Closing date: Wednesday, 4 February 2015
Vacancy No: E-VN-2015-000110
Duty Station: Kathmandu
Country: Nepal
Region: ROSA
Job Level: P-4
Position: 00092266
Application Close: 04-Feb-15
Contract Type: Long-term Staff (FT)
Purpose of the Position
Under the overall leadership of the Regional Adviser, Health and under the supervision of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Specialist, the incumbent is accountable for working with UNICEF country offices to improve newborn health by scaling up interventions and accelerating progress in South Asia countries. Specifically, in close coordination with UNICEF country office teams, s/he will prepare implementation plans, devise and monitor performance metrics, and advise on technical aspects of improving newborn health to achieve global goals, regional targets and country aspirations for improving newborn health in the countries of South Asia. Equity focused approaches and those which focus on gender equality will be especially prioritized. The role will combine technical work on newborn and maternal health given their significant overlap. The incumbent will also be involved in the implementations of the Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP), the Every Mother Every New-born (EMEN) approach, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-UNICEF joint project on improving maternal and newborn health, and nutrition.
Key Expected Results
- Technical support to UNICEF country offices for timely, data-driven analysis for effective prioritization, programme planning, development and results-based management of newborn health programs.
- To build partnerships with national, regional and international NGOs, groups, associations, networks, training/education institutions and governments involved in newborn health and related activities and reduce duplication of efforts.
- Effective communication, networking, leveraging and influencing to improve newborn health, achieved through partnership and collaboration with government, UN and non-government partners.
- To facilitate sharing expertise and knowledge exchange including country-to-country exchange of information, resources, and lessons learned in relevant areas.
- Provision of direct technical support for improving national plans for improving newborn health.
- Scaling-up tailored packages of newborn survival and quality of care interventions.
- Programme monitoring, evaluation and reporting carried out in a timely manner, efficiently, rigorously and transparently in compliance with established guidelines and procedures.
- Performance management and progress tracking of countries implementation of ENAP using agreed monitoring for all countries. The Incumbent will also be expected to work with countries to use the information collated to accelerate and scale up implementation efforts.
- Support of EMEN implementation - work with countries to improve the quality of facility-based care for mothers and newborns. With a focus on child birth and delivery care.
- Ensure the BMGF-UNICEF project is effectively implemented - including EMEN and ENAP, and working with cross-sectoral colleagues on nutrition components, and APR (A Promise Renewed).
- UNICEF's global goals and health-related MDGs effectively promoted through advocacy and policy dialogue in the health sector.
Qualifications of Successful Candidate
- Advanced degree in public health, or relevant related discipline.
- Primary degree in medicine preferred.
- Eight years of relevant work experience, preferably at national and/or international level.
- Experience in project and performance management in a public health context.
- Clinical and technical knowledge of maternal and newborn health is essential.
- Experience working in the UN or other international development organization an asset.
- Fluency in English (written & verbal) is essential.
- Knowledge of any additional UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish) and working languages of South Asia an asset.
Competencies of Successful Candidate
- Communicates effectively to varied audiences, including during formal public speaking.
- Able to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment.
- Sets high standards for quality of work and consistently achieves project goals.
- Has good leadership and supervisory skills; co-ordinates group activities, ensuring that roles within the team are clear.
- Translates strategic direction into plans and objectives.
- Analyzes and integrates diverse and complex quantitative and qualitative data from a wide range of sources.
- Quickly builds rapport with individuals and groups; maintains an effective network of individuals across organizational departments.
- Identifies urgent and potentially difficult decisions and acts on them promptly; initiates and generates team- and department-wide activities.
- Demonstrates, applies and shares expert technical knowledge across the organization.
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.
