Technology for Development Officer, NO 2, Temporary Appointment, Six Months, Manila – UNICEF jobs in the Philippines

For every child, a fair chance

UNICEF has been an active partner of the Government of the Philippines and civil society in realizing the rights of every Filipino child, in line with priorities to achieve the SDGs. UNICEF efforts have been focused on the most vulnerable regions identified by the Government of the Philippines Development Plan, particularly in the regions of Visayas and Mindanao. To ensure that interventions are sustainable and scaled up, UNICEF will support both the national and local government units (LGUs) as the main instruments of delivering services and building systems. The level of engagement with government institutions will consider capacities, economies of scale and sector issues.

UNICEF Philippines has two offices. One office is based in Manila and a field office in Cotabato City, the second largest city in Mindanao, Southern Philippines, with some 300,000 population. The city is the regional administrative centre of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and over 80 percent of the population is Muslim. Mindanao is both conflict-affected and prone to frequent earthquakes and typhoons.

Visit this link for more information on Philippine Country Office: https://www.unicef.org/philippines/

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Deputy Representative for Operations, the T4D Officer will mainly be for Technology for Development (T4D) programmatic strategic support and partnership with oversight duties for ICT Operations.

The T4D Officer will assist programme teams in the identification, assessment and integration of ICT and digital innovation into UNICEF programming; strengthening internal capacity to lead and support T4D related initiatives; identifying and engaging with key partners; building business relationships; applying reusable and replicable technical building blocks; and maximizing potential for the scale-up and sustainability of technology and digital innovation for UNICEF programming. S/he works closely with the ICT Unit, Programme sections and in close liaison with the East Asia Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO) ICT and Digital Innovation Unit, the central ICT Division (ICTD) and UNICEF Office of Innovation where applicable.

The T4D Officer will have the following duties and responsibilities:

Lead the T4D function and provide technical and programmatic support

• Business Relationship Management: Liaise with regional office to manage Business and Programme Relationship services to define high-level requirements; document and match requirements and guide the design, development and deployment of appropriate T4D solutions.

• Portfolio Management: Work closely with regional office in deploying a portfolio approach, adapting common solutions prioritized for UNICEF programming (e.g. Digital Public Goods).

• Support and assist design of T4D interventions: Provide support and technical assistance to the Country Office in the identification, selection, concept design, deployment and sustainability of T4D interventions to address bottlenecks towards the achievement of programme results.

• Identify and assess new Technology and Digital Innovations: Assist programme sections to identify and assess new T4D initiatives, or new phases of on-going initiatives, with immediate potential to improve UNICEF programming.

• Solution procurement and evaluation: Assist the review of technical solutions to ensure UNICEF standards are followed; contribute to project management processes, generation and review of terms of reference and vendor selection.

• Deployment advice and support: Assist with implementation strategy of digital technology initiatives. Including technical oversight, troubleshooting and the documentation of challenges and resolutions.

• Design thinking: Support human/user-centered design methods to enable user-acceptance testing, evaluation, documentation and analysis.

Policy and Strategic Development for Technology-enabled Programming

• Digital Development and Technology Innovation Strategy: Support implementation of the technology and digital innovation strategy for the country office; bring visibility to T4D gaps, opportunities and scale-up strategy in support of CO priorities.

• Participation in programme and management processes: Work closely with PME to integrate digital development and technology innovation into the programme planning lifecycle. Align with programme priorities (AWP etc.) and attend planning meetings (PCM).

• Leadership and Quality Assurance: Help monitor development and quality assurance during planning and deployment of T4D initiatives; participate in establishing and maintaining standards, documentation and support mechanisms for T4D.

• Convene and guide compliance with T4D best practices: Participate in CO T4D Governance Committee and support compliance of T4D initiatives with the Principles for Digital Development (http://digitalprinciples.org/) and UNICEF T4D best practices.

Engage and maintain partnerships and networks

• Engage and maintain partnerships and networks: Support the development of partnerships and networks with local solution providers, innovators, NGOs, cultural and religious organizations, the private sector, local media and academia to build and provide a space to nurture and test new and innovative technologies and build local capacity.

• Advocacy and communications: Participate and support Country Office representation in external, inter-agency or partner forums on Digital Development and Technology Innovation.

• Proposal and partnership development: Help identify opportunities for resource mobilization and new partnerships and assist proposal and partnership development efforts.

• Provide advice and support to programme partners: Provide inputs to technical and operational support to a wide range of stakeholders and partners on UNICEF policies, practices, standards and norms on technology for development.

• Standards and procedures for ownership: Work with stakeholders to help develop standards, procedures and partnerships for T4D interventions and their transition to relevant Government and Civil Society Institutions.

• Transfer and skill-sharing for programme partners: Help maintain partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing and transfer of knowledge, skills and tools to foster and facilitate technology-enabled programming.

• Document localized partners and profiles: Contribute updates to a catalogue of country specific T4D partners and their profiles/areas of engagement to promote and enhance UNICEF goals for outcomes for children through the use of Technology for Development.

Capacity Building

• Data analysis for evidence generation: Build capacity of programme staff and partners in analysing the large amounts of data generated through T4D initiatives including the use of data visualization techniques and analytics tools.

• Co-create appropriate solutions: Work directly with programme teams and partners to adapt technology and innovative solutions appropriate to the country programme.

• Provide training to stakeholders and end-users: Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies, capacity and knowledge within the programmes on digital development; train UNICEF staff, partners, government counterparts and other end users in digital development and technology innovation.

• Build awareness around Innovation & Frontier Technology: Assist developing staff capabilities in appropriate use of frontier technology and innovations such as UAVs, wearables, IoTs, mobile money, blockchain etc.

Knowledge Management

• Share lessons learned: Help identify, capture, synthesize and share lessons learned from T4D for integration into broader knowledge development planning, advocacy and communication efforts.

• Landscape mapping: Maintain an inventory of Technology and Innovation interventions, assets, resources and networks.

• Monitoring, evaluation and learning: Work with PME to ensure documentation and clear monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for innovation and T4D projects including baseline data collection, on-going monitoring, as well as first phase data collection and analysis.

• Contribute to Peer Support Networks: Contribute and share to regional and global digital development and technology innovation networks and activities.

ICT Operations Oversight

• Conduct regular check-ins with the ICT Officer (NOA) on matters related to ICT operations and provide support and guidance if and when necessary

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

• A university degree in computer science, software engineering, business analysis, ICT management, innovation, business administration or another relevant field is required.
• Certification and/or proven experience in one of the following; ICT Project Management, Business Analytics, ICT Audit and Risk Management, Software Engineering and Programming is preferred.
• A minimum of two (2) years of professional experience in information communication technology for development (ICT4D) in a large international organization and/or corporation is required.
• At least two (2) years practical professional work experience in information technology, product development, as well as systematic methods of troubleshooting and analytical problem solving, providing startegic support on technology products and services, and use of applications and data visualization tools.
• At least six (5) years of experience in portfolio management of digital solutions.
• Experience identifying, designing, and implementing solutions for large-scale ICT projects with technical components – including supervising external vendors and software developers; responsibility for business analysis, budgets, contracts, procurement, and project management (including task prioritization, workflow coordination, results- driven strategies and proven ability to translate complex ideas from various areas into unified, clear guidance).
• Knowledge and experience working with Digital Public Goods such as DHIS2, OpenMRS, PRIMERO, RapidPro, ODK, etc. and deploying, maintaining, and scaling these technologies.
• Experience in coordination with multiple stakeholders like government agencies, academic institutions, research organizations, private sector, etc. in implementing ICT projects and exploring space for collaboration and partnerships.
• Work experience in providing technology transfer and support to remote field offices in developing countries is an asset.
• In-depth technical knowledge related to software development and information systems management.
• Experience in programme design, management and direct implementation of initiatives is a strong asset.

How to apply

Qualified candidates are requested to complete an online candidate profile in http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/ by 22 March 2024. Only applications sent through the e-recruitment portal will be considered.

By applying through our Talent Management System (TMS) you agree to our privacy statement which is in line with the Philippines’ Data Privacy Act. You are strongly advised to read carefully through the privacy statement before submitting your application.

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…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people.

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. For this position, eligible and suitable Male candidates are encouraged to apply.

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.