Consultancy – UPSHIFT Global Lead, Office of Innovation, Remote, 11.5 months, #538994

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, innovate…

UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives.

The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection, where an organization that works on huge global issues meets the startup thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions.

UNICEF’s Office of Innovation creates opportunities for the world’s children by focusing on where new markets can meet their vital needs. We do this by:

• Connecting youth communities (or more broadly — anyone disconnected or under-served) to decision-makers, and to each other, to deliver informed, relevant and sustained programmes that build better, stronger futures for children.
• Provoking change for children through an entrepreneurial approach — in a traditionally risk-averse field — to harness rapidly moving innovations and apply them to serve the needs of all children.
• Creating new models of partnership that leverage core business values across the public, private and academic sectors in order to deliver fast, and lasting results for children.

The Office of Innovation specifically looks to form partnerships around frontier technologies (like drones and UAVs, blockchain, 21st century skills, urban technologies, new banking tools, wearables and sensors, or 3D-Printing) that exist at the intersection of $100 billion business markets and 1 billion person needs – and to identify how they can grow and scale profitably and inclusively.

UPSHIFT

UPSHIFT is one of UNICEF’s priority projects for scale in the Office of Innovation. UPSHIFT is a youth social innovation and social entrepreneurship programme, designed to build skills and opportunities for young people who are disadvantaged, due to (for example) poverty, gender, disability or ethnicity. The programme combines social innovation workshops, mentorship, incubation and seed funding, to equip young people with the skills and resources they need to identify problems in their own communities and design solutions for them. While young people build skills for life, employment and social entrepreneurship through UPSHIFT; their wider communities benefit from the solutions they create.

UPSHIFT is highlighted within Generation Unlimited, as a solution which should be scaled to address skills for employment, and the World Bank’s Solutions for Youth Employment Impact Portfolio as a promising solution to address youth unemployment.

UPSHIFT started in 2014 and now has presence in 35 countries, with a focus on both new countries piloting UPSHIFT and existing countries scaling into systems, with the support of digital tools and platforms.

How can you make a difference?

This role will lead the global scale up of UPSHIFT and will support the Office of Innovation in Field Engagement and Capacity Building in related areas. This role requires a flexible, can-do mindset, with deliverables subject to change, as we learn in real-time.

Main responsibilities will be:

• Continue to implement the global strategy and plan for scaling UPSHIFT into systems in consultation with cross-sectoral specialists, experienced country offices and external partners
• Proactively drive digital transformation as a key enabler for sustainable, scalable UPSHIFT models at country level
• Provide technical support and advice to UNICEF Country Offices rolling out UPSHIFT, enabling them to adapt and launch UPSHIFT pilots
• Manage the UPSHIFT global network as a dynamic and effective community of practice that supports south-south collaboration
• In collaboration with PFP, NatComs and PPD support partnership activities for existing (Chloe, Pandora) and new UPSHIFT partners
• Working with the Office of Research, support development of a measurement framework and toolkit for UPSHIFT
• Ensure the UPSHIFT SharePoint resources are up to date as a useful and used repository for Country Offices to build their capacity around UPSHIFT and save time and resources across the organisation
• Support internal and external communication activities around UPSHIFT
• Support delivery of regional UPSHIFT workshops in the MENA and ESAR regions, as part of the Prospect programme
• Using the extensive UPSHIFT CO network, support broader field engagement and listening across key related innovation portfolio areas (Youth, Learning, Gender Equality, MHPSW)
• As needed, support delivery of capacity building activities relating to innovation and human centred design
• Play an active role as part of the Field Engagement and Capacity Building team, supporting on other tasks, as agreed

Please note that the support and lead responsibilities may be varied, by mutual agreement.

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

• An advanced university degree (Masters or higher) in Social Sciences, Humanities, International Relations, Economics, Business or other relevant field.
  *A first University Degree in a relevant field (including Social Sciences, Humanities, International Relations, Economics, Business or other relevant field) combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree
• 8 years of professional work experience in a relevant field, such as international development, innovation, social innovation or entrepreneurship.
• Direct experience of developing and delivering UPSHIFT programmes, including training of UPSHIFT trainers
• Experience in working with organizations focused on engaging and empowering adolescents and youth, especially the most marginalized
• Experience in deploying digital platforms, tools and approaches in support of skills programmes
• Experience in working with multiple countries and with multiple stakeholders
• Fluency in English is required, strong written and verbal competency is necessary
• Fluency in another UN language (French or Spanish) is highly desirable

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…

• Deciding and Initiating Action (L 1)
• Relating and networking (L 1)
• Persuading and Influencing (L 2)
• Learning and Researching (L 2)
• Creating and Innovating (L 2)
• Formulating Strategies and Concepts (L 1)
• Planning and Organising (L 1)
• Adapting and Responding to Change (L 2)
• Entrepreneurial Thinking (L 1)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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

Payment details and further considerations

• Monthly payment, based on monthly tasks and progress reports, approved upon monthly review with supervisor.
• Consultant is responsible for his/her own health and travel insurance
• Consultant is eligible for standard DSA for all work-related travel

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.

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 (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). 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.