TA - Health Specialist, NOC 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 vacant position below:

Job Title: TA - Health Specialist, NOC

Job Number: 505264
Location: Maiduguri
Work Type: Temporary Appointment

Background and Rationale

• The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does - in programs, in advocacy and in operations.
• The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favouritism. To the degree that any child has an equal chance in life - in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions - her or his rights are not violated.
• There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens - addressing inequity - not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.
• Insurgency and terrorism in the north eastern parts of the country had disrupted social services and infrastructure, and made significant parts of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States difficult to access with services, including routine immunization and polio campaigns, health, nutrition, child protection, water and sanitation services.  It also led to large population displacement with many millions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
• Recent government efforts have successfully rescued many children hitherto trapped, and/or abducted and made the inaccessible areas now accessible.
• Since August 2016, UNICEF working with the State government and partners has deployed a response plan that is under implementation.

Purpose of Assignment

• The incumbent of the TA position under the supervision and guidance of Health Specialist will support the development and preparation of the health program/s and is responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting of program progress.
• The Health Specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the administration and achievement of concrete and sustainable results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM) and organizational Strategic Plans and goals, standards of performance and accountability framework.
• The particular emphasis will be the support to the scale up of UNICEF’s response to the emergency crisis and work closely with the health and related sectors.

Key Function, Accountabilities and Related Duties/Tasks to be Accomplished
Support to program development and planning:

• Support/contribute to the preparation/design and conduct/update of situation analysis for the sector/s to establish a strategic plan for development, design and management of health related programs. Keep abreast of development trends to enhance program management, efficiency and delivery.
• Participate in strategic program discussion on the planning of health program. Formulate, design and prepare a sector of the health program proposal, ensuring alignment with the overall UNICEF’s Strategic Plans and Country Program and coherence/integration with UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDF), regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.
• Establish specific program goals, objectives and strategies and implementation plans based on results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare required documentations for program review and approval.
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies and to determine national priorities/competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes and to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programs/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

Program management, monitoring and delivery of results:

• Plan and/or collaborate with internal and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurement to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the assigned sector in health programs.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare/assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths/weaknesses in program and management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Actively monitor programs/projects through field visits, surveys and/or exchange of information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Monitor and verify the optimum/appropriate use of sectoral program resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity and ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Prepare regular/mandated program/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of program progress.

Technical and operational support to program implementation:

• Provide technical guidance and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on interpretation, application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices and approaches on health and related issues to support program development planning, management, implementation and delivery of results.
• Participate in discussions with national partners/clients/stakeholders to promote health and development issues especially in the areas of gender, emergency preparedness and maternal, neonatal and child survival and development.
• Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic program materials for management use, information and/or consideration.
• Participate in emergency preparedness and response initiatives, program development and contingency planning and/or to respond to emergencies in country or where designated.

Networking and partnership building:

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with health sector government counterparts, national stakeholders and global partners/allies/donors/academia through active networking, advocacy and effective communication to build capacity and exchange knowledge/expertise to facilitate the achievement of program goals on children rights and social justice/equity.
• Prepare communication and information materials for CO program advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for health programs (maternal, neonatal and child survival and development).
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) discussions and planning on health and related issues to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF planning and preparation of health programs/projects ensuring organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF process in development planning and agenda setting.
• Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building
• Apply/introduce innovative approaches and good practice to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable program results.
• Keep abreast and conduct research to provide evidence for implementation of best and cutting edge practices in health.
• Assess, institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programs and projects.
• Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders to promote sustainable results on health related programs/projects.

Qualifications, Experience And Competencies Required

• Master's Degree in Medicine, Public Health and/or related technical field with at least 5 years of experience working on child survival issues or health project OR Bachelor's Degree in social sciences, Public health and/ or related technical field and at least 7 years of experience working on child survival issues or health projects.
• Fluency in English (written and spoken) is required.
• Knowledge of another UN working language an asset.
• Knowledge of local working language of the duty station an asset.
• Knowledge of the latest developments and technology in related fields.
• Ability to make timely and quality judgments and decisions and very good training skills.
• Excellent computer and data analysis skills with ability to use internet navigation and various office applications (e.g. MS Word, Excel, Power Point, Access, Epi-info or other relevant software).
• Patient with good negotiating and diplomatic skills and able to work in a multi-cultural setting and culturally sensitive environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships, both within and outside the organization.
• Energetic and able to work and live in insecure and hardship conditions when in the field
• Willingness to travel to remote regions of the country
• Initiative, passion and commitment to UNICEF’s mission and professional values.

Competency Profile
Core Values (Required):

• Commitment
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Integrity

Core Competencies (Required):

• Communication [II]
• Working with People   [II] 
• Drive for Results   [II] 

Functional Competencies (Required):

• Formulating Strategies and Concepts [II]
• Relating and Networking [II]
• Deciding and Initiating Action [II]
• Applying Technical Expertise [III]
• Managing Stress [II]  
• Team Leadership   [I]

Technical Knowledge[1] [II]
a.) Specific Technical Knowledge Required [II]
(Technical knowledge requirements specific to the job can be added here as required.)

• Rights-based and Results-based approach and programming in UNICEF.
• UNICEF programme policy, procedures and guidelines.
• Knowledge in Maternal and Newborn Health related issues.
• Intermediate Technical Knowledge (at the graduate education level) of the theories, principles and methods in one of the following areas:
  • Public Health and Population and Family Health
  • Health Research, Biostatistics, Sociomedical Sciences, Epidemiology
  • Health Education, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

b.) Common Technical Knowledge required (for the job group) [II]

• Methodology of programme/project management
• Programmatic goals, visions, positions, policies and strategies for sectoral programmes
• Knowledge of global human rights issues, specifically relating to children and women, and the current UNCEF position and approaches.
• UNICEF emergency programme policies, goals, strategies and approaches.
• Gender and diversity awareness.

c.) Technical Knowledge to be Acquired/Enhanced (for the Job) [II]

• Knowledge of local conditions and country legislation relevant to UNICEF programmes
• UN common approaches to programmatic issues and UNICEF positions
• UN security operations and guidelines.

Application Closing Date
22nd June, 2017.

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