Deputy Representatives at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) - For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Deputy Representative, D-1

Job Number: 499303
Location: Abuja
Work Type: Fixed Term Staff

Purpose of the Position

• The Deputy Representative (DR) reports to the Country Office (CO) Representative for general supervision and direction.
• The DR serves as principal support and adviser on the overall management of the CO, development of CO policies and strategies; and under delegated authority, for coordinating and managing all phases of the Country Office Program from formulation to delivery of results in accordance with the UNICEF Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework, ethics and integrity.

Job Responsibilities
CO program planning and development:

• Assess national and global social/economic/political development trends to keep abreast of emerging issues and opportunities for program development planning to advance UNICEF mission to protect children's rights to survival and development.
• Coordinate the planning and conduct of situation analysis by the various sectors in the CO to establish comprehensive and current data and information for program development planning, management, monitoring and evaluation.
• Provide advice to the Representative on strategies, direction and planning of programs and projects to translate analytical data/information (from situation analysis) and national priorities and goals into concrete country programs and projects that advance UNICEF goals in the country on child rights, survival and development.
• Guide and advise the various sectoral teams throughout the process of program formulation, planning and preparation of the Country Program ensuring harmonization of approaches and alignment with the UNICEF Strategic Plan, corporate guidelines, policies/procedures and regional and national priorities.
• Provide technical and operational guidance to the heads of sectors and their teams, as delegated by the Representative, throughout all stages of the programming process to ensure cooperation, collaboration and harmonization of programs and projects.
• Coordinate necessary technical programming support from PD/Regional Office.
• Review the Country Program recommendation before approval by the Representative to ensure the quality of the Country Program recommendation and alignment with the UNICEF Strategic plan, compliance with policies and procedures and that documentation materials are completed accurately and comprehensively to facilitate Executive Board review and approval.

Support to the Representative on managing the CO:

• Serve as officer in charge in the absence of the Representative.
• Monitor and assess programs and operations and provide advice on best and innovative programming and management practices to enhance programming and operations.
• Advise the Representative on CO annual work planning, setting priorities/targets and establishing performance measurements. Monitor implementation and progress of work plans; collaborate with colleagues to assist, advise and guide to ensure achievement of results according to targets and performance standards.
• Take timely decisions to achieve results and/or alert the Representative for timely action. Establish clear individual performance objectives, goals and timelines; and provide timely guidance to his/her team to enable them to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently. Plan and ensure timely performance planning, management and assessment.
• Work collaboratively with the Representative and the various sectors to facilitate/contribute to the preparation of CO budget proposal. Monitor critical issues to resolve problems and/or recommend to the Representative appropriate action to ensure appropriate and optimum use of resources.
• Have very good knowledge of and be able to lead the CO on both emergency and development work given the current context of the CO, where the country is simultaneously experiencing acute emergency, conflict, early recovery and medium and longer term development phases.
• Have good knowledge of, and be able to assist the Representative in enforcing basic staff security rules and protection measures.

Monitoring and quality control of country programs:

• Participate in meetings/events and annual/mid term reviews with government and other counterparts/stakeholders to contribute to strategic program discussions, planning and assessments.
• Evaluate overall program progress; identify weaknesses, bottlenecks and potential problems. Collaborate with the sectors and/or other partners and stakeholders to resolve issues and/or advise the Representative on resolutions to ensure delivery of results as planned and allocated.
• Monitor the optimum and appropriate use of program resources (financial, human, administrative and other assets) and verify compliance with organizational rules, regulations and procedures, donor commitments and standards of accountability and integrity. Approve disbursements and allocations in accordance with delegation of authority established by the Representative.
• Coordinate and/or provide advice on the preparation of mandated program and operational reports. Confirm accuracy of reports prior to approval by the Representative.

Representation, alliance building and UN System coordination:

• Represent UNICEF (as appropriate/delegated) in organizational, regional, global, public information/relations events and key meetings to contribute to strategic discussions on programming issues, policy dialogue, discuss initiatives, report on progress achieved, present papers/ideas and/or advocate UNICEF's vision in the Country that is consistent with the UNICEF Strategic Plan and supportive of national development goals and priorities.
• Represent the UNICEF Representative in the UN Country Team (UNCT) to collaborate with RC and UN system partners to strengthen UN system interagency coherence, collaboration, cooperation and harmonization of programming, common services and operations.
• Ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF development planning and agenda/priority setting for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
• Collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF (One) country development planning of programs/projects.
• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships with government institutions, national stakeholders and global partners/allies/donors/academia to advocate UNICEF goals to advance child's right to survival, development and well being, mobilize resources, seek cooperation and establish alliances.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building:

• Advise the Representative and other internal colleagues in the CO on the conceptualization, development and implementation of policies and procedures, use of latest information technology and introduction of innovation and best practices in the CO to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy in programming and operations.
• Coordinate the collection, institutionalization and sharing of lessons learned to enhance performance and to use lessons learned in development/policy planning.
• Promote learning and development through planning and organization of training events.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate
Education:

• An advanced University Degree in Social Sciences, International Relations, Government and Public Relations, Public or Social Policy, Sociology, Social or Community Development or other related fields, is required.

Experience:

• A minimum of 13 years professional development experience that combines intellectual and managerial leadership in development cooperation at the international level, some of which served in developing countries is required.
• Relevant professional experience in any UN system agency or organization is an asset.

Language:

• Oral and written proficiency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or a local language is an asset.

Competencies of Successful Candidate
Core Values:

• Commitment
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Integrity

Core competencies:

• Communication (III)
• Working with people (III)
• Drive for results (III)

Functional Competencies:

• Formulating strategies/concepts (III)
• Analyzing (III)
• Relating and networking (III)
• Deciding and initiating action (III)
• Persuading and influencing (III)
• Leading and supervising (III)

Application Closing Date
6th October, 2016.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online