Job no: 562197
Contract type: Fixed Term Appointment
Duty Station: Copenhagen
Level: P-4
Location: Denmark
Categories: WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), Innovation
This is a re-advertisement of the same vacancy. Previous applicants need not reapply.
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, innovation.
The Office of Global Innovation (OoI) works to catalyze UNICEF’s and all its partners’ expertise and resources against key children-outcomes Context: bottlenecks, with a view to continuously ideate and scale the most effective solutions with transformational potential at scale to achieve the child-related SDGs.
The office is doing this by continuously exploring new ways of accelerating results for children, investing across a range of early stage solutions, and harnessing internal and external expertise towards continuously iterating and fine-tuning the most promising solutions for children through a systematic portfolio management approach, and leveraging all stakeholders’ innovation energy, know-how and resources from intergovernmental, multilateral, private sector and non governmental fora (think tank, academia).
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.
How can you make a difference?
The Innovation Manager will work under the supervision of the P5 Senior Adviser Innovation (WASH Hub). The incumbent will work closely in partnership with the Portfolio Culture and Scale Team at the Office of Innovation. The Innovation Manager will be responsible for discovering, validating, supporting and scaling WASH innovations with the potential for transformative impact.
The Innovation Manager will inject creativity and drive into the management of the UNICEF climate resilient Global WASH Innovation Portfolio and in building a sustainable pipeline of climate resilient WASH innovations to accelerate results for children and young people in line with the UNICEF’s strategic plan and WASH global sector strategies. This is a new position that will evolve requiring adaptability, flexibility, and the ability to creatively respond to rapidly changing innovation landscapes.
Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:
1. Under the supervision of the Chief of the Hub, work in close partnership with relevant thematic team in Programme Group, relevant WASH accountabilities and technical specialists in the Hub, and any other identified OOI focal points to:
- Understand the external innovation landscape within which the portfolio and their innovation solutions are situated, ensuring UNICEF is positioned to add unique value to the global ecosystem, best utilizing its strengths, resources and networks and avoiding duplication
- Actively manage and evolve problem statements that focus solving and scaling of innovations within the portfolio
- Manage the Portfolio Review process for intake, review and exit of projects from the portfolio
- Collaborate, consult, and have smooth flow of information sharing with key part of the organization on an ongoing basis to support alignment of innovation and results for children
2. In line with the parameters agreed by the Innovation Portfolio Steering Committee (IPSC), actively manage the climate resilient WASH innovation portfolio, focusing time and resource on the innovation projects with greatest transformative potential. Key activities to achieve this include:
- Develop and implement appropriate sourcing and partnership tactics for the portfolio, taking into account factors such as the degree of effectiveness for solving for each specific problem statement.
- Manage the intake of innovative solutions for the portfolio in line with agreed global governance processes.
- Devise strategies to build a sustainable pipeline of portfolio solutions (both internal and external)
- Provide, broker and source support for projects within the portfolios, enabling them to accelerate new approaches to solving. This may include providing field support.
- Develop internal processes, as needed, to simplify the flow of intake of internal innovation projects from the within UNICEF
- Commission and/or develop opportune scaling deployment model to portfolio solutions with evidence of impact to scale across multiple geographies
3. Identify solutions and opportunities together with the Partnerships team to explore for resource mobilization
- On a recurring basis, identify portfolio solutions with the highest potential for scale and produce concise solutions briefings for the OoI Partnerships team to explore resource mobilization and partnership opportunities
- Scope out potential partnership opportunities for the overall portfolio or for specific portfolio solutions to be explored and pursued by the OoI Partnerships team
4. Identify portfolio solutions and opportunities for the Communications team to enable them to select content, plan for, communicate and regularly showcase the portfolios and their projects across a range of opportunities to raise profile, positioning and engagement and support for these and the Office of Innovation, through opportunities such as stories, media, social media, events, briefings etc.
5. Actively liaise with the P4 Performance & Evidence Manager to scope and support evidence generation and learning opportunities for the portfolio.
6. Under the guidance of the P4 Performance & Evidence Manager and in timely responses to requests from the OOI P2 Planning Officer, undertake performance management, monitoring, and reporting functions for the innovation portfolio.
7. In collaboration with the P3 Innovation Specialist (Knowledge Management and Capacity Building), support innovators in climate resilient WASH across UNICEF by:
- Ensuring INVENT and Sharepoint content is up to date in relation to the Portfolios
- Capture and distill learning and share these widely through mechanisms such as recorded webinars, documentation, videos and other assets, developmental reflections, etc.
- Connect and engage the external and internal parts of the ecosystem through bringing external eperiences into UNICEF as well as showcasing internal best practice.
- Facilitating south-south and triangular sharing of best practices
8. Commision and manage external contractors to undertake technical studies in respect to deploying and scaling climate resilient WASH intervention solutions
9. Management of the Hub’s technical staff who will be supporting the testing, deployment and scale-up of portfolio solutions
10. Provide management support to the Senior Adviser Innovation (WASH Hub) in respect to managing grants in support of portfolio solutions
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in one of the following fields is required: Environmental Science, Sustainability or related fields, Business, Innovation-related field, International Relations, Water & Sanitation or another relevant field.
- *A first degree plus an additional 2 years’ experience may be accepted in lieu of a master’s degree.
- A minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional experience is required at national and international levels in the areas of innovation, sustainability, water & sanitation, climate change,development and cooperation.
- Experience of designing and managing innovation portfolios is desirable.
- Experience in managing innovation challenges and other portfolio sourcing techniques is desirable.
- Demonstrated experience in developing sustainable business models for innovative solutions is an advantage.
- Demonstrated knowledge of UNICEF’s processes and procedures is considered an asset but not essential.
- Experience of working in a UNICEF programme country is considered an asset.
- Experience in WASH programmes in UNICEF programme countries is considered an asset.
- Understanding of climate resilient WASH innovation and programming within UNICEF is an advantage.
- Experience in managing grants as well as commissioning and managing large budgets, suppliers and technologists is an asset.
- 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 changes (2)
• Thinks and acts strategically (2)
• Drive to achieve results for impact (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)
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:
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). 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.
This is a re-advertisement of the same vacancy. Previous applicants need not reapply.
Advertised: 18 May 2023 Romance Daylight Time
Deadline: 01 Jun 2023 Romance Daylight Time
