About UNICEF

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. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

Core Standard Indicators (CSIs) sit at the centre of UNICEF’s corporate approach to monitoring results for children at both the level of the Strategic Plan and Country Programmes. The CSI system consists of four main elements: 1) a set of programmatic (output/outcome), strategy and enabler indicators with detailed methodological notes, meta data and calculation algorithms; 2) a sophisticated ICT module hosted on the corporate RAM platform that is integrated with other results management components; 3) organization-wide business processes for planning, monitoring, reporting, impartial quality review, and independent assurance of CSI data; 4) automated analytics engine and visualisations for Strategic Plan indicators, country programme indicators, and systemic change indexes at the global, regional and country levels.

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide demand-led technical inputs to all four of these elements to ensure the success of both the annual planning and reporting cycle and the quadrennial strategic planning cycle. The consultancy will be supervised by the DAPM Monitoring Unit Programme Manager, but is expected to work closely with other units, divisions, and offices, especially the DAPM Strategic Planning and Corporate Analysis Unit, the ICT Division, and UNICEF’s global ‘SIGNAL Monitoring Technical team’. The consultant will support in maintaining and updating the Core Standard Indicators architecture, systems, workflows and processes, and develop products to support and maximize the use of CSI data by COs, ROs and HQ.

Develop, maintain and extend analytics and visualisation products to enable and maximize the use of CSI

The consultant will support the Monitoring Unit on the following:
1. Maintaining and updating CSI structure, records, and knowledge portal, including developing, adjusting or retiring CSIs to reflect corporate changes to the Strategic Planning Integrated Results and Resources Framework;
2. Develop, test and maintain CSI and systemic change computations using data from the CSI module;
3. Contribute to implementation of new features and workflows in CSI module, including in design, operationalisation, and user support;
4. Participate in developing and delivering user training and support during all CSI phases: planning, monitoring, reporting, quality review, and assurance;
5. Contribute to problem solving and resolution of errors/bugs in the CSI module, interlinkages with other modules; and associated products (such as PowerBI datasets);
6. Provide analytical inputs, as requested, into the UNICEF Global Effectiveness Review and similar review processes;
7. Develop, maintain and extend analytics and visualisation products to enable and maximize the use of CSI data by COs and ROs.

Terms of Reference / Deliverables

Deliverable 1: Maintaining and updating CSI structure and knowledge products

Deliverables/Outputs: Support the implementation of MTR changes in CSI dataset and workflow

Delivery deadline: 31 August 2024

Deliverables/Outputs: Support the testing of CSI workflows to address recurrent bugs

Delivery deadline: 31 July 2024

Deliverables/Outputs: Prepare metadata and technical inputs, including algorithms, for ICTD for the transition of Standard Indicators to the ICTD portal.

Delivery deadline: 30 September 2024

Deliverables/Outputs: Prepare metadata and technical inputs for ICTD (e.g. Excel tables with required datapoints) for the creation and addition of an ‘outcome’ series of CSIs connected to UNICEF indicator data warehouse (mapping of SP indicators with external data sources)

Delivery deadline: 28 February 2025

Deliverable 2: Implementation of new features in CSI module

Deliverables/Outputs: Support the operationalization and workflow for SP indicators in RAM/CSI module

Delivery deadline: 1 June 2024

Deliverables/Outputs: Support operationalization and workflow for new, adjusted and retiring CSIs (design and test the workflow for retired CSIs and Datapoints)

Delivery deadline: 1 September 2024

Deliverables/Outputs: Testing of new features and updates to CSI module and reports

Delivery deadline: July 2024, November 2024

Deliverable 3: User support during implementation of all CSI phases

Deliverables/Outputs: Support the preparation and testing of CSI phases (Testing and QA of workflows for 2024 Monitoring, 2024 Reporting and 2025 Planning phases)

Delivery deadline: 31 May 2024, 31 October 2024, 28 February 2025

Deliverables/Outputs: Provide user support to CO, RO and HQ users during CSI Planning, Monitoring, Reporting and Quality Review phases

Delivery deadline: May 2024, September 2024, 28 February 2025

Deliverable 4: Developing analytical and communications products to enable and maximize the use of CSI data by ROs and COs

Deliverables/Outputs: Develop rapid analytical products to feedback to COs and ROs summarizing insights from their CSI datasets (2 slide decks – 2024 and 2025)

Delivery deadline: Throughout the year as required, by 28 February 2025

Deliverables/Outputs: Develop visuals for the CSI dashboard for Country Offices (add customized visuals for up to 70% of CSIs pages, update existing visuals on system strengthening and systemic change, develop 5 additional visuals for ‘systemic changes’ for each CO)

Delivery deadline: Throughout the year as required, by 28 February 2025

Deliverables/Outputs: Integrate CP structure into existing CSI dashboard

Delivery deadline: August 2024

Deliverables/Outputs: Support the development of a new integrated product to make CSI data available to users

Delivery deadline: 28 February 2025

Deliverables/Outputs: Maintain and update the CSI process management dashboard

Delivery deadline: Throughout the year as required, by 28 February 2025

Deliverable 5: Support SIGNAL Monitoring Technical Team Conference

Deliverables/Outputs: Prepare and facilitate CSI sessions during SIGNAL Monitoring Technical Team Conference (In person – travel, Nairobi, Kenya. Estimated number of working days: 4)

Delivery deadline: 16-21 May 2024 (Estimated number of travel days: 8)

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelors degree in Statistics, Management, Economics, Development, Sciences, Public Health, Education, or similar relevant disciplineor a relevant field.

Work experience

• At least 2 years of work experience with data management / analysis and visualisation
• Experience in the development of corporate performance indicators is required
• Experience and skills in the development and use of PowerBI dashboards is required
• Experience in user support for ICT systems is an advantage
• Existing knowledge of UNICEF core standard indicators is an advantage

Competencies

• Strong organizational and analytical skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication in English.
• Good judgment, initiative, high sense of responsibility
• Demonstrated cultural sensitivity and ability to establish harmonious working relations in a multicultural environment.)

Requirements: 

• Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system
• Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• the costs per each deliverable and the total all-inclusive (lump-sum) fees for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Health Insurance:

The Consultant is fully responsible for arranging at their own expense, such as life, health, and other forms of insurance covering the term of the Contract as he or she considers appropriate.  The Consultant is not eligible to participate in the life or health insurance schemes available to UNICEF and United Nations staff members.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit  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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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.

Remarks: 

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

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.