UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, inspiration! 

The Chief People in Humanitarian Action (Talent – Outreach and Preparedness) would be accountable for leading the development and implementation of preparedness strategies to solve complex organizational challenges, and partner with Chief People in Humanitarian Action (Business Partnering and Response) in the areas of Talent engagement and outreach (internal and external) in Humanitarian Action to better position UNICEF in responding humanitarian crisis. It would oversee and enhance mechanisms that better positions UNICEF to responds to emergency response especially during rapid onset by ensuring qualified personnel with the right skills and competencies are available in various technical areas to respond to evolving needs. They will collaborate with others to develop and implement strategies to prepare and strengthen the capacities of UNICEF personnel for complex humanitarian response.  They will also develop and maintain partnerships to support readiness for Humanitarian response and oversee the Global Rapid Response Mechanism and the management of rosters.

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of the job

The Chief, People in Humanitarian Action (Talent – Outreach and Preparedness) will supervise a team responsible for Sourcing, Roster and Talent Pipeline Management and Partnerships that will position UNICEF to deliver in Humanitarian Contexts. The Section will partner with a cross-functional group of clients and collaborates with UNICEF’s Office of Emergency Operations, Supply Division, GSSC, Regional and Country Offices, DPC Centers of Expertise and other subject-matter experts to design and execute the organizational strategy for the full range of People and Culture solutions that enable partners to deliver on their business goals and objectives in Humanitarian Response.

The Chief, People in Humanitarian Action (Talent – Outreach and Preparedness) creates an enabling environment in which their team will anticipate organizational and clients’ needs and develop People strategies, plans and solutions that align with business objectives.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Leadership

• Provides technical leadership, oversight and operational support on People preparedness measures and initiative to enhance UNICEF readiness for Humanitarian Action. This would include the monitoring of global initiatives under their accountability including the implementation of the Humanitarian Review and People and Culture in Emergency Recommendations.
• Provides technical leadership and operational support on the application of organizational policy, rules, regulations, systems and procedures.
• Manages implementation of the organization’s strategic People and Culture priorities for HQ offices and support to emergency countries and ensures that efforts are aligned with global initiatives and organizational core commitments.
• Leads strategic direction, oversight, and quality assurance for the Section’s service delivery to clients, including monitoring of results and KPIs.
• Engages with UNICEF’s Office of Emergency Operations, Supply Division, DPC Centre’s of Expertise, GSSC, Regional and Country Offices and other partners to evaluate and advise on the design and impact of new and existing programs/strategies to drive the attraction, motivation, development and retention of staff in humanitarian settings.
• Supervise the Section’s team members by providing clear objectives, goals, and guidance to enable them to perform their duties responsibly, effectively and efficiently.

2. Technical Expertise

• Leverage insightful data and talent metrics to guide decision making and provide proactive solutions to common bottlenecks and challenges.
• Lead the team to create and implement People strategies that achieve annual global and functional targets, emphasizing quality and diversity of hires, process efficiency, strong client management.
• Lead development of People and Culture practices and policies in emergency and humanitarian contexts, enforcing strong duty of care and ensuring innovative capacity development, knowledge management, and agile mechanisms for surge deployments.
• In collaboration with the Talent Engagement team, oversee the efforts of capacity mapping to support talent identification and rapid deployments and capacity building exercises of staff in Humanitarian Action locations.
• Streamline People and Culture processes related to Humanitarian Action, in support of client needs within the context of the in the Humanitarian Review areas, UN staff rule and UNICEF`s policies and good practices
• Lead the team to develop preparedness and response mechanisms, including surge strategies, to adequately and effectively support emergencies response.
• Oversee learning initiatives to strengthening capacities of personnel (including People and Culture staff in RO and COs) to better position UNICEF in humanitarian action.

3. Communication and Partnerships

• Collaborate with, manage and influence internal relationships with the People and Culture community to ensure overall objectives are met and consistently applied across the organization.
• Facilitate harmonization of strategic People and Culture Partner role globally, in close collaboration with the Deputy Director-DPC, NYHQ Chiefs/Advisors, and Regional Chiefs.
• Coordinate with Regional and Country Offices especially those in emergency contexts on strengthening readiness for new responses, and on recruitment and deployment of staff to meet most acute and urgent needs.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce, and implement best and cutting-edge practices in human resources management and disseminate best practices and knowledge learned.
• Collaborates and advocates with external stakeholders, service providers and potential donors to ensure that UNICEF is positioned through its staff, contractors, and roster members to deliver on humanitarian response.

4. People and Culture Reform & Transformation

• Provide guidance to the team on design and implementation of change management processes.
• Partner with key stakeholders to build capacity of the staff in the People and Culture in Emergencies Section to ensure that their skills and competencies remain relevant and fully understand UNICEF priorities in Humanitarian action and their individual contribution.
• Provide support for emergency contexts, to reinforce strategic partnership model and related technical and soft skills.
• Oversee development of tools and materials identified in the Humanitarian Review and other improvement initiatives and promote implementation and knowledge sharing across offices globally.

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: An Advanced University Degree (master’s or higher) in human resource management, business management, international relations, psychology or other related areas is required.
• Work Experience: At least ten (10) years of increasingly responsible professional experience in human resource management in an international organization and/or large global corporation at a variety of organizational levels is required.
• Demonstrated experience on the development and implementation of diverse HR/ People and Culture Strategies to support business results is required.
• Experience in talent outreach and in coordinating large scale recruitment efforts and the development of learning programmes is essential.
• A proven track record of developing and implementing successful HR/ People and Culture strategies at global or regional levels for improving operational effectiveness, efficiency, and overall performance.
• Knowledge / understanding of UNICEF field programmes in emergencies or other similar UN or international organizations operating in complex environment is required.
• Experience in effectively leading, managing and nurturing diverse and multi-cultural teams.
• Proven track record in building and maintaining effective partnerships and networking.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English language is required.

Desirables:

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency context.
• UNICEF Field experience in Human Resources would be an advantage.
• Experience in managing global HR/ People and Culture projects would be considered an advantage.
• Experience in building and managing talent rosters/groups and information management would be an advantage.
• 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

The 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 Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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 measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be 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 canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions 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.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

In this role, you will collaborate with colleagues across multiple locations. For effective collaboration, we encourage flexible working hours that accommodate different time zones while prioritizing staff wellbeing.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.