Consultancy - Program Team Associate, Education Outcomes Fund (EOF), London, UK or Remote (Home-Based), 11.5 months, REQ#551015

We are seeking to recruit a Program Team Associate to support our growing pipeline of work in in the early childhood sector.

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, education . . .

There are few greater challenges faced by the global community than the twin crises of learning poverty and youth unemployment. In response, the Education Commission (chaired by Gordon Brown, former UK Prime Minister and UN Special Envoy for Global Education) and the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (chaired by Sir Ronald Cohen) came together with our founding CEO (Her Excellency Dr.) Amel Karboul to create EOF. We aim to improve education and employment outcomes of 10 million children and youth, by supporting governments to utilize a range of innovative finance instruments at scale, including outcomes funds and other results-based financing (RBF) instruments.

EOF supports improvements in the quality of education and skills programs, with a special focus on girls and underserved populations, including those in the hardest to reach rural areas. It measures (and pays for) what matters – both core skills like literacy and numeracy, but also critical 21st Century skills such as socio-emotional skills, ICT skills, and other broader fundamentals of a quality education. It helps close the persistent gap between the skills needed by employers and those attained by today's youth. 

For all the above, EOF pays primarily on the basis of the results achieved, ensuring that taxpayer-funded domestic resources, aid, and philanthropic funds are only used to pay for what works. This is a game-changing way to finance results in education, focusing attention and realigning systems on the most challenging but most important measure of a program's performance: whether it is improving lives. Together with our supporters, we believe this is the early stages of a much larger movement, with huge potential to increase learning outcomes for children and youth around the world, though improved aid effectiveness and government spending.

Since our inception in 2018, EOF has:

• Partnered with governments in Ghana and Sierra Leone to establish the two largest outcomes funds to date in developing countries, mobilising ~$50M for these programs.
• Established itself as a leading global player in RBF, and the only dedicated center of expertise for RBF in education and skills.
• Become the first outcomes fund hosted by the United Nations within UNICEF, as a scalable platform to partner with governments around the world.
• Established a major partnership with the LEGO Foundation, to develop a scale portfolio of RBF programs in early childhood across a diverse range of countries, as well as to amplify the movement and ecosystem of partners around this approach.
• Had our innovative approach featured in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, FT, Economist, Brookings, and more.
• Built our institutional capacity to contract and implement large-scale outcomes funds more efficiently and effectively than historic impact bonds.
• Established a strong culture of performance and an active focus on ongoing professional development for all our team.

The next chapter of EOF’s growth is particularly exciting, as we look to build on this foundation in the coming years.  We will shift focus towards implementation of our first large scale programs, developing public goods and policy insights on ‘what works’ both in education and RBF.  We will develop new RBF models that can be replicated and scaled across regions, as well as continuing to roll out our existing models.  Ultimately, we want to improve the way governments and donors fund and implement education programs around the world.

How can you make a difference?

We are seeking to recruit a high-calibre Program Team Associate to support our growing pipeline of work in in the early childhood sector.

You will become a core part of our Program Team, working closely with governments, donors, and service providers/impact investors to design and implement programs, as well as build on EOF’s thought leadership in this space.

Program Team Associate will be the ‘engine room’ of EOF’s program work and are crucial to our success.  As such, we are looking for people who are:

• Passionate about the mission of EOF
• Intellectually curious and excited to learn
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, for decision making
• Team players who can build solid working relationships with a variety of internal and external partners.
• Demonstrated ability to independently drive both process and content for own workstreams, as well as manage more junior staff

DESCRIPTION OF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

These roles will be dynamic, and no two days will look the same, with potentially broad ranging assignments and responsibilities. However, typical responsibilities include:

Country scoping:

• Working with a Program Manager to assess the feasibility and recommended scope of RBF programs in different contexts, based on research into the education sector, an assessment of RBF suitability criteria, and engagement with local stakeholders (Government, UNICEF, donors, providers, etc.)

Program Design:

• Working with the Program Manager to establish the objectives, theory of change and key parameters of the program, including target population, payment metrics, financial model, and overall funding envelope.
• Conducting analysis, presenting the key considerations, and making recommendations to the rest of the Program Team on key design choices.
• Engaging stakeholders (central and local governments, donors, service providers) to tailor the program design to the local context.
• Researching the provider and investor markets and engaging with market participants as input to the program design.
• Preparing materials for workshops to engage government officials and donors.

 Research and public goods:

• Research into developments in results-based financing and the education sector globally, including the cost-effectiveness of existing education programs, or emerging models or best practices in RBF.
• Developing public goods (reports, blogs, etc.) on topics relating to EOFs work, including best practices in RBF, as well as ‘what works’ in education and skills.
• Preparing briefs on strategies and policies of international donor agencies and other relevant stakeholder, to support donor and stakeholder engagement.

Supporting wider organisation-building at EOF:

• Supporting the professional development of your peers, through regular experience sharing and training on your areas of relative expertise.
• Contributing to the development of the culture and team, including supporting recruitment and other organisational development activities.

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

• An Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Political Science, Finance, Education, or a related field.
• An advanced degree (Masters) in Economics, Political Science, Finance, Education, or a related field would be preferred but is not required.
• 1-5 years of professional experience, within the following fields (or related):
  • Strategy consulting
  • Think tanks/research institutes
  • Investment or development banking
  • Charity or public sectors
  • International development
  • Education
• Experience in education, early childhood development, or skills/employment programs is preferred.
• Experience in innovative financing, in particular with RBF instruments or incentive structures is preferred but not required.
• Experience working in Africa/the Middle East is preferred but not required.
• Experience in evaluation design and/or management is preferred but not required
• Fluency in English is required.  Proficiency in Spanish, French or Arabic is preferred.  Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, or Russian) is an asset.

Duty Station

London, United Kingdom or Remote (Home-Based)

Duration

11.5 months contract with possibility of extension

General Information

The majority of our team is London based, although remote working is possible. Candidates are expected to be available during working hours in the Europe/Africa/Middle East time zones.

Travel is expected to deliver project objectives once the COVID-19 travel restrictions have been lifted.

This is for applicants based in London and will be adjusted based on the place of residence, in line with UN post adjustment rates. Upward mobility in salary and position is expected for strongly performing team members.

This position will initially be for a 11.5-month contract, although we are looking for permanent, full time staff to join and help grow the organisation, subject to performance. Contracts will be renewed annually for all core team staff subject to performance, and there is the potential for some long-term core staff to move onto UN staff contracts, again subject to funding and performance.

Proposed Payment Schedule

Payments will be made monthly. The proposed rate should inclusive of all professional fees, daily allowances, living allowances, and other administrative costs and should assume a full-time commitment.

Insurance:  Consultants and individual contractors are fully responsible for arranging, at their own expense, all insurance, such as life, health and other forms of insurance, covering the period of their services as they consider appropriate. They are required to certify that they are covered by medical/health insurance.

How to Apply:

Qualified candidates are requested to upload a cover letter, resume/cv, and their proposed fees (monthly rate in British Sterling) by 22 May 2022. Please also indicate your availability in your cover letter.

Applications submitted without a financial proposal will not be accepted.

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.

• Think and act strategically
• Nurture, lead and manage people
• Innovate and embrace change
• Manage ambiguity and complexity
• Demonstrate self-awareness and ethical awareness

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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:

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to complete a written case-study test (please allow 3 hours for this), followed by multiple rounds of interviews.

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.