Advocacy Manager - P

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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 the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized. 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 also the world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries. As a global authority UNICEF is able to influence decision makers at the global level and turn the most innovative ideas into reality.

More than 13,000 staff work with UNICEF, with approximately 85 per located in the field in 190 countries. Seven regional offices and over 124 country offices worldwide, 34 national committees, a research centre in Florence, a supply division in Copenhagen, a shared services centre in Budapest and offices in Berlin, Brussels, Seoul and Tokyo, and UNICEF headquarters in New York and Geneva work on helping children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence.

We employ committed professional to work in our five focus areas: Child Survival and Development, Basic Education and Gender Equality, HIV/AIDS, Child Protection and Policy Advocacy and Partnerships. We also employ staff with expertise in administration and finance, human resources, information technology, supply and logistics as well as external relations and communication. UNICEF's presence in humanitarian crises means that we also seek experts in emergency preparedness and response.

Interested in becoming a champion for every child? Learn more about what we look for and what we offer.

Please note that not all types of contracts and advertisements are listed in cinfoPoste. Find all of them, including General Service staff and consultancies as well as specific programmes here . For UNV positions with UNICEF please refer to the UNV page on cinfoPoste or here .

Find in-depth information on careers with UNICEF and related cinfo's support on cinfo.ch: Visit the organisation's profile

Job description

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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 Advocacy on Capacity Building 

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does ? in programmes, 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.

Organizational context

In supporting senior leadership, HQ Divisions, Regional and Country Offices to progress on UNICEF vision, mandate and commitment, the Division of Global Communication and Advocacy (GCA) serves as the global centre of excellence in advocacy, communication and brand. By coalescing our collective efforts, UNICEF aims to be the leading advocate for children, enabled by a cohort of networked, strategic, innovative, and effective advocates who deliver change for children in every part of the world.   

The GCA's Advocacy Section has three core objectives: 

• To collaboratively develop, strengthen and implement advocacy, campaigns and communications strategies, with robust monitoring and evaluation, on advocacy priorities. 
• To build and strengthen strategic partnerships for advocacy ? with Goodwill Ambassadors, civil society, influencers, partner organizations (UN and non-UN) and other actors, to ensure a strategic approach to deploying these partners to increase our advocacy impact
• To develop and implement clear plans to build advocacy capacity across UNICEF. 

Advocacy is at the centre of UNICEF's mandate. We advocate to decision makers for ?the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential'.

The Advocacy Manager (ACBI) reports to Section Chief who is at Level 5

How can you make a difference?

The P4 Advocacy Manager is accountable for managing the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Advocacy Capacity Building Initiative, ensuring advocacy capacity building initiatives are brought to scale. This includes critical aspects such as determination of advocacy priorities that are context-specific, to maximize success and efficiencies of UNICEF's advocacy for every child, in every context. This includes supporting and monitoring the implementation of regional and national advocacy strategies, if required.

This must follow an approach that is: 

• Bottom-up, Region and Country-led, valuing the needs and expertise of our colleagues in different contexts, including HIC/MICs/LICs and across humanitarian and development contexts
• Rights-based, focusing on the child rights advocacy commitment and principles in the SP on equity, inclusion, non-discrimination, gender equality and Leave No One Behind
• Sustainable, building a cadre of skilled advocacy experts who are able to both drive effective advocacy in their contexts, and pass on skills and learnings to colleagues and partners; while working deliberately with leaders to grow and embed a culture of advocacy across UNICEF 
• Rooted in evidence, based on tested methodology and a commitment to continuous improvement including through robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning, and addressing gaps and weaknesses identified, including political intelligence gathering and analysis, and policy blocking to strategically challenge the practices and policies that violate or child rights

As a member of GCA's Advocacy Section, the Advocacy Manager works in close coordination with other DOC sections, Programme Division, other HQ Divisions, Regional, Country Offices, National Committees, other relevant internal and external stakeholders.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

• Advocacy Capacity Building Initiative strategy development
• Advocacy Capacity Building Initiative implementation
• Advocacy Capacity Building Initiative M&E
• Team building, Project and Budget Management
• Stakeholder engagement
• Others

The staff member will lead and manage a team to design and coordinate effective advocacy capacity building initiatives, through the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages. S/he will work collaboratively with colleagues across UNICEF at headquarters, country and regional level, as well build alliances or coalitions with internal and external partners to building a cadre of skilled advocacy experts who are able to both drive effective advocacy in their contexts and pass on skills and learnings to colleagues and partners. S/he will target global advocacy fora and support effective advocacy at the regional and national level. Duties include:

• Advocacy Capacity Building Initiative development: 
  • Manage every element of the ACBI strategy process, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to define ways to ensure a sustainable approach to build a cadre of skilled advocacy experts who are able to both drive effective advocacy in their contexts, and pass on skills and learnings to colleagues and partner
  • This includes supporting drafting regional and national advocacy strategies, if required, as a part of the capacity building process
• ACBI implementation:  
  • Drive the implementation of advocacy capacity building strategies and plans, working across teams to ensure they are aligned to  UNICEF capacity building goals, methodologies and M&E procedures
  • Ensure follow up implementation of drafted regional and national advocacy strategies, if required, as a part of the capacity building process
• ACBI M&E: 
  • Supervise the development of a clear ACBI M&E framework: setting baselines against which capacity building outcomes are regularly monitored; conducting analysis to continuously improve the effectiveness of the strategy, approach and activities; and overseeing the production and dissemination of ACBI M&E results.
• Team building, Project and Budget Management:
  • Provide a protective, nurturing environment for the team ? in line with UNICEF's highest ethical standards and values; respond appropriately to ethical issues and complaints of abuse of authority, bullying and harassment.
  • Ensure project management coherence in the activities of the team, conveying strategic priorities and setting clear deliverables.
  • Where relevant, manage cross-divisional, international and inclusive teams featuring a variety of advocacy and non-advocacy professionals, to drive and deliver strategic ACBI initiatives.
  • Support mobilizing resources for undertaking ACBI activities. Ensure effective and transparent management of budget and resources.
• Stakeholder engagement:
  • Provide strategic guidance for advocacy capacity building partnerships and networks through proactive collaboration with internal and external partners.
  • Partners will include UNICEF senior leaders, HQ divisions, National Committees, Regional Offices, Country Offices, other UN entities, influencers, academics, business leaders and other public and private sector partners.
  • Ensure that effective advocacy capacity building strategies and plans are co-created with partners, to leverage their power to contribute to UNICEF's advocacy goals. 
  • Ensure that feedback from key stakeholders is incorporated into advocacy capacity building, strategy design, implementation and team learning.
• Others:
  • Carry out additional activities as required.

Impact of Results:

The efficiency and efficacy of support provided by the Advocacy Manager:

• Robust advocacy strategies are developed implemented, monitored and evaluated, with SMART advocacy outcomes and clear theories of change.
• Measurable change for children and young people through the achievement of defined advocacy outcomes at the global and national level.
• The Advocacy Section drives the development of global plans and priorities, building partnerships and capacity at all levels to improve advocacy impact.

Achieving these goals will significantly contribute to the well-being of children.

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

Education:

An advanced university degree is required in one of the following fields: International Relations, Political Science, International Development, Public Policy, Public Administration, Economics, Communication or related fields.

*A first level university degree (Bachelor's) in a relevant field, in conjunction with ten (10) years of relevant work experience in advocacy, campaigning or a related field may be taken in lieu of a Master's degree.

Experience:

At least eight (8) years of progressively responsible and relevant professional work experience in advocacy/ campaigning is required, with at least two years at the international level.

Experience in leading the development and implementation of advocacy strategies, with clear theories of change, specific, measurable and timebound objectives, and performance indicators.

A track record experience in training and facilitation in advocacy capacity building processes

Proven experience in deploying a range of advocacy tactics based on a clear theory of change.

Experience in building and maintaining a network of advocacy stakeholders, and in working with advocacy coalitions.

Strong communicator with emphasis on being able to present complex policy ideas in succinct, engaging ways through campaign narratives and creative tactics.

Experience in managing a team is a requirement, along with a proven commitment to diverse and inclusive recruiting process. Managing a multicultural team is an asset.

Demonstrated experience in design and management of projects, including budget management and monitoring and evaluation of results.

Knowledge of international development, humanitarian issues and children's rights.

Experience working in a developing and emergency environment is an asset.

Language Requirements:

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 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: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are?

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (2)
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
• Works Collaboratively with others (2)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

* The 7 core competencies are applicable to all employees. However, the competency Nurtures, Leads and Managers people is only applicable to staff who supervise 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. 

Remarks:

UNICEF's active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children 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. 

[If Applicable] Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be cancelled.

All selected candidates will 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.

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.

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

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More details

Working hours (%): 80-100%

Type of contract: Staff (Permanent and Fixed Term)

Macro-area: Western and Central Europe without Switzerland

Level of experience: Senior Professional, more than 5 years

Area of work : Advocacy, Media and Communication

Type of organisation: Multilateral Organisations