Consultant (Social Policy Talent Management - Social Policy Section)

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. And we never give up. For every child, hope. Consultancy Title: Social Policy Talent Management Consultant Section/Division/Duty Station: Social Policy/NYHQ Duration: 85 days About UNICEF If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries. BACKGROUND A significant shift in the forthcoming 2022-2025 Strategic Plan is the creation of a Goal area to explicitly elevate and further results on Social Policy to strengthen UNICEF’s commitment to child poverty reduction and access to inclusive social protection. As part of this process, a two-day validation Social Policy Network workshop was conducted in February with the regional and country offices to identify human resource needs to effectively achieve the results laid out in the new Strategic Plan led or supported by Social Policy. During the workshop, the following challenges were recognized:

1. Updating Staff Skill Set to Match Programmatic Needs. Three key issues were identified:
   • Need for clarity on JDs/TORs for Social Policy Specialists in Regional and Country offices. Often the Job Descriptions for SP Specialists are generic, and their job responsibilities vary across regions. For example, in some countries, SP Specialists also have the dual responsibility of a PME Specialist; in other cases, they are climate change focal points. Reviewing job descriptions to delimit the focus of Social Policy across four areas, namely, Child Poverty, Social Protection, Public Finance for Children and Local Governance- was identified as a priority to ensure that the right talent is recruited.
   • Specific expertise and skill to effectively lead four areas of work under Social Policy. Across regions, there is a disparity in the number of people working across the four areas of Social Policy, namely, Social Protection, Child Poverty, Public Finance and Local Governance. In some countries, there is only a single person responsible for managing the entire SP portfolio which is varied and requires different skills. Moreover, Social Policy is often in charge of additional areas of work such as monitoring, evaluation, data, research disability, among other. Therefore, it is important to review staff capacity at the different levels, map all the different portfolios in every country and regional office, and then link these areas of work with the functions in regions and HQ (e.g., DAPM, OGIP, OoR, etc) to ensure better alignment and coordination.
   • Need to revamp and enhance specific skills. In the last few years, there has been a significant increase in the role UNICEF plays in Social Policy core areas. In some contexts, this has been reflected in enhanced country or regional teams, but this has not been systematically implemented across all regions and country offices due to lack of resources`. Moreover, changes in context, also require a revamping of Social Policy internal skills, as well as identifying innovative options to build capacity and complement/enhance innovation, particularly around specific dimensions, including economic analyses, language, operational and implementation skills, work in fragile and humanitarian contexts, risk informed programming, among others. Some regions have identified this call and revamped the profile and skill set of their network, but this has not been systematic.
2. Need to revamp Social Policy Talent Acquisition Process. Three key issues were identified:
   • Revamp the Talent Pool. Given that the social policy role requires varied skill sets, there is a need to review the criteria set for talent pool to adapt to the rising and changing strategic priorities. This becomes extremely important in the current context where there is a freeze on external recruitment which can enhance the challenges around recruiting experts with the right skill sets.
   • Set Standardized Recruitment Standards. Introduce standardized recruitment standards (e.g., operational capacity, technical tests, technical interviews, reference checks, etc) to attract strong external profiles.
   • Workforce Planning. Assess staff effectiveness by identifying growth opportunities for high performers and address strategies to enhance capacity of staff not performing to the required standards.
3. Limited Scope for Career Development. There is also a felt need to identify more agile modalities for staff career growth, skill development and exchange, for example, assigning creating innovative positions, such as them to support other country programmes including multi-country positions or considering grade upgrades for regional advisor positions. Specific attention will be placed on entry level/junior positions as it is critical to attract qualified candidates-internal and external. Moreover, using HR data, it is important to assess the career trajectory of the past and current Social policy officers, assessing the level of turnover, retention, exit and shift to senior management, including a snapshot of demographics (e.g., age, gender, nationality, and field experience, etc.).This exercise would help to inform and reassess the current freezing of external recruitment and help improve the talent acquisition process.

Against this backdrop, UNICEF Social Policy is aiming to conduct a Talent Management Exercise to address the above mentioned challenges with the overall aim to bring in the right talent to the teams and contribute effectively towards meeting results laid out in the new strategic plan. The purpose of this assignment is to support and advise on the Social Policy Talent Management Exercise, which includes (a) mapping of the current social policy profiles with staff skills; (b) improving talent acquisition through revamping the current talent pool, updating terms of reference of different social policy profiles and identifying new innovative options for complementing existing expertise (e.g., partnership modalities with universities, think tanks, etc); and (c) strengthening staff career development by identifying agile modalities of engagement and career growth opportunities and design careers path for Social Policy function. Terms of Reference / Deliverables Under the management of the Associate Director, Social Policy, in close coordination with the Social Policy Advisor network and guidance and collaboration of the HR Business Partner, the consultant shall undertake the following tasks:

• Prepare for a Talent Review of Social Policy Staff at all levels by:
  • Developing a summary review of all roles in regions and country offices, mapping out current and future business needs for Social Policy function, and elaborate role requirement for each SP role at HQ, Regional and Country office levels
  • Assessing staff capacity across the four areas of social policy, identify other areas covered by social policy staff, and identifying gaps in functions and skills
  • Assess current level of staff in Social Policy by background, field experience seniority, gender, age and nationality
  • Proposing and developing pathways to address gaps highlighted across different levels.
• Improve talent acquisition by:
  • Revamping key talent pools that meet the demands of the different posts.
  • Readjusting the Job Description for the Social Policy Roles, in consultation with the regional and country office teams
  • Identifying new innovative options to complement existing expertise, by researching and monitoring trends specific to the Social Policy field; and eventually identifying external providers and partnerships able to provide capacity building/learning programs.
• Identify pathways for career development  for staff at all levels (NO and IP) to help them achieve their goals based on a clear structure of opportunities, including reviewing the current career path of social policy officers (last 6 years) looking at retention, existing career development opportunities, senior management career path, and opportunities for cross-functional move.

Qualifications (1) Education

• Master’s degree in Human Resources Management, Business Administration, Organizational Development or a relevant field.

2) Work experience

• 8-10 years’ experience with a national and/or international/large Organization in developing talent management or change management or skill enhancement projects.
• Strong understanding of humanitarian aspects is an asset.
• Previous experience in developing and rolling out Talent Management, workforce planning strategies mainstreaming diversity is required.
• Proven experience in developing HR strategies including coaching/mentoring; experience in strategies to address and mainstream gender, diversity and inclusion is highly desired.
• Ability to express clearly and concisely ideas and concepts in written and oral form and to formulate concise recommendations for actions following the consultancy.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships both within and outside the organization.
• Fluency in English is required. Fluency in any other UN language is an asset.

3) Competencies

• Expertise in the use of HR Management Systems
• Expertise in HR data analysis and reporting
• Knowledge of human resources policies, practices and procedures and ability to apply them in an organizational setting. Ability to identify issues, formulate opinions, make conclusions and recommendations. Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and meeting results.
• Strong organizational, planning, and analytical skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication in English.
• Good judgment, initiative, high sense of responsibility, tact and discretion.
• Demonstrated cultural sensitivity and ability to establish harmonious working relations in a multicultural environment).

Requirements

• Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information: With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process For every Child, you demonstrate… UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, culture, appearance, socio-economic status, ability, age, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply to become a part of the organization. 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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.