Senior Child Protection Specialist, P-5, New York Headquarters, USA, # 19596

The Senior Child Protection Specialist will further develop UNICEF’s understanding and programmatic approaches to changing social norms that cause harm to children with an aim to achieve results toward SDG, SP, GAP targets on VAC and harmful practices; to provide UNICEF’s senior technical and managerial leadership of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting at HQ level with frequent support/travel to RO/COs.approaches and methodology (RBM) and UNICEF's Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework.

if you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Purpose of the Position

Under the guidance of the Senior Adviser, the incumbent will further develop UNICEF's understanding and programmatic approaches to changing social norms that cause harm to children with an aim to achieve results toward Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), Strategic Plan (SP), Gender Action Plan (GAP) targets on Violence Against Children (VAC) and harmful practices; to provide UNICEF's senior technical and managerial leadership of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting at HQ level with frequent support/travel to Regional Offices/Country Offices.

Summary of Key Functions/ Accountabilities:

1. Programme Policy Formulation

• Based on the Convention on the Rights of Children, Convention (CRC) on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the current Strategic Plan, assist in the formulation, refinement, adaptation and articulation of UNICEF global strategies, policy and approaches as they relate to the abandonment of harmful social norms including on Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage (FGM/CM), in close cooperation with others sectors and based on latest developments in social sciences and programme experience by UNICEF and partners.
  
  
• Senior technical and managerial leadership of UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage (FGM/CM).

2. Generating and applying evidence for programmes

• Develop strategic priorities and plans for generation of evidence on violence against children and harmful practices, collaborate with partners and regional/country offices on appropriate models for data collection and analysis, and play a leading role in analyzing findings to inform programming.

3. Partnerships and advocacy

• Strengthen collaboration with key partners at the global and country level, including UN Agencies, the World Bank, NGOs, and academic institutions.
  
  
• Keep abreast of new trends and activities; formulate and develop funding proposals, support resource mobilization efforts of regional and country offices related to programmes for child protection and negotiate with donors in collaboration with Public Partnership Division (PPD) on technical assistance programmes and project plans.

4. Capacity Building

• Develop models for systematic capacity building in the area of child protection as it relates to harmful social norms and evidence-based programmes including monitoring and evaluation tools and provide technical support to Regional Office (RO)/Country Office (CO) on roll-out.

5. Others/Management

• Prepare work plans, funding allocations, reports and other documentation to contribute to the personnel and financial management of the child protection team, contribute to sectorial initiatives and perform any other work as assigned to support Child Protection section.

Qualifications of a Successful Candidate

• An Advanced University Degree in any of the following: Social Sciences, Public Administration, International Relations, International Humanitarian Law, Development Studies, Community Development, Anthropology, Public Health or other fields related to the work of UNICEF.  
  
  
• A minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible professional work experience, relevant to Child Protection or Social Policy,  in areas of social development program planning, at the national and international level, and experience in programme planning, management, monitoring and evaluation.
  
  
• Relevant experience in child protection and related areas including addressing harmful practices, programme/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset.
  
  
• Fluency in English (written & verbal) is required. Knowledge of an additional UN Language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish) is considered an asset. 
  
  

Competencies of a Successful Candidate

Core Values

• Commitment
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Integrity

Core competencies

• Communication - Level III
• Working with People - Level III
• Drive for Results - Level III

Functional Competencies

• Persuading and Influencing - Level III
• Deciding and Initiating Action - Level III
• Relating and Networking - Level III
• Analyzing - Level II
• Formulating Strategies and Concepts - Level III

To view our competency framework, please click here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.