Programme Manager (Public Health emergencies)

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 fair chance

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Strategic office context:

Much of UNICEF Supply Division’s (SD) work focuses on working with suppliers and a range of partners to ensure the availability of life- saving products. With a long-standing history as the leading UN procurement agency, its unique role in influencing markets for novel health products, role as a broker between governments and private sector and other global health partners, engagement in improving equitable access to MCMs and other critical supplies from upstream product development to downstream delivery to end users in low-resource settings, expertise in complex supply chains across multiple contexts, UNICEF has performed these roles and honed its strategy, partnerships, and operational approaches to respond to public health emergencies (PHEs) including the COVID-19 pandemic, Cholera, Ebola Virus, mpox and Zika Virus multi-country outbreaks, as well as repeated and often more localized outbreaks of polio, measles, yellow fever, and meningitis among others. 

How can you make a difference?

The Manager is responsible for providing advice, analytics, and strategic support on UNICEF’s country and regional communications and engagement related to preparedness and response  to Public Health Emergency  efforts. The incumbent will act as the front-liner for communications with countries, regions and partners in matters related to PHE implementation and other health emergency partnerships. The incumbent should keep current with country matters, supply chain updates and sectoral changes that directly or indirectly impact access to MCM and other essential  health emergency supplies. The focus is primarily health-related industries and health emergencies (e.g. COVID-19, Cholera, Ebola, Zika Virus).

You will be accountable for: 

1. Under the supervision of the Senior Advisor, and based on what is assigned to the Programme Manager’s contribution to the Center’s successful completion of its deliverables to support Supply Division, including tasks such as the following:
   1. Lead the implementation of the country and regional engagement mechanism within the CHESP for Public Health Emergencies.
   2. Coordinate and execute communications with relevant internal supply divisions teams as well as program and country offices and key stakeholder groups on cross-cutting supply chain issues, and PHE outbreak mitigation and response.
   3. Act as a front-liner for country PHE enquiries and feedback in close collaboration with HQ teams, regions and relevant partners ensuring timely resolution and alignment with key messages, talking points and priorities.
   4. Develop, update, and contribute to PHE engagement tools and materials – dashboards, briefing notes, policy documents, slides, FAQs, management reports, donor updates, situation reports.
   5. Lead the research and analysis of global, country and regional data to shape PHE insights, corrective actions, and recommendations for supply division.
   6. Map and monitor latest PHE developments, risk assessments, red flags, and lesson learned within and outside UNICEF, elevating within relevant teams for action.
   7. Build country and regional capacity on relevant tools, guidance, and processes for Covid-19 response, and other Health Emergencies with relevant teams.
   8. Provide advice and analytics, including background materials and assessments on countries and regions pertaining to Covid-19 response, and other Health Emergencies.
   9. Act as knowledge manager for country communications, data and information while sharing, creating, and updating repositories.

1. Network and build rapport with countries, regions, and key partners for exploratory purposes, analysis and market research.
2. Other duties or assignments as requested by the supervisor.

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

Education

• An advanced university degree in International Health, Data & Analytics, Epidemiolocal Sciences, International Development, or related field is required.

Work Experience

• A minimum of eight years of progressively responsible professional work experience in either the public and/or private sector in a related area, such as public health/health emergencies, data and analytics, / supply chains, country capacity building,  and other relevant areas.

Other requirements

• An understanding or working knowledge of UNICEF operations and understanding of the constraints of working in difficult geographical locations  
• Experience working in a multi-cultural environment and/or developing and/or emergency response context at country level
• Strong knowledge of low- and middle-income public health emergencies product supply 
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Strong diplomacy and problem-solving skills
• Strong organizational and analytical skills and ability to multi-task in a high-pressure environment.
• Strong quantitative and qualitative data & analytical skills, including data analysis and visualization tools, data triangulation, data validation and more

Languages

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues

 The core competencies required for this post are:

• Builds and maintains partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• 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 only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at: http://www.whed.net/

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.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

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