Social Policy Specialist, P-4

• The overall purpose of this position is to provide thought leadership, quality analytical input, oversight, quality assurance and technical support to the Public Financing for Children (PF4C) analysis and advocacy carried out by UNICEF Country Offices, the regional office, and globally. It aims to support efforts to leverage greater, more effective, and equitable domestic public investments in children and ensure results for multidimensional child wellbeing. This role will provide staff capacity development, technical, knowledge management, and strategic partnership support to UNICEF engagements in ESAR related to budgets and public financial management, to improve the enabling environment and address causes and barriers to achieving results for children.

How can you make a difference?

• This position is under the supervision of the Regional Adviser for Social Policy. The post routinely liaises with social policy and sectoral staff in country offices and globally, as well as networking with subject experts externally (e.g., the World Bank, donors, and think tanks).

Key Function, Accountabilities, And Related Duties/tasks

• Provide technical leadership for the scaling up of UNICEF's public finance work in the region in line with the strategic direction of the regional Social Policy programme. Provide specific technical support, quality assurance and oversight to assure high quality in activities conducted by Country Offices and the Regional Office. This includes the provision of guidance to COs on the development of analysis as well as advocacy plans to bring about positive change.
• Serve as regional focal point of technical expertise in the area of PF4C. Monitor developments in the 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 national budget data, information systems, and trends to evaluate cost and impact on SDGs, capturing determinants of the trends and their implications for country programming. Expertise needed relates to the full spectrum of financing for development, including revenue, debt management as well as expenditure policy.
• Build and maintain a regional PF4C analysis based on priorities as well as a database with key PF4C indicators, maintain regular economic analysis to feed into regional planning and strategizing.
• Review and deliver a regional programme/support to develop the capacity of key counterpart staff, as well as UNICEF Regional and Country Office staff, in the area of PF4C.
• Lead UNICEF’s regional technical external role and voice on public finance, by forging internal and external partnerships and through representation in regional/national fora with partners and stakeholders.
• Develop innovative strategies for advocacy and increasing social accountability for national budgets across the region for greater investments in children.
• Build strategic alliances with various international and regional partners, civil society, and academic partners, active in the area of PFM/PF4C. Bring Africa think tanks voices into common UNICEF PF4C advocacy plans. Contribute to a better integration of donors into consultative processes and networking.
• Share, promote, and create learning on PF4C across the region, with other regions and HQ and externally to showcase genuine impact for children.

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

• Advanced university degree in Economics, Public Finance, Social Policy, and/or Public Administration is preferred.
• Minimum of eight years of progressive, professional work experience in public financial management, and sector financing, in applied, national settings is required.
• Experience in different country contexts, especially in Africa, is desirable.
• Hands-on experience and proven results in using public financial management evidence to concretely generate change at the national level is required.
• Experience in budget analysis, costing and developing investment cases, PERs and PETS in key sectors for children such as health, education, water and sanitation, social protection, nutrition an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.