National Planning Officer, at Professional level (NOB), on Temporary Appointement (TA), Tajikistan (for Tajik nationals only)

The position will be part of the newly established ‘Knowledge’ section, which is responsible for planning, monitoring, evaluation, PF4C, HACT, as well as budget and contribution management for the Country Office. The incumbent will report to the Deputy Representative, but will be a member of the Knowledge section.

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,

Organizational Context:

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does - in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions - her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

How can you make a difference?

Under the guidance and supervision of the Deputy Representative and Chief M&E, the Planning Officer will provide support to facilitate the planning and monitoring functions for the country programme. This will be done in close collaboration with other Knowledge Section members and sectoral programme staff. In addition, the Planning Officer will work within the UN country team(UNCT) to support goals for delivering valid and reliable information on the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other goals, and on the performance of UN-supported programmes and to assist in the development of national capacities for planning, monitoring, evaluation and research, with special attention to the interest, concern and participation of government, community, and civil society stakeholders.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties:
1. Programme Planning:
The Country Office and national partners have well-prioritized and realistic planning & monitoring activities, developed collaboratively, that provide all the relevant and strategic information needed to manage the Country Programme.

2. Programme Monitoring:

Programme monitoring of the Country Programme yields quality information, collected and disseminated with the participation of all concerned partners, to assess progress towards expected annual and multi-year results.

3. Planning and Monitoring Capacity Building.

The RBM and evidence-based planning and monitoring capacities of the Country Office staff and national partners – government and civil society – are enhanced with the contribution of UNICEF knowledge partners to meet the requirements of their positions.

4.  Coordination and Networking:

The UNICEF office is linked to wider UNICEF M&E developments in way that both contributes to and benefits from organizational learning on effective M&E management.

Key accountabilities, duties and tasks:
Within the delegated authority and under the given organizational set-up, the incumbent may be assigned the primarily, shared, or contributory accountabilities for all or part of the following areas of major duties and key end-results.

1. Programme Planning:
Support the Country Office and national partners to develop an equity-focused and results-based and measurable Country Programme and rolling workplans that provide the basis for implementation, performance monitoring and reporting.

Duties & Tasks:
•Provide support to Deputy Representative and Chief Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) in preparation, review and analysis of strategic programme planning documentation, including the overall Country Programme Document (CPD), Programme Strategy Notes (PSNs), and facilitate Tajikistan Country Office mid/end year reviews. 
•Support and facilitate development of equity-focused, results-based, risk-informed annual and rolling work plans and review exercises of the same.
•Works in close collaboration with the staff of the Knowledge section and other sections to provide technical support for establishing quality assurance mechanisms related to improved planning and effective use of planning and monitoring tools in line with the results-based management principles and standards.
•Support Deputy Representative and Chief M&E to conduct periodic programme reviews internally as well as with government counterparts and other partners to identify problems and/or alternative courses of action to accelerate/improve programme delivery.

2. Programme Monitoring:
Ensure that the Country Office has quality information to assess progress towards expected results established in annual work plans.

Duties & Tasks:
•Provide technical support to the programme staff to establish and roll-out programme monitoring mechanisms including mid-year and annual reviews, mid-term reviews, strategic moments of reflection, to record the progress and identify potential bottlenecks to be addressed by the programme sections and field offices.
•Provide technical support and inputs on setting up programme monitoring systems/tools using digital platforms, including UNICEF internal and external platforms (Insight, RAM, EISI, eTools, etc.)
•Support programme staff in the implementation of the programme monitoring system and provide inputs for regular adjustment of the standard operating procedures to ensure optimal monitoring results.
•Provide technical support to the Programme Specialist (HACT) and Programme Officer (HACT) to ensure that HACT (Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers) monitoring makes an integral part of the ACO comprehensive monitoring system.

3. Planning and Monitoring Capacity Building:
Ensure that the planning and monitoring capacities of Country Office staff and national partners – government and civil society – are based on evidence and the RBM principles and in line with the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) framework, thus enabling them to more effectively engage in planning and monitoring processes.

Duties & Tasks
•Promote the awareness and understanding of the shared responsibility of RBM among staff members, including CRMs in four regions of Tajikistan, and national partners through communication, training, learning and development activities organization-wide.
•Support the Knowledge section in development and implementation of a strategy/approach for RBM capacity building through a participatory process with sectoral and regional staff as well as national partners.

4.Coordination and Networking 
Ensure that the UNICEF office is effectively linked to wider UNICEF M&E developments in a way that both contributes to and benefits from organizational learning on effective M&E management.

Duties & Tasks:
•Collaborate with regional advisors, peers from other UNICEF offices as well as with the UN agencies in the duty station, zonal offices and national partners for overall coordination of priority planning and monitoring activities, especially those of national/subnational scope requiring the coordinated effort of multiple stakeholders.
•Partner with the relevant regional staff to ensure that current and accurate planning and monitoring data and results are included in regional reports, multi-country studies, and knowledge sharing networks. 
•Undertake lessons-learned reviews on successful and unsuccessful planning and monitoring practices and experience at the national and subnational level, and ensure they are shared as appropriate.
•Liaise with UNICEF and other professional PM&E knowledge networks to identify innovations and lessons learned that may be relevant for the CO and partners to improve their PME function.

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

Education: 
A University Degree in economics, psychology, sociology, statistics or other social science field is required.

Experience: 
A minimum of 2 years of professional experience in social development, analysis and programming at the international and/or in a developing country is required. Relevant experience in program/project monitoring and evaluation in a UN system agency or organization is an asset.

Language proficiency: 
Fluency in English, Tajik and Russian is required.

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 competencies required for this post are:

Core Values:
Commitment
Diversity and inclusion
Integrity

Core competencies:
Communication (I)
Working with people (I)
Drive for results (II) 

Functional Competencies:
Formulating strategies and concepts (I)
Analyzing (I)
Applying technical expertise (I)
Planning and organizing (II)

Technical Knowledge:  
•Professional technical knowledge/expertise in demography, statistics, and data management
•Professional technical knowledge/expertise in methodology of M&E, including theories, standards and models, quantitative/qualitative/mixed methods, validity/reliability testing of data, data analysis and interpretation, and statistical inference methods
•Professional technical knowledge/expertise in Activity Monitoring & Evaluation, Evaluation Design, data analysis, and reporting
•Gender

View our competency framework at:http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

APPLICATION:

The link to review detailed Specific Job Profile would be available at the following links: www.untj.org/jobs, www.unicef.org/tajikistan/resources, www.facebook.com/uniceftajikistan.

The candidates, who are interested to apply for the position, should follow the electronic application's instructions at: http://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/520011?lApplicationSubSourceID=

It requires the applicant to upload the detailed CV and academic degrees/diplomas. UN candidates should upload at least two latest performance evaluation reports

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.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks:

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