provide inputs relating to the work on Child Protection Information Management for reports and other documentation and briefings needed to fulfil statutory requirements and requests received by the Child Protection Section (e.g. Annual reports, briefing notes).

End Result(s): Primero development is responsive to end user feedback and partners are suitably engaged in the development of Phase 2 of Primero, as UNICEF is internally informed of better security and data management process, specifically concerning sensitive data such as PII.

4. Lead Research and Evidence Building

• • Liaise with M&E colleagues within UNICEF and in partner organisations to facilitate mutual learning in the development of an M&E framework for understanding programmatic gains in the adoption of Primero, and the continued refinement of indicators and monitoring benchmarks country offices.
  • Seek opportunities to disseminate and extend the published “The Digitization of Child Records” research.

End Result(s): Further development of an M&E framework for Primero in full alignment with CPiE monitoring frameworks.  Disseminate the peer-reviewed academic report on the use of information technology in the protection space as it pertains to the reduction child vulnerability and build UNICEF’s body of knowledge and leadership on this topic.

Qualifications of a Successful Candidate

Education: Advanced university degree in Social Sciences, International Humanitarian Law, Development Studies, Community Development, Anthropology, Public Health, Education or other fields related to work at UNICEF.

Experiences: At least 8 years of progressively responsible professional work experience in humanitarian action and/or international development with manifested capacity to manage programmes involving many stakeholders.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN language would be a strong asset.

Competencies of Successful Candidate

Core Values

• Commitment
• Diversity and inclusion

• Integrity

  Core competencies

• Communication (III)
• Working with people (III)

• Drive for results (III)

  Functional Competencies:

• Formulating Strategies and Concepts (III)
• Relating and Networking (II)              
• Persuading and Influencing (II)
• Applying Technical Expertise (III)     

• Creating and Innovating (II)