Temporary Appointment: Design Specialist (P-3), Office of Global Insight & Policy (OGIP), New York, NYHQ, (6.5 months – backfill)

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, an advocate…

This position is a shared post between the Office of Global Insight and Policy (Global Insight) and the Office of Innovation.

The Office of Global Insight and Policy (OGIP), established in 2019 to assist UNICEF in interpreting, and engaging in, a rapidly changing world, and serves as an internal think-tank, providing UNICEF with intelligence on a range of issues with implications for children and its work, equipping the organization to more effectively shape the global discourse, and preparing it for the future by scanning the horizon for frontier issues and ways of working.

OGIP conducts analysis on a range of external issues based on soliciting needs across the organization, identifies implications, translates into options or recommendations, and socializes with relevant parts of the organization. OGIP’s generates commentary and briefings, to enable UNICEF to more effectively drive the global conversation vis-à-vis children and leverage its normative influence and analyzes new issues and ways of working to incorporate into UNICEF’s core business and next strategic plan to drive the organization forward.

The Design Specialist will work closely with relevant colleagues from Global Insight and Innovation teams, and will engage with other divisions such as Division of Communication regularly on behalf of both teams.

How can you make a difference?

This TA is for a limited period to cover a staff member’s leave of absence.

The position sits within the Strategic Engagement Unit that is shared by both the Insight and Innovation offices, and is supervised by Global Insight’s Chief of Staff.

The incumbent will play a leading role in innovative projects for the Global Insight team through art direction, graphic design, publication design and web-feature development. The Design Specialist will be expected to oversee conceptual creative development of Global Insight’s emerging visual identity, establishing a distinct and cohesive look and feel for the new office’s products.  

The incumbent will also oversee the roll out of Global Insight’s visual identity in editorial, policy and online content, often translating complex subject matter into accessible content for a range of audiences. Alongside the Editorial and Policy Units, the incumbent will support ideation and development of innovative products such as indexes, infographics and data visualizations, and digital storytelling of research findings. Furthermore, (s)he will be expected to oversee design consultants tasked with implementing discrete projects to ensure that all Insight products maintain a high quality and holistic visual identity and will be expected to maintain planning and task monitoring systems for the Global Insight team’s design needs.

The Design Specialist will support integration of Global Insight’s emerging visual identity in communications products (newsletters, web features, website, etc.) and ensure tailor-made design content to maximize outreach efforts.

Tasks will include…

• Lead ideation and development of strategic editorial and policy product categories appropriate to a range of audiences
• Position the Office at the forefront of design approaches by staying abreast of the latest design approaches (i.e. in use by influential think tanks, research institutes and media outlets) and incorporating new ideas and use of new software where appropriate
• Lead the development of Global Insight’s distinct visual identity (in line with UNICEF’s brand guidelines) through consultation with the director, policy and editorial specialists as new products emerge
• Support development of Global Insight’s digital presence through design direction of unicef.org/insight and tailored web-features
• Lead creative development of flagship Global Insight products (annual indexes, data visualizations, explainer videos, etc.)
• Regularly monitor audience engagement with different product types and feed findings into product development planning
• Work closely with policy specialists and editors, conceptualize and design (or oversee design of) infographics, data visualizations and light, user-friendly policy products to communicate key messages and findings 
• Work closely with the communications staff, oversee design of communication materials and multimedia content (videos, blogs, newsletters, social media content)
• Support streamlined publication planning through development of templates and design identities for various recurring publications (as needed)
• Guide website creation and management, as necessary, through familiarity with CSS, HTML, Drupal or other required software
• Coordinate projects and manages third party design consultants or companies both for day-to-day work and one-off larger projects to ensure cohesive visual aesthetics across products
• Foster and maintain a roster of design consultants who can be deployed for discrete projects
• Maintain planning and task monitoring systems for the Global Insight team’s design needs
• Build strong internal partnerships to facilitate Insight’s outreach strategy through collaboration with the Division of Communications and other partners as needed
• Actively contributes to shaping a dynamic, collaborative office including its modalities of work and external engagement.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in design or related fields.
  *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant and progressively responsible work experience in design experience focused on visual communication, graphic design, interaction design, media design, brand design, etc.).
• Experience with design for international development, policy, or research organizations, or current affairs media organizations is considered an asset.
• Experience with data visualization and/or infographics is considered an asset.
• Experience of leading or managing a team is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is 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.

The functional competencies required for this post are…

• Formulating Strategies and Concepts (2)
• Analyzing (3)    
• Relating and Networking (2)  
• Deciding and Initiating Action (2)     
• Applying Technical Expertise (3)
• Planning and Organizing (3)     

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:

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