Deputy Representative Operations, NO-5

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.

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For Every Child, a future...

UNICEF is a leading humanitarian and development agency working globally for the rights of every child. Child rights begin with safe shelter, nutrition, protection from disaster and conflict and traverse the life cycle: pre-natal care for healthy births, clean water and sanitation, health care and education. UNICEF has spent nearly 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Working with and for children through adolescence and into adulthood requires a global presence whose goal is to produce results and monitor their effects. UNICEF also lobbies and partners with leaders, thinkers and policy makers to help all children realize their rights, especially the most disadvantaged.

How can you make a difference?

In an effort to measurably improve UNICEF's ability to deliver the best results for children, 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 fulfil 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. 

The Operations function supports the Representative on managing the office and monitoring operations and programmes as needed, while providing advice on best and innovative management practices to enhance office performance. The function plays a strategic Business Partner role within the Senior Management Team, assuring the best use of UNICEF assets in alignment with sound management practices, office priorities and goals to deliver results for children.

The post reports to UNICEF Country Office Representative who is at the D-2 level for general supervision and management. A member of the Senior Management Team, s/he supervises a large team of international professionals at P-5 and P-4 levels and is the matrix manager for Operations Managers/Officers in Field Offices.

The Deputy Representative, Operations will be entrusted with the following five pillars, the core focus of all operations functions: Valuing People, Valuing Money, Valuing Risk Management, Valuing Systems and Structures, Valuing Partners.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

Valuing People: Lead, manage and develop people resources to promote technical competence and foster career progression and retention of a “fit for purpose”/ agile workforce

Promote an environment of management excellence, staff well-being and accessibility and inclusion through implementation of strategies, policies, procedures. Provide proactive solutions and expert advice to senior management on people management and office culture. Foster operations behaviours that focus on delivering results for children, whilst balancing risk informed decisions, policy compliance and flexibility through which partners’ needs are reliably addressed, to create an avenue for the greatest results. Coordinate the human resource development and resourcing strategies to bring about changes in knowledge, skills, abilities and mind sets for Operations staff. Keep abreast of industry standards in management and finance. Institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned with global/regional colleagues to contribute to organizational development initiatives to strengthen management and operations. Promote and support Excellence in Operations by refining the evolving profession in UNICEF derived from the five strategic pillars.

Valuing Money: Champion strategic resources to achieve organizational goals and ensure Value for Money (VfM)

Optimize identification and use of resources in various concrete Value for Money (VfM) areas, including eco-efficiency and inclusivity, common premises, costing, results-based budgeting financial monitoring etc. Educate Business Units on their role in generating and reporting on VfM with the goal of strategically expanding its use to major UNICEF functions. Lead the financial oversight management, monitoring and reporting of all the country programme budget - and where applicable private sector fundraising budgets; make analysis and recommendations for Representative’s and Deputy Representative’s to take risk informed decisions. Advise and lead in the valuing of resources through programme financing modalities such as budgeting and pre-financing modalities for supplies, cash-based transfer etc. along with key government counterparts Oversee Supply outcome results related to Supply and Logistics Management and stay abreast of and promote the global strategies and their implementation. 

Valuing Risk Management: Enhance Risk Management to increase organizational performance and strengthen internal control

Ensure the office is equipped with the right skills and tools and up-to-date information to make operational and programmatic risk informed decisions and improve performance, with the support of the enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance (eGRC) platform. Maintain UNICEF organizational resilience and enhance staff safety and security by ensuring operational disaster risks address threats through well-formulated and tested business continuity plans, and Emergency Preparedness and Response to humanitarian situations. Review internal controls and policies/guidance included in the Regulatory Framework, provide oversight of appropriate implementation of policies and procedures and provide feedback on policy and internal controls as appropriate. Identify and implement mandatory anti-fraud systems, processes and actions, and share anti-fraud achievements within the country offices.  Facilitate mitigation of risks of engagement with external partners via appropriate, risk-informed due diligence.

Valuing Systems and Structures: Ensure further operational centralization and optimization for maximized efficiency gains

Review key Operations processes to minimize cost, simplify and reduce duplication of work and maximize efficiencies while creating an environment of smarter controls to render the organization agile, resilient and ready to respond to programme needs. Facilitate compliance with systems by building awareness and capacity of users explore new ways of working - including in the context of SG Reform – and continuously improve IT-enabled business processes to increase productivity and collaboration, better knowledge management, and ensure effective use of UNICEF assets. Provide key contribution to CPMP and review operational structures in collaboration with Regional Chiefs of Operations and the Strategic Business Support unit in DFAM. 

Valuing Partners: Strengthen ing internal and external-facing partnerships and leveraging UNICEF’s oversight and understanding of financial management across all areas of the office.

Provide technical expertise and recommendations on HACT implementation, including, advice approach to undertaking spot checks, follow-up actions required on result of financial assurance activities; the use and collaboration with the Supreme Audit Institution; and use of micro-assessment results including the appropriate level of capacity building in financial management. Partner with Programme by providing advice and recommendations on programme budgeting through involvement in programme document and support the financial impact analysis and determination of refund and amounts owing to the CSO Support UNICEF Office resource mobilization partners from donor negotiation and formulation of partnership agreements and contracts through written financial reporting, resolve discrepancies and ensure donor accountability and transparency. Foster a positive and enabling operations environment that supports private sector fundraising and solution-focused engagement (where applicable). Engage as effective stakeholders in the UN Reform, supporting Business Operating Services (BOS) and proactively paving the way for a potential “one back office” in country offices.

To qualify as a champion and advocate for every child, you will have…

Education:

An Advanced University Degree (Master’s) in one of the following areas is required: Business management; Financial management; Accounting; Public Finance; and related operations function (Supply Chain, Human Resources, Information Technology, International Business, Project management, etc.) or a full professional accounting designation (CA, ACA, ACCA, CPA, CIMA, CPFA, Expert Comptable) from an internationally recognized institute/body of accountancy with valid membership in good standing is required.

Professional experience:

A minimum of 10 years of professional experience, at the national and international level, is required, specifically in advocating and implementing strategic organizational initiatives in one or more operations management area including budget; financial management and reporting; facilities management; administration; supply and logistics management; information and communication technology; human resources. Prior experience in the development sector or UN system/ international NGOs would be an asset. For country offices with a significant private sector fundraising operation, prior experience working with or in the private sector, and supporting private sector fundraising, is desirable Additional experience in one or more of the following areas, would be desired: Audit and investigations Safety and security Grant Management Enterprise Risk Management  Experience in a UN system agency, large private or public company, or experience working in a developing country and/or humanitarian/ emergency context is an asset.  Experience in working with corporate ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning) and IPSAS (International Public Sector Accounting Standards) is highly desirable.  Experience in Results Based Management is a requirement. Experience in managing successful client-oriented work units is an asset.  Experience in co-creating policy is desirable. Prior experience working with diverse stakeholder groups or multi-stakeholder partnership is highly desirable.  Previous hands on experience in strategic and managerial leadership is required.  Familiarity with Microsoft Office applications is required.

Language:

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language is considered as an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

Core Values:

Care  Respect Integrity Trust Accountability Sustainability

Core competencies (Level 3):

Builds and maintains partnerships Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness Drive to achieve results for impact Innovates and embraces change Manages ambiguity and complexity Thinks and acts strategically Works collaboratively with others Nurtures, leads and manages people

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

Diversity Considerations

We encourage all candidates meeting the required qualification and experience to apply.

UNICEF’s active commitment towards an ever more diverse workforce and fostering an inclusive work environment is critical to deliver the best results for children.

We strongly encourage applications from women, trans* and gender non-conforming people and persons with disabilities.

We provide reasonable accommodation for employees and applicants with disabilities. Please let us know in your application if you identify as a person with a disability and how we can support you.

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. Flexible working arrangements, paid parental leave and other family-friendly policies support UNICEF staff to fulfill professional and personal commitments. Learn more Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

Remarks:

This is a temporary appointment and the selected applicants will be given a three (3) month temporary appointment contract. 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 Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and advance to the next stage of the selection process. UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID). UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 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.

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