Internal/External Health Specialist (Child Health), NOC, Nepal Country Office (Open to Nepalese Nationals Only

UNICEF Nepal Country Office is looking for a qualified national professional to be its new Health Specialist focusing on Child Health at NOC level on a Fixed Term Appointment.

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.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child,

The Health Specialist at NOC Level will support the development and preparation of the health program/s and is responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting of program progress of Child Health (e.g. immunization, pneumonia, diarrhea, neonatal, child survival, development, disability) programs including community health systems strengthening component within the country program. The Specialist will provide technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes at all three tiers of federal structure to facilitate the administration and achievement of concrete and sustainable results for children according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM) and organizational Strategic Plans and goals, standards of performance and accountability framework.

How can you make a difference?

The Health Specialist (Child Health) will report to the Chief of Health (P4) for guidance and general supervision. And will perform the following functions and be accountable for:

Support to program development and planning

• Support/contribute to the preparation/design and conduct/update of situation analysis for the sector/s to establish a strategic plan for development, design and management of Child Health Programs (including immunization, childhood illnesses, child survival, child development and disability as part of broader community health systems strengthening). Keep abreast of development trends to enhance program management, efficiency and delivery.
• Participate in strategic policy and program discussions on the planning of Child Health (child survival, child development, disability and community and primary health care and community health systems strengthening) programs. Formulate, design and prepare a sector of the health program proposal, ensuring alignment with the overall UNICEF’s Strategic Plans and Country Program and coherence/integration with UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDF), regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.
• Establish specific program goals, objectives and strategies and implementation plans based on results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare required documentations for program review and approval.
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies and to determine national priorities/competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes and to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programs/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated

Program management, monitoring and delivery of results, and research

• Plan and/or collaborate with internal and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurement to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the assigned sector in Child Health (immunization, child survival, child development, disability, and community and primary health care systems strengthening) programs.
• Participate in monitoring, evaluation and research exercises, program reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare/design/assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths/weaknesses in program and management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Actively monitor programs/projects through field visits, surveys and/or exchange of information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Monitor and verify the optimum/appropriate use of sectoral program resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity and ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Prepare regular/mandated program/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of program progress

Technical policy advisory and operational support to program implementation

• Provide technical guidance and operational support to three tiers of government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on interpretation, application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices and approaches on Child Health (child survival , development and community health systems strengthening) and related issues to support program development planning, management, implementation and delivery of results.
• Participate in policy and strategic discussions with national partners/clients/stakeholders to provide technical advisory and contribute to policy discussions and agenda setting  to strengthen local/decentralized health systems to promote child health and development issues especially in the areas of gender, emergency preparedness and child survival and development, including disability.
• Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic program materials for management use, information and/or consideration.
• Participate in emergency preparedness initiatives program development and contingency planning and/or to respond to emergencies in country or where designated

Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with health sector government counterparts, national stakeholders and global partners/allies/donors/academia through active networking, policy, advocacy and effective communication to build capacity and exchange knowledge/expertise to facilitate the achievement of program goals on children rights and social justice/equity.
• Prepare communication and information materials for CO program advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for health programs (child health, survival and development).
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) and sector-level discussions and planning on health and related issues to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF planning and preparation of health programs/projects ensuring organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF process in development planning and agenda setting

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Apply/introduce innovative approaches and good practice to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable program results.
• Keep abreast and conduct policy and implementation research to generate evidence for implementation of best and cutting edge practices in health.
• Assess, institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned.

• Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programs and projects.
• Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of team members/ clients/stakeholders to promote sustainable results on health related programs/projects

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An advanced medical or university degree (Master’s or higher) in public health, pediatric health, child health, health research, global/international health, health policy and/or management, or other health related science is required. Doctorate (MD/MBBS, Dr.PH, or Ph.D) in child health related field strongly preferred.
• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in public health planning and management of Child Health (Integrated Primary Health Care which includes immunization, management of childhood illnesses, disability, injury, child development) programs with an experience in health emergency/humanitarian preparedness and response, at the international level some of which preferably in a developing country is required.
• Relevant experience in child health, survival and development program management, with a strong background and knowledge/skills/experience in health systems strengthening and management (local level planning and budgeting, health governance and roles/experience in health systems management strengthening (i.e. finance, human resources and supply chain management)) in any UN system agency or organization is also required.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

The functional competencies required for this post are:

• Leading and supervising (I)
• Formulating strategies and concepts (II)
• Analyzing (III)
• Relating and networking (II)
• Deciding and Initiating action (II)
• Applying technical expertise ((III)

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.