About UNICEF:

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence. At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

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For Every Child, Love:

The Education Programme is a key component of the Country Programme, aiming to enhance policy and legal frameworks for the realization of children’s right to education and strengthen accountability of the education system, legislators, and policymakers to families, children, and the public to deliver on commitments to equitable and inclusive education and ethnic minority education in the context of ESDP and education sector plans. The programme intensifies interventions to support the achievement of SDG 4, which focuses on education across all categories and on quality and quantity. It seeks to support not only the unfinished agenda but also the nationwide scale-up of good practices of inclusive and quality education to be demonstrated in the four regions of Mbeya, Iringa, Njombe, and Songwe (MINS).

How Can You Make a Difference?

Under the matrix supervision of the Chief Field Office and Chief, Education Section, the Education Officer provides professional technical, operational, and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for education programs/projects within the Country Program from development planning to the delivery of results. This includes preparing, executing, managing, and implementing a variety of technical and administrative program tasks to facilitate program development, implementation, program progress monitoring, evaluating, and reporting. In the context of the 2017-2022 work plan, the Education Officer will particularly support strengthening the quality of the sub-national implementation of early childhood education as a contribution to pre-primary, primary, and national work on out-of-school youth and adolescent development, SDG action planning, implementation and monitoring, evidence-based policy advocacy, and public finance management.

Key Functions/Accountabilities:

1. Support to Program Development and Planning:

   • Contribute to the preparation/update of situation analysis for the program sector/s for development, design, and management of education-related programs/projects.
   • Ensure the availability of accurate, complete, and up-to-date data and information related to projects/programs, in order to plan, develop and manage strategies and interventions related to inclusive education for the program-targeted children, especially children with disabilities, ethnic minority children, children affected by disasters and climate change, and other disadvantaged children.
   • Contribute to the development/establishment of sectoral program goals, objectives, and 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 operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing/administering a variety of technical, program, operational and administrative transactions, preparing related materials/documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems to support program planning, results-based planning (RBM), and monitoring and evaluating results.

2. Program Management, Monitoring, and Delivery of Results:

   • Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to discuss operational and implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations and/or alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decision. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
   • Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews, and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess programs/projects and to report on required action/interventions at the higher level of program management.
   • Monitor and report on the use of sectoral program resources (financial, administrative, and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocation/goals, organizational rules, regulations/procedures, and donor commitments, standards of accountability, and integrity. Report on critical issues/findings to ensure timely resolution by management/stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
   • Draft regular/mandated sectoral program/project reports for management, donors, and partners to keep them informed of program progress.

3. Technical and Operational Support to Program Implementation:

   • Conduct regular field visits and surveys and/or exchange information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support, take appropriate action to resolve issues and/or 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 education and related issues to support program implementation, operations, and delivery of results.

4. 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 program implementation and build the capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on education programs.
   • Draft communication and information materials for Education program advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances, and support fund raising for education programs.
   • Participate in appropriate inter-agency (e.g., Joint Result Group) meetings/events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on operational planning and preparation of education programs/projects in the context of the UNDAP and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF's position and strategies with the development and planning process.
   • Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund-raising and partnership development purposes.

5. Innovation, Knowledge Management, and Capacity Building:

   • Contribute to 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 program results.
   • Research 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/stakeholders.

To Qualify as an Advocate for Every Child You Will Have…

Minimum Requirements:

• Education: A university degree in Education, Psychology, Sociology, or other Social Science field is required.
• Work Experience: At least 2 years of professional experience in social development planning and management in education and related areas at the international and/or in a developing country is required.
• Skills: Relevant experience in education and related areas, program/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Swahili is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Desirable:

• Experience working with the Government is an advantage.

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: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF Competencies Required For This Post Are…

• Builds and maintains partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Works collaboratively with others

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is either a role with direct contact with children, a role that works directly with identifiable children’s data, a safeguarding response role, or an assessed risk role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) apply.

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, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions 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.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.