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, hope!

For more information about our programme, please visit our website:www.unicef.org/esaro/

How can you make a difference?

Under the overall supervision of the Regional Education Adviser (REA), the position will support the implementation of the education flagship of the Regional Collaboration for Children agenda and will be responsible for technical support and strategic direction on education system strengthening across the 21 country offices of ESAR.  The Education specialist will provide authoritative technical guidance/operational support to facilitate the management and delivery of results on strengthening national education systems (with a focus on evidence, data and financing) to improve learning outcomes and to promote universal access to and equitable and inclusive primary/early childhood education especially for the most vulnerable children. The Specialist will be accountable for supporting Country Offices and Governments in evidence building and improvement of education data systems, equity in public education spending and results based-management (RBM) approaches.

The successful individual will be responsible for the following key accountabilities:

Management and advisory support to the Regional Education Advisor (REA)

• Provide advice to the REA in establishing the annual work plan including developing strategies and determining priorities/targets and performance measurements. Coordinate work progress monitoring and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards and report to REA critical issues for timely action.
• Provide technical assistance/advice to colleagues in the Section on all aspects of data analysis, statistics, indicators and result-based management to enable colleagues to achieve program/performance objectives.

Evidence building for program development

• Provide technical leadership and assistance to country offices (COs) and Ministries of Education for building relevant education evidence, including public spending analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis.
• Keep abreast of national/regional/international development priorities on education data, evidence and education financing to enhance program management and delivery.
• Establish specific goals, objectives and strategies and implementation plans for the sector/s using results-based planning terminology and methodology.  Prepare required documentations for program review and approval.
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external partners to discuss education evidence and data methodologies.

Technical leadership for monitoring, evaluation and research and for improving national education data systems

• Provide technical leadership and assistance to COs and Ministries of Education for improving Education Management Information Systems.
• Provide technical leadership and assistance to COs and Ministries of Education for applying analytical and programming tools to ensure more equitable financing in education.
• Plan and/or collaborate with monitoring and evaluation initiatives to establish benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators, to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results in education programs.

Advocacy, partnership and capacity building

• Promote rights-based, evidence-based education programming and monitoring and advocate for quality, inclusive education
• Organize/plan/implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of Ministries of Education and partners to promote evidence based policies for better quality and more inclusive education systems.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

• Advanced University degree in economics, education, sociology or other social science field.
• Eight years of relevant work experience at the national and international levels in M&E, data analysis in education and programme management.
• Extensive experience of data analysis including the use of statistical software such as SPSS, Stata etc.
• Strong education and policy sector analysis capacity, including understanding of the core education data sets, indicators, tools for analysis of equity, determinants of student access and learning, budget, cost and financing, education system management, political economy and application to education policy and strategic planning.
• Strong  education sector planning knowledge/ability, including the range of modalities for delivering education, linkages between different sub-sectors, cost-effectiveness and efficiency issues, key institutional structures, components and processes, as well as governance issues.
• Good understanding of the overall global development context, including issues such as: poverty, conflict, and the impact of these factors on education and vice-versa; and inter-sectoral approaches to address such issues in collaboration with other sectors.
• Good ability to support policy dialogue: translation of analytical findings and evidence into development programmes and policy discussions around equity and learning with partners, including government, development partners, CSOs and academia in relevant areas.
• Good ability to support engagement with partners (e.g. Sector Wide Approaches, Global Partnership for Education, Education in Emergency Clusters), as well as networking with other key partners.
• Good programme management in education, including programme design, costing, monitoring and understanding of gender and inequity issues in relation to education and development and the application of gender / equity analysis to policy and planning in education.
• Good understanding of policies and strategies to address issues related to resilience: risk analysis and risk management, education in conflict situations, natural disasters, and recovery
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

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: UNICEF Values

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.

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.

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.

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 candidates from diversified background are encouraged to apply.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.

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