ICT Manager (T4D and Digital Innovations), P-4, Fixed Term, Post# 90307, Kabul, Afghanistan (Eligibility None-Afghans Nationals)

The purpose of this role is to manage, lead and support demand for Technology for Development (T4D) programmatic support in the country office. UNICEF Programmes increasingly leverage digital means for effective programme delivery, systems strengthening and monitoring. The ICT Manager (T4D and Digital Innovations) will assist programme teams in the identification, assessment and integration of ICTs and digital innovation into UNICEF programming; strengthening internal capacity to lead and support T4D related initiatives; identifying and engaging with key partners; building business relationships; applying reusable and replicable technical buildings blocks; and maximizing potential for the scale-up and sustainability of technology and digital innovation for UNICEF programming. The ICT Manager, T4D and Digital Innovations, is directly supervised by the Deputy Representative Operations. The ICT Manager works closely with all Programme and Operations Sections in ACO and in close liaison with the Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA ICT and Digital Innovation section), the ICTD-Digital Core Valencia, Digital Center of Excellence Nairobi, and the Office of Innovation where applicable.

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, a better future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbkJiMmvKqk

How can you make a difference?

The purpose of this role is to manage, lead and support demand for Technology for Development (T4D) programmatic support in the country office. UNICEF Programmes increasingly leverage digital means for effective programme delivery, systems strengthening and monitoring. The ICT Manager (T4D and Digital Innovations) will assist programme teams in the identification, assessment and integration of ICTs and digital innovation into UNICEF programming; strengthening internal capacity to lead and support T4D related initiatives; identifying and engaging with key partners; building business relationships; applying reusable and replicable technical buildings blocks; and maximizing potential for the scale-up and sustainability of technology and digital innovation for UNICEF programming.

The ICT Manager, T4D and Digital Innovations, is directly supervised by the Deputy Representative Operations. The ICT Manager works closely with all Programme and Operations Sections in ACO and in close liaison with the Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA ICT and Digital Innovation section), the ICTD-Digital Core Valencia, Digital Center of Excellence Nairobi, and the Office of Innovation where applicable.

1. Manage the Core ICT and T4D function and provide technical and programmatic support:

   1.1.  Business Relationship Management                                                                                                                                   Manage Business and Programme Relationship services to define high-level requirements; document and match requirements and guide the design, development, and deployment of appropriate T4D solutions.

   1.2. Portfolio Coordination                                                                                                                                                   Lead deployment of a portfolio approach to solutions prioritised for UNICEF programming (e.g. Digital Public Goods).

   1.3. Support and assist design of T4D interventions                                                                                                               Provide support and technical assistance to the Country Office in the identification, selection, concept design, deployment, and sustainability of T4D interventions to address bottlenecks towards the achievement of programme results.

   1.4. Identify and assess new Technology and Digital Innovations                                                                                           Assist programme sections to identify and assess new T4D initiatives, or new phases of on-going initiatives, with immediate potential to improve UNICEF programming.

   1.5. Solution procurement and evaluation                                                                                                                           Assist the review of technical solutions to ensure UNICEF standards are followed; contribute to project management processes, generation, and review of terms of reference and vendor selection.

   1.6.  Deployment advice and support                                                                                                                               Advisory and assistance with implementation strategy of digital technology initiatives. Including technical oversight, troubleshooting and the documentation of challenges and resolutions.                        

   1.7. Design thinking
    Support human/user-centred design methods to enable user-acceptance testing, evaluation, documentation, and analysis.

   1.8. Core ICT function                                                                                                                                               Management of the ICT infrastructure, provisions of services/support, ICT security/compliance, ICT components of the business continuity

   2. Policy and Strategic Development for Technology-enabled Programming
   
   

   2.1.     Digital Development and Technology Innovation Strategy                                                                                           Provide leadership to the digital development and technology innovation strategy for the country office; including assessment of T4D gaps, opportunities and scale-up strategy in support of CO priorities.

   2.2. Participation in programme and management processes                                                                                             Integrate digital development and technology innovation into the programme planning lifecycle. Align with programme priorities (e.g. AWP) and contribute to the programme group deliberations and platforms to exercise T4D functional accountabilities.

   2.3.  Leadership and Quality Assurance                                                                                                                             Oversee development and quality assurance during planning, designing, deployment and implementation of T4D initiatives; participate in establishing and maintaining standards, documentation and support mechanisms for T4D.

   2.4. Convene and guide compliance with T4D best practices                                                                                               Convene CO T4D Governance Committee and ensure compliance of T4D initiatives with the Principles for Digital Development (http://digitalprinciples.org/) and UNICEF T4D best practices.

   3.  Engage and maintain partnerships and networks

   3.1.  Engage and maintain partnerships and networks                                                                                                       Develop partnerships and networks with local services/solution providers, innovators, NGOs, cultural and religious organisations, the private sector, local media and academia to build and provide a space to nurture and test new and innovative technologies and build local capacity.

   3.2. Advocacy and communications                                                                                                                               Represent the country office in external, inter-agency or partner forums on Digital Development and Technology Innovation.

   3.3. Proposal and partnership development                                                                                                                       Identify opportunities for resource mobilisation and new partnerships and lead proposal and partnership development efforts in close collaboration with East Asia Pacific Regional Office, where applicable.

   3.4. Provide advice and support to programme partners
    Provide technical and operational support to a wide range of stakeholders and partners on UNICEF policies, practices, standards, and norms on technology for development.

   3.5. Standards and procedures for ownership                                                                                                                         Work with stakeholders to help develop standards, procedures and partnerships for T4D interventions and their transition to relevant Government and Civil Society Institutions.

   3.6. Transfer and skill-sharing for programme partners                                                                                                         Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active  sharing and transfer of knowledge, skills, and tools to foster and facilitate technology-enabled programming.

   3.7. Document localized partners and profiles                                                                                                                  Develop a catalogue of potential country specific T4D partners and their profiles/areas of engagement to promote and enhance UNICEF goals for outcomes for children using Technology for    Development

   4.  Knowledge Management

    4.1. Share lessons learned                                                                                                                                             Identify, capture, synthesize and share lessons learned from T4D for integration into broader knowledge development planning,   advocacy, and communication efforts.

   4.2. Landscape mapping                                                                                                                                                   Maintain an inventory of Technology and Innovation interventions, assets, resources, and networks.

   4.3. Monitoring, evaluation, and learning                                                                                                                              Work with PME to ensure documentation and clear monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for innovation and T4D projects  including baseline data collection, on-going monitoring, as well as first phase data collection and analysis.

   4.4. Contribute to Peer Support Networks                                                                                                                       Contribute and share to regional and global digital development and technology innovation networks and activities.

   5.  Capacity Building

   5.1. Data analysis for evidence generation                                                                                                                             Build capacity of programme staff in analysing the large amounts of data generated through T4D initiatives including the use of  data visualization techniques and analytics tools.

   5.2.  Co-create appropriate solutions
   Work directly with section chiefs to co-create strategies on how technology and innovation can support the country programme.

   5.3. Provide training to stakeholders and end-users                                                                                                        Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies, capacity and knowledge within the programmes on digital development, train UNICEF staff, partners, government counterparts and other end users in digital development and technology innovation.

   5.4. Build awareness around Innovation & Frontier Technology                                                                                          Develop capabilities within Country Office on appropriate use of frontier technology and innovations such as UAVs, wearables, IoTs, mobile money, blockchain etc.

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

Education: An advanced university degree is required in Business Analysis, ICT Management, Computer Science, Innovation, Digital Development, International Development, or another relevant technical field.

Work Experience: A minimum of eight years of professional experience in information communication technology for development (ICT4D) in a large international organization and/or corporation is required.

• Experience identifying, designing and implementing solutions for large-scale projects with technical components – including supervising external vendors and software developers; responsibility for business analysis, budgets, contracts, project management and procurement, etc.;
• Experience with ICT, mobile and web-based technologies, particularly designing or deploying tools appropriate to the business requirements.
• Experience in Open Source, mobile and emerging technology applied to UNICEF programme areas is extremely desirable.
• Exposure to UNICEF, UN or other INGO programmatic areas, including (but not limited to) health, nutrition, child protection and/or education, and experience in applying technical solutions to address programmatic issues.
• Experience with RapidPro, OpenSRP, DHIS2, ODK and other global public good technologies, and deploying, maintaining, and scaling these technologies is highly desirable.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or the local language of the duty station is considered an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues

UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness(3)Drive to achieve results for impact(4)Innovates and embraces change(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity(6)Thinks and acts strategically(7)Works collaboratively with others.

[add the 8th competency (Nurtures, leads and manages people) for supervisory role]

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.
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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable qualified women are encouraged to apply.

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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Candidates in the 2022 Mobility Exercise and staff on abolished posts will be prioritized