External/Internal Vacancy Announcement: TA Social Policy Specialist (Public Finance for Children), P-4, For 364 Days, Maputo, Mozambique (Eligibility: Non-Mozambicans)

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 Champion

https://www.youtube.com/user/UnicefMozambique/videos

How can you make a difference?

Under the general guidance and the supervision of Chief Social Policy, the incumbent is responsible for providing technical support to the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of all stages of PF4C programing and related advocacy from strategic planning and formulation to delivery of concrete and sustainable results. This includes programmes aimed at improving (a) public policies to reduce child poverty; (b) social protection coverage and impact on children; (c) the transparency, adequacy, equity and efficiency of child-focused public investments and financial management; and (d) governance, decentralization and accountability measures to increase public participation and the quality, equity and coverage of social services. This encompasses both direct programme work with government and civil society partners as well as linkages and support to teams working on education, health, child protection, water and sanitation, and HIV.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Improving data on child poverty & vulnerability for increased use for policy and programme action

• Supports the collection, analysis and user-friendly presentation of data on multidimensional and monetary child poverty, including strengthening national capacity to collect routinely, report and use data for policy decision-making.
• Provides timely, regular data-driven analysis for effective prioritization, planning, and development; facilitates results-based management for planning, adjusting, and scaling-up specific social policy initiatives to reduce child poverty. 
• Analyzes the macroeconomic context and its impact on social development, emerging issues and social policy concerns, as well as implications for children, and proposes and promotes appropriate responses in respect of such issues and concerns, including government resource allocation policies and the effects of social welfare policies on the rights of children

2. Strengthening social protection coverage and impact for children

• Supports the development of social protection policies, legislation and programmes with attention to increasing coverage of and impact on children, with special attention the most marginalized.  Identifies, generates and presents evidence to support this goal in collaboration with partners.
• Promotes strengthening of integrated social protection systems, providing technical support to partners to improve the design of cash transfers and child grants and improve linkages with other social protection interventions such as health insurance, public works and social care services as well as complementary services and intervention related to nutrition, health, education, water and sanitation, child protection and HIV.
• Undertakes improved monitoring and research around social protection impact on child outcomes and use of data and research findings for strengthening programme results.

3. Improving use of public financial resources for children in central and local level

• Improving data and evidence generation to advocate for greater and better public investments in children. When relevant, develop and apply PFM tools together with sections,  government counterparts and development partners, such as budget briefs, thematic budget analyses, the Open Budget Survey, Public Expenditure Reviews (PERs), Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS), cost efficiency and/or cost effectiveness analyses, expenditure incidence analyses, piloting evidence-based approaches, costing exercises, fiscal space analyses, financing and/or affordability studies, cost benefit analyses, cost of inaction analyses, etc.
• Analyze the macroeconomic context and its impact on children and vulnerable families and propose appropriate responses in terms of government resource allocation and revenue management policies, including revenues from extractive sector and social welfare policies.
• Engages in the budget process to influence allocation decisions in central and decentral level and improve the performance of spending on children, specifically provide technical support in PFM reforms so that they reflect child-focused priorities and deliver on expected results (esp. Programme Based Budget), including budgeting approaches, inter-governmental fiscal transfer formulas, national accounts, revenue policies and medium-term expenditure frameworks (MTEFs).
• Leads coordination and dialogue of PF4C related work with Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of State Administration and their decentralized bodies, donor groups and leverage with IFIs.
• Leads the collaboration and technical support to strengthen child sensitive legislative and oversight role with the Parliament of Mozambique and Provincial Assemblies, specifically Budget and Social issues Committees.
• Builds capacity and collaboration with CSOs in central and local level, for improved participation, monitoring and tracking of public expenditure to support transparency, accountability and effective financial flows, including extractives sector, for essential service delivery.

4. Strengthened advocacy and partnerships for child-sensitive social policy

• Supports correct and compelling use of data and evidence on the situation of children and coverage and impact of child focused services – in support of the social policy programme and the country programme overall. 
• Establishes effective partnerships with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society and local leaders, the private sector, and other UN agencies to support sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to achieve global UN agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Identifies other critical partners, promotes awareness and builds capacity of partners, and actively facilitates effective collaboration within the UN family.

5. UNICEF Programme Management

• Leads and manages the overall PF4C and governance output and team.
• Manages and coordinates technical support around public finance and governance ensuring it is well planned, monitored, and implemented in a timely fashion so as to adequately support scale-up and delivery. Ensures risk analysis and risk mitigation are embedded into overall management of the support, in close consultation with UNICEF programme sections, Cooperating Partners, and governments.
• Supports and contributes to effective and efficient planning, management, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the country programme. Ensures that the social planning project enhances policy dialogue, planning, supervision, technical advice, management, training, research and support; and that the monitoring and evaluation component strengthens monitoring and evaluation of the social sectors and provides support to sectoral and decentralized information systems.

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

Education: An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, or another relevant technical field.  

Work Experience: A minimum of Eight years of relevant professional work experience in the field of Public Finance Management (PFM) is required. At least 2 years of experience in PBB is required. Experience in working with the parliament is considered a strong asset. Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English, Spanish and/or Portuguese is required.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (2)
• 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)

 

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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:

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.