Education Officer NOA (Santiago, Chile) - Generic Vacancy Announcement

The Education Officer reports to the Education Officer NOB for close guidance and supervision. The Education Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for the education programmes/projects through the application of theoretical and technical skills in researching, collecting, analyzing and presenting technical programme information while learning organizational rules, regulations and procedures to support the development and formulation of the Education Programme within the Country Programme.

UNICEF is seeking talented professionals in the Education Programme Area. This is a Generic Vacancy Announcement (GVA) for the Talent Groups for Education Officer NOA positions.

• Talent Groups at UNICEF are exclusive lists of pre-vetted, highly qualified candidates intended to fast-track recruitment processes as positions become available locally. After a rigorous selection process, successful candidates assessed as ready for these levels will be placed in the NOA Education Officer Talent Group. While placement in the Talent Group does not guarantee a position, it is an important resource for filling positions vacancies locally for roles within the Education programme area. Candidates placed into the Talent Group will be reviewed when a relevant position opens and if found suitable, will be offered placement through a direct selection process. Contracts may be Fixed Term (FT) or Temporary Appointment (TA).

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 childhood

Despite educational achievements of recent decades, significant challenges remain for access to quality education for all, which have been aggravated by the pandemic due to COVID-19. The reason of this inclusion is that learning inequality in the country is very high. In general, students belonging to the richest quintiles perform considerably higher better than those in the poorest quintiles. Along these lines, there are areas that need to be addressed throughout the national education system such as the recovery of fundamental foundational learning and socio-emotional well-being of students from early childhood education, the continuity of educational trajectories, the assurance of adequate financing and school coexistence, in which UNICEF will continue to advocate and generate knowledge to address the bottlenecks present in the system, always taking into consideration the prioritization of the most vulnerable populations of children and adolescents.

This programme component will ensure that the national education system has policies, programs and funding for children and adolescents to timely access a quality, inclusive and resilient educational offer, so that they remain within the educational system, and learn comprehensively, especially those at risk of exclusion.

How can you make a difference? Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Support to programme development and planning

• Research and analyze regional and national political, health, social and economic development trends. Collect, analyze, verify, and synthesize information to facilitate programme development, design and preparation.
• Support preparation of technical reports and provide inputs for programme preparation and documentation ensuring accuracy, timeliness and relevancy of information.
• Contribute to the development/establishment of sectoral programme goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis and reporting of education and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting.
• Provide technical and administrative support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical programme transactions, preparing materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluation of results.
• Prepare required documentations and materials to facilitate the programme review and approval process.

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results.

• Work closely and collaboratively with internal colleagues and partners to collect, analyze and share information on implementation issues.
• Suggest solutions on routine programme implementation and submit reports to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decisions. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts and prepare minutes/reports on results for follow up action by higher management and other stakeholders.

• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocation, organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management/stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
• Prepare draft inputs for programme/donor reporting.

Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Undertake field visits and surveys and share information with stakeholders to assess progress and refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.

• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices on water, sanitation, hygiene and related issues to support programme implementation, operations and delivery of results.

Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on education programmes.
• Draft communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships and alliances, and support fund raising for education programmes.
• Participate in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) meetings and events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of education programmes/projects and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with the UNDAF development and planning process.
• Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Provide support in identifying, capturing, synthesizing, and sharing lessons learned for knowledge development and capacity development of stakeholders.
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
• Research, benchmark and report on best and cutting edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
• Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders.

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

• A university degree in one of the following fields is required: education, psychology, sociology, engineering or another relevant professional field. Masters or PhD in education will be considered an asset.

• A minimum of one year of professional experience in programme planning, management, and/or research in public policies in education is required. Experience in public finances in education is an asset. Experience in the public sector in education is considered an asset. 

• Experience in addressing humanitarian emergencies from the education sector will be considered an asset. Experience working in a developing country is considered an asset.

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergencies is considered an asset.
  
  
• For this position, Chilean nationality is required. National Professional Officers are nationals of the country in which they are serving, and their functions must have a national context, i.e. functions that require national experience or knowledge of the national language, culture, institutions, and systems.
  
  
• Fluency in English and Spanish is required.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and 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…

Core Competencies (For Staff without Supervisory Responsibilities) *

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
• Works Collaboratively with others (2)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)
• Nurtures, Leads and Managers people (2)

*The 7 core competencies are applicable to all employees. However, the competency Nurtures, Leads and Managers people is only applicable to staff who supervise others.

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:

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