Early Childhood Development Officer No2 level (Post#: 103122) - 1 year FTA **OPEN ONLY TO FIJI NATIONALS**

The UNICEF Pacific in Fiji is seeking candidates for FIJI NATIONALS ONLY for the position of Early Childhood Development (ECD) Officer in the UNICEF Pacific Office based in Suva, Fiji for a period of 1 year. Under the direct supervision of the Chief of Education, the ECD Officer will provide professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for education and ECD programs/projects

 UN Personal History Form.docx 103122 ECD Officer No2 Fiji.doc

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.

UNICEF Pacific is a Multi-Country Office based in Suva, Fiji that supports UNICEF programmes and operations in 14 Pacific Island Countries in the areas of Education, Child Protection, Child Survival and Development, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Finance, Human Resources, Administration and Information Technology.  UNICEF Pacific has 3 Field Offices in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Kiribati. 

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF is seeking candidates for the position of Early Childhood Development (ECD) Officer in the UNICEF Pacific Office based in Suva, Fiji for a period of 1 year. Successful applicants will participate in a thorough selection process.

Under the direct supervision of the Chief, Education Section, the Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for education and  ECD programs/projects within the Country Program from development planning to delivery of results, preparing, executing, managing and implementing a variety of technical and administrative program tasks to facilitate program development, implementation, program progress monitoring, evaluating and reporting.

Key expected results:

1. Support to program development and planning

• Contribute to the preparation/update of situation analysis for the program sector/s for development, design and management of education related programs/projects. Research and report on development trends and (economic, social, health etc) data for use in program development, management, monitoring, evaluation and delivery of results.
• Contribute to the development/establishment of sectoral program goals, objectives and strategies and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis and reporting of education and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing/administering a variety of technical, program, operational and administrative transactions, preparing related materials/documentations and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support program planning, results based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluating results.

2. Program management, monitoring and delivery of results.

• Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to discuss operational and implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations and/or alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decision. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.

• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess programs/projects and to report on required action/interventions at the higher level of program management.
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral program resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocation/goals, organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on critical issues/findings to ensure timely resolution by management/stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
•  Draft regular/mandated sectoral program/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of program progress.

 3. Technical and operational support to program implementation

• Conduct regular program field visits and surveys and/or exchange information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support, take appropriate action to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.

• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices on education and related issues to support program implementation, operations and delivery of results

4. Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate program implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on education programs.
• Draft communication and information materials for CO program advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for education programs.

• Participate in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) meetings/events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of education programs/projects and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF position and strategies with the UNDAF development and planning process.
• Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Contribute to identifying, capturing, synthesizing and sharing lessons learned for knowledge development and capacity development of stakeholders.
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practice to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable program results.

• Research and report on best and cutting edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
• Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.

As an advocate for every child, you should have…

• A University Degree in education, psychology, sociology or other social science field is required.
• A minimum of 2 years of professional experience in social development planning and management in education and related areas at the international and/or in a developing country is required. Relevant experience in education and related areas, program/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset.
• Knowledge of the Pacific region and ECD situation is an asset.
• Fluency of English and local language of the duty station required.

For every Child, you will need to demonstrate…
Our core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The functional competencies of Formulating strategies and concepts, Analyzing, Applying Technical Expertise, Planning and Organizing and Following instructions and procedures.

Please note that National Professional (NO) staff are locally recruited staff and therefore, candidates are personally responsible for any travel and accommodation arrangements as these are not the organization’s responsibility.

To apply…

All applications to UNICEF are required to be submitted through UNICEF's online recruiting system. You can apply to the above position by submitting your application on our web site, Your application should include cover letter describing how you best meet each of the requirements of the post, UN Personnel History Form (P11), two most recent performance appraisals or evaluation reports if available and names, emails and phone details of three work related referees including supervisors. All applications should be in English.

All applications close on 26 November 2017.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply.