Consultancy - Urban Innovation Specialist, Office of Innovation

The objective of this consultancy is to provide research and project management support across a diversity of UNICEF Innovation projects, including but not limited to: urban innovation project work with Mongolia and Vietnam Country Offices, Gates Grand Challenge urban work, and other Y3 activities for the ARM partnership. The consultant should be self-motivated to provide support to a diverse team even under tight time constraints. We seek someone who works closely with the Partnerships Team while also taking initiative on projects. The specialist must be comfortable working with colleagues in different geographies to understand their project needs and translate them into concrete solutions.

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.

Duration: 11.5 months

Duty Station: San Francisco (equivalent to P3)

BACKGROUND

UNICEF has been innovating for children for almost 70 years. The Office of Innovation supports the

organization's 135+ country offices in finding solutions for the world's most vulnerable children through its Futures, Ventures and Scale up teams. The UNICEF innovation work includes both policy and practice of innovation in UNICEF, and the larger UN. UNICEF is engaged in testing and scaling up new partnerships, technologies, and collaborations in some of the world's most difficult operating environments.

PURPOSE OF THE APPOINTMENT

The objective of this consultancy is to provide research and project management support across a diversity of UNICEF Innovation projects, including but not limited to: urban innovation project work with Mongolia and Vietnam Country Offices, Gates Grand Challenge urban work, and other Y3 activities for the ARM partnership. The consultant should be self-motivated to provide support to a diverse team even under tight time constraints.

We seek someone who works closely with the Partnerships Team while also taking initiative on projects. The specialist must be comfortable working with colleagues in different geographies to understand their project needs and translate them into concrete solutions.

The ideal candidate will be an urban planner who has experience working with international contexts and who is able to toggle between a number of projects at the same time. The ideal candidate must have a strong sense of UNICEF's programmes and goals, who expresses a passion for innovating for social impact through their portfolio, who has experience communicating easily with a diverse range of staff - designers and non-designers alike - and who has a knack for extrapolating information from team members that can be translated into simplified and articulate ways.

 MAIN ACTIVITIES

1. Lead the scoping and development of urban innovation projects with selected Country Offices, which will likely include some of the following work: assisting with the curation of Gates Grand Challenge, supporting project management for 21st Century Ger project, scoping and developing strategies for urban projects in 1-2 other country offices, and enlisting external partner support where relevant
2. Work with Unicef's Urban Practice Group to bring innovation component into Unicef-wide strategy for urban work, work to establish relationships with external partners (especially those in urban innovation field)
3. Under guidance of Senior Advisor, create original content, edit, and organize materials for WEF Machine Learning work. Support Senior Advisor in developing an engagement strategy with selected partners, and design implementation framework.
4. Work with Futures team to design next stages in sharing findings and outcomes from the Urbanization Handbook and Market Research work. This will likely involve support in planning related events and travel.
5. Support Partnership colleagues in building out partnership strategies when directly relevant to urban projects, in particular supporting with ARM partnership (Y3 and renewal)
6. Write original content, edit and organize materials produced for partners, as well as for internal stakeholders

PAYMENT PLAN

• Monthly payment, based on monthly tasks and progress reports, approved upon monthly review with supervisor.
• Consultant is responsible for his own health insurance
• Consultant is eligible for standard daily subsistence allowance (DSA) for all work-related travel.
• Consultants are responsible for assuming costs for obtaining visas and travel insurance.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EDUCATION

• Advanced University degree in Urban Studies and Urban Planning or equivalent professional work experience in Urban work, combined with a university degree in a related field
• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience and a track record of working in Urban development and design issues
• Experience working within the development sector, ideally at UNICEF or the UN, and a background/education in development
• Solid understanding of the role technology plays in the development and humanitarian sectors, as well as the UN system
• Project management skills including task prioritization, budget monitoring, and results driven strategies
• Proactive and organized, must be able to multitask
• Demonstrated strong writing skills
• Fluency in English is required and in other UN Languages is an asset

Applications must include:

• Cover letter,
• CV

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above.  Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.