Planning Specialist

Under the supervision of the Chief Planning, Monitoring and Data (PMD), the Planning Specialist is responsible for coordinating the formulation, planning, and design, of the country programme, in collaboration with the sectoral programme chiefs and the external relations/communication officer. The Planning Specialist is accountable for the accomplishment of key results in, rights and results-based management, knowledge management and preparation of programme management reports.

Key functions, accountabilities, and related duties/tasks:

Planning:

• Provide technical support to the development of the Country Programme
• Provide technical support to ensure that a set of programme performance indicators are identified and adjusted as necessary, with inputs of all concerned partners in the context of development of Annual Work Plans, as outlined in the Programme Policy and Procedures Manual/PPPX.
• Support the development of United Nations Sustainable Development Coordination Framework (UNSDCF) and the Country Programme Document (CPD) from a sound results-based programming process.
• Provide guidance to the Office on the application of the procedure and guidance for Country Programme Planning (CPX).
• Coordinate the development, quality assurance and entry of work plans for programme sections into the electronic Work Plan (eWP) platform in line with the Office accountability framework for central and field office levels.

Situation analysis:

• Contributes towards the preparation of the Situation Analysis by compiling data, analyzing and evaluating information to inform various country programme management processes.

Corporate reporting:

• Drawing on monitoring and analysis of key programme performance and management indicators.
• provide professional input to management reports, including relevant sections of the end of year narrative annual reporting process.
• Lead processes related to the CSIs, end of year summary narrative, CRAVE, RAM and all programme related end of year processes.
• Lead in the establishment of and maintenance of planning tools which enhance all planning processes in the office (Work Plans, Annual Management Plans, Reviews, strategy meetings, etc.).
• Lead in organizing documentation and presentations for programme coordination meetings and Country Management Team meetings.

Capacity development:

• Collaborate to implement planning related capacity building strategies for all programme staff.
• Utilize a range of appropriate skills building strategies including self-learning, seminars and workshops and practical experience in order that UNICEF personnel have the basic knowledge and skills in understanding and applying UNICEF policies, procedures, tools, methods to fulfil their responsibilities. Similarly, design and implement strategies suited to the skills needs of national partners.
• Provide technical support to ensure that the RRBM and planning capacities of Country Office staff and national partners – are strengthened enabling them to increasingly engage in and lead programme planning processes.

Knowledge management:

Undertake lessons-learned reviews on successful and unsuccessful practices and experience at the national level, and ensure they are shared as appropriate.  Similarly, pay attention to knowledge networks to identify innovations and lessons learned that may be relevant for the CO and partners to improve programme planning and implementation.

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

• Advanced university degree in social sciences, development planning, statistics, or a related technical field.
• Five years of progressively responsible professional work experience at the national and international levels in programme planning
• Experience working with the UN including supporting development of UNSDCF or equivalent frameworks
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Source:  https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/571217