Regional Adviser Social Policy

Regional Adviser Social Policy, P-5, Kathmandu, Nepal
Vacancy No: E-VN-2014-002143
Duty Station: Kathmandu
Country: Nepal
Region: ROSA
Job Level: P-5
Position: 00021391
Application Close: 08-Oct-14
Contract Type: Long-term Staff (FT)
Purpose of the Position
As the Regional Adviser, the incumbent will support and advise the Regional Director, the Regional Management Team and Country Offices and Governments in developing policies, strategies, programmes and systems for the designated areas of responsibilities. The incumbent will be responsible for providing technical leadership, management advice, and programme support and capacity building to country offices throughout the Region. The incumbent will facilitate application, adaptation and achievement of UNICEF global and regional goals, polices, and strategies in the area of UNICEF Social Policy and Social Inclusion programme for countries of the Region. The incumbent will also provide UNICEF Social Policy and Social Inclusion programmes with innovative leadership including expert advice, vision, oversight, knowledge management, articulating policies and strategies, situation appraisal, harmonization of programme strategy, capacity building, support for monitoring and evaluation, representation, networking and strategic partnership creation.
Key Expected Results
Advisory Capacity and Policy Development

• Exercise advisory role and provide guidance, coordination and initiatives in policy and strategy development, including in relation to oversight of the implementation of regional UNICEF Social Policy and Social inclusion programmes.
• Advise and support the Regional Director, the Deputy Regional Director, Representatives and other Advisers and managers on programme strategy, policy, and advocacy. Submit recommendations and position papers for use in the development of UNICEF global/regional programme policy.
• Contribute to the formulation, refinement, adaptation, articulation and communication of UNICEF's regional programme strategies, priorities and approaches.
• Provide analyses of social and economic policy development trends within countries of the region and related political developments, in the areas of Child Poverty, Public finance, Social Protection, Research and Decentralization with a particular analysis of their effect on children.

Strategy Coordination

• Facilitate harmonization of regional and country strategies and approaches in the achievement of programme goals with other Regional Advisors, Country Representatives and Deputy Representatives.
• Guide and support on cross-cutting interventions, working with counterparts and team members to establish overall programme plan, monitor compliance and performance standards, and ensure coordination of activities, information and experience to achieve programme objectives.
• Provide policy guidance and technical support to national partners toward the development of national policy/strategies for UNICEF-assisted programmes.

Knowledge Management

• Serve a regional focal point of technical expertise.
• Monitor developments in technical area, as well as political and social developments, at the national and regional levels. Contribute to the regional Social Policy knowledge management by analyzing and disseminating available data, information systems, and trends in Social Policy, to evaluate cost and impact on interventions, capturing determinants of the trends and their implications for country programming.
• Synthesize best practices for Social Policy from ongoing programmes/projects and disseminate through print, electronic media and through facilitation of exchange visits, study tours, workshops, and training.
• Document investment cases for leveraging resources for Social Policy and Social inclusion.
• Stay abreast on emerging issues in the field, and remain updated in other very close fields to ensure an integrated approach towards Social Policy related Development Goals.

Capacity Building

• Design a regional programme with Regional and HQ Advisors to upgrade the capacity of key counterpart staff, as well as UNICEF Regional and Country Office staff, in area of expertise.
• Provide technical inputs for capacity development efforts of UNICEF staff in country offices and, upon Country Offices' request, of their partners, in the integrated Social Policy strategy planning and budgeting based on results against Social Policy related MDGs.

Technical Leadership and Quality Assurance

• Combine cutting-edge technology and programme innovation with operational and political perspectives that empower and position UNICEF programmes in Social Policy as a leader in the field and support Social Policy MDGs.
• Advocate and provide leadership for the scaling up of UNICEF's Social Policy strategy implementation, through a results based approach.
• Provide specific technical support and team leadership to assure high quality in all aspects of programme activities.
• Support country programme development, monitoring and evaluation.
• Provide country offices with documentation and research related to Social Policy.
• Strengthen capacity for planning and budgeting Social Policy strategy.

Advocacy and leveraging

• Support advocacy for and monitoring of the Millennium Declaration and the MSGs by supporting, or developing adequate information and indicators and research programmes both for Country Offices and the region.
• Support and advise the Regional and Country Offices on the use of data for social policy development and advocacy within the context of the CRC.
• Enhance the financial resources available for Social Policy activities in the region, by advising on leveraging with Governments and donors, supporting country offices on the preparation of project proposals and, in close consultation with PFO, coordinating with regionally active donors.

Regional Monitoring and Assessment

• Partner with the HQ Advisor, the Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor and Country Monitoring and Evaluation Officers in the development and review of indicators and participatory approaches for programme monitoring and evaluation.
• Ensure that current information about the situation of children and women, the performance and coverage of programmes, programme evaluation, the attainment of the MDGs and other goals, regional capacity building in monitoring and evaluation, and best practices is widely available to UNICEF country and regional offices.

Representation

• Represent and advocate for UNICEF in meetings with high level and senior government officials, agencies, NGOs, and donors.
• Negotiate and advocate programme goals and strategies, identify strategic alliances, and influence policy development to facilitate implementation of regional and country strategies.
• Contribute to better consultative processes and networking with donors.
• Participate in the inter-agency meetings in the collaboration with the UN country team in support of the attainment of the MDGs.

Communication, Networking and Partnership

• As the credible voice of the Region for a technical sector, enhance UNICEF's regional technical leadership role by forging internal and external partnerships in the development of harmonized programme interventions, through high level representation in regional fora, with senior partners and stakeholders.
• Develop and maintain partnerships with the Communication/Programme Communication Advisor to develop innovative strategies for information, advocacy and resource mobilization.
• Build strategic alliances with various international and regional partners, national associations, entrepreneurs, academics, religious organizations and NGOs. Contribute to a better integration of donors into consultative processes and networking.
• Strengthen strategic partnerships for Social Policy.
• Establish institutional links with UN agencies and other relevant entities to improve Social Policy.
• Strengthen harmonization for better Social Policy in the Region involving all key partners. Strengthen collaboration with other UNICEF Regional Offices for interregional cross fertilization.

Emergency Preparedness and Response

• Support emergency preparedness measures taken in the region by the relevant Field Offices through the development and updating of country contingency plans and establishment of early warning mechanism.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

• Advanced university degree in Economics, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, International Finance, or other relevant disciplines.
• Twelve years of progressively responsible relevant work experience in all aspects of programme management, and/or advisory support, in the technical area or programme sector resulting in recognized expertise in the technical area.
• Fluency in English and another UN language. Knowledge of local working language of the duty station would be an asset.

Competencies of Successful Candidate

• Communicates effectively to varied audiences, including during formal public speaking
• Creates and encourages a climate of team-working and collaboration in a multi-cultural environment
• Consistently achieves high-level results, managing and delivering projects on-time and on-budget
• Has good leadership and supervisory skills; co-ordinates group activities, ensuring that roles within the team are clear
• Analyzes and integrates diverse and complex quantitative and qualitative data from a wide range of sources
• Identifies urgent and potentially risky decisions and acts on them promptly; initiates and generates organization-wide activities
• Sets, develops and revises organizational strategy and develops clear visions of the organization's future potential
• Quickly builds rapport with individuals and groups; maintains an effective network of individuals across organizational departments
• Negotiates effectively by exploring a range of possibilities

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.