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Institutional and organizational development consultant, New York, Remote-based with travel, 6 months contract

New York City

  • Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Children’s Fund
  • Location: New York City
  • Grade: Consultancy - Consultant - Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Operations and Administrations
    • Human Resources
    • Human Rights
    • Democratic Governance
    • External Relations, Partnerships and Resource mobilization
    • Transport and Distribution
  • Closing Date: Closed

The guidance note will operationalize the actions presented on localization technical note on local partner capacity strengthening in humanitarian with concrete activities on institutional and organizational development for local actors.

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, Health

Capacity strengthening for local and national actors is a cross-cutting strategy central to UNICEF vision for humanitarian action.  UNICEF partnership draws together the capacity of a wide range of actors from the United Nations system, governments, the private sector, civil society and local communities.  This allows for the seizing of synergies that capitalize on the comparative advantages of various stakeholders. Capacity can be human resources, technical expertise, financial systems, ability to access funding, logistics, or governance – these can all facilitate local actors’ ability to respond to the needs of the affected population in timely, appropriate, effective, efficient, equitable and professional ways, while ensuring that the response is of the desired quality and scale.

Currently, most capacity-building initiatives for local actors are focused on technical capacity, with little attention paid to institutional and organizational development. Investment in institutional capacity is critical to ensuring that local actors can respond to future crises without relying on external actors for assistance.

How can you make a difference?

The objectives of the consultancy are to produce:

  1. A guidance note on institutional and organizational capacity strengthening for local and national actors for use by Country Offices to guide the development local and national actors capacity development in humanitarian action. The guidance note will identify the range of options for capacity strengthening with local and national partners.
  1. A local partner institutional and organizational capacity gap analysis tool for use by Country Offices and partners to identify and fill capacity gaps for humanitarian action. The capacity gap analysis tool will be employed for identifying gaps and ensure a coherent manner in addressing these gaps in better realization of rights for children affected by humanitarian situations.
  1. A pilot of the guidance note and local partner institutional and organizational capacity gap analysis tool in three pilot countries. This entails travel to the countries to conduct capacity gap analysis in ongoing crises and support the design of a capacity development plan for the respective partners and UNICEF Country Offices.

The process will be guided by an interdivisional reference group from EMOPS (HPS, IAHP, RAPS, HFSS), Programme Division, DAPM, DFAM, and PPD. The purpose of the reference group is to ensure that the process will receive guidance necessary from the different sections and division; to provide regular inputs to draft documents; and to ensure that the final products are compatible with existing policy and guidance.

The consultant is expected to:

  1. Prepare an Inception Report outlining the plan for the project and key milestones for the same. This inception report will be circulated to Regional Offices to identify pilot countries to be engaged in the project.
  2. Travel to UNICEF HQ (NY) to meet with relevant programme staff
  3. Compile existing institutional and organizational capacity gap analysis tools from other agencies
  4. Draft an outline for the guidance note, and the local partners capacity gap analysis tool, based on consultations with headquarters staff from EMOPS, Programme Division, DAPM, PPD, DFAM, and Supply division.
  5. Undertake consultations (by phone/email) with key UNICEF Regional and Country Office staff during the drafting of the guidance note and gap analysis tool, as well as with external stakeholders. 
  6. In close coordination with Headquarter divisions, Regional Emergency Advisors and relevant Regional programme advisors, support piloting of the guidance note, and travel to three UNICEF Country Offices (TBD) to support gap analysis of specific sectors, and link gap analysis to ongoing planning processes. Each country visit is expected to take approximately two weeks and be carefully prepared in advance with Country Offices.
  7. Finalize the guidance note and local partner institutional and organizational capacity gap analysis.
  8. Produce a short lesson learned document from the process.

Expected Deliverables

The consultant shall provide the following deliverables:

  1. Inception Report, outlining preliminary observations, plan of project, methodology and key milestones for the project.
  2. Finalized technical note on capacity strengthening for local and national actors in humanitarian action.

Short lessons learned document from the project.

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

Qualification and Skills

  1. Advanced university degree in international affairs, international development, social sciences, public policy, public health, or relevant field. 
  2. Excellent analytical and research skills
  3. Excellent strategic planning and programme design skills.
  4. Strong knowledge and understanding of current humanitarian and post-crisis recovery fields and concepts at global and national levels.
  5. Demonstrated knowledge in capacity development theories, strategies and recent developments in this area within the UN system and externally.
  6. Familiarity with UNICEF’s programmes in emergency contexts preferred.
  7. Fluency in both written and spoken English, knowledge of French or Arabic an asset.
  8. Excellent written and oral communication skills
  9. Ability to work independently and achieve quality results with limited supervision.

Professional Experience

  1. At least 10 years progressively responsible experience in international development or humanitarian affairs, including experience in developing country post-crisis contexts, including with UN agencies.
  2. At least seven (7) years’ experience in strategic planning of national capacity development programmes in either humanitarian preparedness and response or post-crisis recovery in a developing country or post-crisis context (experience in developing national capacity in both sectors preferred).
  3. Experience in multi-stakeholder co-ordination and facilitation.
  4. Experience in research and analysis of global programmes.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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 be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

 

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.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

This vacancy is now closed.
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