Individual Contractor (11.5 months, full-time, home-based): Project Manager, Virtual Donor Experiences (VDEs), Division of Private Fundraising and Partnerships

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

UNICEF’s Division of Private Fundraising and Partnerships (PFP) has ambitious goals to deliver on income and influence. Donor engagement is an important driver of income. During the pandemic, Virtual Donor Experiences (VDEs) have become a fresh new tool to engage both prospective and current High Value private sector donors (corporates, philanthropy, and foundations) and offer a compelling way to bring UNICEF’s programmes to life in an interactive way.

But Virtual Donor Experiences could be so much more.

These online engagement events allow donors to experience the impact UNICEF’s work is having on the lives of children. The VDEs are live, interactive, and compelling, where we use digital technologies to bring to life the work UNICEF is doing in emergency and non-emergency contexts. They allow supporters to connect directly with experts and UNICEF staff in the field.

Building on these learnings, PFP aims to enhance this offering using new and innovative tools to enrich the experience at all stages of the acquisition, cultivation, retention, and stewardship journey.  UNICEF PFP seeks a Project Manager to manage a project to both optimize and innovate around our current offerings but also coordinate its expansion into new audiences.

How can you make a difference?

The role forms part of UNICEF’s Private Fundraising and Partnerships Division (PFP) and aims to strengthen UNICEF’s position in a competitive fundraising environment by bringing donors closer to our work in programme countries, helping to develop new and existing partnerships, and ultimately drive increases in income and influence.

The role will work across UNICEF’s high value channels, liaising with PFP Fundraisers, National Committees, Country Offices and Regional Offices to make sure that the VDE Solution is used to best effect across our portfolio. The role will also work closely with the Supporter Content Team, Emergency Task Force, High Value Task Force and other stakeholders to develop pilots to expand this offering.

MAIN TASKS

The role will include the following areas of work:

1. Project Planning and Management – development and execution of a project plan for 2022 that will outline a timeline of events, pilots, and deliverables for the overall project.
2. Product Development – expanding this offering to new priority high value audience groups, obtaining audience insights, developing, and piloting the offerings and refining it for wider use.
3. Content Design and Production– working with key stakeholders on identifying themes, timings, and follow-ups, ensuring that the fundraisers have the right content before and after the VDE to maximize income opportunities. Working with stakeholders to ensure that agencies and partners are utilizing the most impactful digital technologies.
4. Monitoring and Analysis – develop a monitoring and analysis framework and produce regular reports.
5. Capacity building – support training sessions and develop guidance notes for offices planning to engage in this offering.
6. Support other project activities and goals.

DELIVERABLES

1. Project Planning and Management:

• Support in the definition of project scope and objectives
• Creates a project plan for 2022 that will:

• • outline a timeline for the events and thematic focus areas
  • outline the approach for piloting and developing new products and new audiences, as well as testing new offerings on our existing programme informed by programme and fundraising market priorities
  • outline the approach for formulating a monitoring and analysis framework for the VDEs

• Monitor project progress and manage tasks to ensure timely delivery of key milestone
• Create and maintain comprehensive project documentation
• Provide project updates on a consistent basis to various stakeholders
• Measure performance using appropriate project management tools and techniques

2. Product Development

• Works with internal stakeholders to identify key priority audiences
• Works with existing High Value Taskforce and Emergency Task Force to identify at least 3 new opportunities among High Value audiences, carrying out workshops and propositions for future pilots.
• Project manage the design and piloting at these experiences/products.
• Works closely with internal stakeholders, consultants, and agencies as needed to undertake insight formation and product development as part of a pilot project

3. Content Design and Production:

• Facilitates the coordination and co-creation of 8-10 engagement events (allowing for 2-3 sudden onset emergency briefings) with relevant stakeholders leading on the timing, focus areas and follow-ups
• Supports the content design of each of the 8-10 events (and 2-3 sudden onset emergency briefings) ensuring donor friendly messaging and voices are reflected in the VDEs. This will include researching relevant fundraising friendly stories and spokespeople including donor voices for each experience, sourcing presenters and speakers (in coordination with the Supporter Content Team and Task Teams) and coordinating the key messages for the speakers to reflect relevant donor channels needs
• Works with the relevant stakeholders to ensure the production agency is utilizing the best technologies, and creating seamless, high production donor–focused experiences

4. Monitoring and Analysis

• Develops a monitoring and analysis framework for the overall VDE programme, including identification of core KPIs, tracking and impact analysis
• Obtains and analyses feedback from each event including any direct attributable gifts
• Compiles a snapshot overview report after each event to be shared with relevant PFP teams
• Generates a quarterly progress project report and a year-end report that will outline progress, challenges and opportunities for the initiative moving into the future.

5. Capacity Building

• Works with relevant teams to coordinate at 10 training sessions for National Committees, Country Offices and Regional Offices, aiming to produce their own virtual donor experiences.
• Works with relevant teams to support fundraisers in maximising the VDEs and assets in their donor stewardship journeys through the coordination of at least 4 training sessions.
• Works with relevant teams to produce at least 2 new guidance documents /Power Points and refresh the VDE “How to” guidance documents.

6. Support other project activities and goals.

ESTIMATED DURATION OF THE CONTRACT AND PROPOSAL

11.5 months, full-time, tentatively start in Dec 2021

REPORTING TO

Communication Manager, Supporter Content Team, Communication & Marketing Section, PFP

WORKPLACE

To be home based (preferably following Central European Time) with occasional travel to UNICEF PFP in Geneva. The travel will be agreed with the supervisor in advance and be paid by UNICEF.

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

Education:

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: Marketing, Communications, the Humanities, Fundraising, Business Administrations, Social Sciences, International Relations, or another relevant technical field.
• Alternatively, a first level university degree in a relevant field combined with additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.
• Any other additional training in a related field is an asset.

Experience:

• A minimum of five years of progressively responsible work experience in creating donor journeys across high value fundraising channels (corporates, major donors and foundations) is required.
• Experience in project management is required particularly in high-pressure environments.
• Experience of managing the co-creation of events, especially those that are donor focused is required.
• Experience of delivering digital / online events is required. 
• Experience in report writing and analysis is an asset.
• Experience in Design Thinking methodology is an asset.
• Experience in writing persuasively for different fundraising audiences is an asset.
• Experience in working with creative teams or agencies and sound understanding of the creative process is an asset.
• Experience of UNICEF & UN is an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language an asset.

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.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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

Remarks: Please indicate your ability, availability, and gross daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable). Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered. Also, please mention the earliest date you can start.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein. Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

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.