Consultancy: Deployment at Scale Specialist, Office of Innovation, remote, 11.5 months

How does an innovative solution with potential for widespread application and evidence of impact in one context, grow up to scale across dozens of countries? It needs to be validated and the solution itself refined through a limited number of applications in other contexts. For solutions to be easy to adopt and adapt, they need a deployment strategy as well as packaged implementation resources that equip and empower others to undertake their scaling and sustainable scale. The successful candidate has the expertise and experience to develop the strategy and to package solutions to accelerate results for children at scale.

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, innovate...

UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives.

The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection, where an organization that works on huge global issues meets the startup thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions.
 
UNICEF's Office of Innovation creates opportunities for the world's children by focusing on where new markets can meet their vital needs. We do this by:

• Connecting youth communities (or more broadly -- anyone disconnected or under-served) to decision-makers, and to each other, to deliver informed, relevant and sustained programmes that build better, stronger futures for children.
• Provoking change for children through an entrepreneurial approach -- in a traditionally risk-averse field -- to harness rapidly moving innovations and apply them to serve the needs of all children.
• Creating new models of partnership that leverage core business values across the public, private and academic sectors in order to deliver fast, and lasting results for children.

The Office of Innovation specifically looks to form partnerships around frontier technologies (like drones and UAVs, blockchain, 21st century skills, urban technologies, new banking tools, wearables and sensors, or 3D-Printing) that exist at the intersection of $100 billion business markets and 1 billion person needs – and to identify how they can grow and scale profitably and inclusively.

ACCELERATING RESULTS FOR CHILDREN AT SCALE

During the period 2015-2019, the Office of Innovation (OoI) has been supporting the scale up of innovations through UNICEF’s Global Innovation Centre (GIC). The GIC vision has been to inspire and support the scale-up of new technologies and approaches to UNICEF’s work and that of its partners to achieve powerful impact for all children. Applying a demand-driven, centre-of-excellence model, the GIC Scale team has supported more than 90 countries to identify and adopt innovative solutions touching the lives of 150 million people across these countries. GIC also focused on contributing to building organizational capacity to scale innovation. As a result, UNICEF today is much better positioned to adopt and adapt innovative solutions.

Within the framework of the new UNICEF Innovation for Impact Strategy, a critical organizational shift to support innovation will be the focus on scaling proven innovations. Specifically the OoI will focus on enabling proven innovations to transition through phases 4 and 5 towards reaching sustainable scale, phase 6 of the UNICEF adopted IDIA innovation framework, where the OoI has unique and proven expertise, demonstrated success, and is well placed within the organization to provide this expertise across sectors and regions, provide value in the chain that links to and supports scaling by others.

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF is seeking a consultant, Deployment at Scale Specialist, with expertise in UNICEF deployment strategy and the packaging of innovative solutions to accelerate results for children at scale. A promising solution that has evidence of impact in one context needs to be validated and the solution itself refined through a limited number of applications in other contexts. Solutions require a deployment strategy as well as packaged implementation resources that equip others to undertake the scaling and sustainable scale of the innovative solution.

Your main responsibilities will be:

Working closely with the Office of Innovation Senior Advisors, the Deployment at Scale Specialist and through extensive field engagement, will:

• Develop appropriate strategies for deployment at scale of identified innovative proven solutions;
• Craft a comprehensive set of packaged implementation resources designed to support UNICEF country offices, regional offices and partners in standardizing and streamlining scaling solutions relevant to the scaling stage – from transition to scale, through scaling to sustainable scale;
• Package relevant innovation/deployment related learning and best practice that contribute to building an innovation culture and competence across UNICEF, and contributing to an increased scaling capability within and across the organization and among our partners;
• Leverage methods of Human-centred design and design thinking to accelerate deployment impact across the organization and in particular at the country office level;
• Craft innovative deployment models and methods to best match future OoI funding models and partnership mechanisms.

The work of this consultant will be highly collaborative, working closely:

• With colleagues in the OoI;
• With colleagues at Headquarters, cross-sectorally, across all sectors relevant for the solutions
• With extensive field engagement with Regional and Country level colleagues directly engaged with the specific solutions being supported, who will bring diverse insights including from sector and geographic perspectives; and
• With external partners, resource people and expertise

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) Social Sciences, Business, International Relations, Social Policy, Social Development, or other relevant field.
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in the development sector at least 4 of which must be in supporting the development, adoption and adaptation of innovation in development and/or humanitarian contexts with direct experience at country level. Extensive experience in multiple countries deploying innovative solutions in the development context is required.
• Significant experience with project management with an ability to translate complex ideas from various fields into unified, clear guidance is a must.
• Experience in codifying and packaging solutions for adoption and adaptation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience with processing large amounts of information and synthesizing it.
• Strong interpersonal and networking skills. Ability to work collaboratively in a team and in a diverse work environment.
• Knowledge of United Nations - particularly UNICEF - programming, processes and work streams
• Strong project management and self-management, ability to work independently and under remote management.
• 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) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability   and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The competencies required for this post are: Relating and Networking, Applying Technical Expertise, Analysing, Learning and Researching, Creating and Innovating, Entrepreneurial Thinking, Adapting and Responding to Change, Coping with Pressure and Setbacks. 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.

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.
• Payment details and further considerations

• Monthly payment, based on monthly tasks and progress reports, approved upon monthly review with supervisor.
• Consultant is responsible for his/her own health and travel insurance
• Consultant is eligible for standard DSA for all work-related travel
• Duty Station: Remote
• Duration: 11.5 months