Social Policy Specialist (Social Protection)

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, social protection UNICEF started to work in Lebanon in 1948 and established its office in 1950. For more than 70 years we’ve been working closely with the Government of Lebanon, other UN agencies, and international and local NGOs and academia to meet the needs of disadvantaged children in Lebanon. UNICEF Lebanon’s Social Policy programme leads technical assistance and programming in Lebanon to develop the national social protection system and implement social assistance programmes to reach the most vulnerable. UNICEF’s Social Policy program focuses on policy analysis, technical support, programme implementation, and advocacy with the aim of reducing poverty for girls and boys and their families in Lebanon. To learn more about the Programme please refer to:

• https://www.unicef.org/lebanon/social-policy
• https://www.unicef.org/lebanon/reports/social-protection-lebanon
• https://www.unicef.org/lebanon/reports/towards-social-protection-floor-lebanon

How can you make a difference? Under the guidance of the Chief of section, you will be responsible for supporting and advising UNICEF Lebanon on the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of social protection policy, analysis, advocacy and programming. You bring strong international experience in social protection, with a blended background of extensive knowledge in social protection programme design, national policy analysis and coordination, and/or social protection impact evaluation. You will have a strongly evidence-based background, combining this with a practical approach to negotiation and communication to influence results. Key functions/accountabilities Improving data on social protection, child poverty & vulnerability for increased use for policy and programme action

• You will support the office in managing the analysis and user-friendly presentation of data on multidimensional and monetary child poverty, including as it relates to expanding social assistance.

Strengthening social protection coverage and impact for children

• You will develop social protection policies, legislation and programmes with attention to increasing coverage of and impact on children, with special attention the most marginalized.  You will identify, generate, and present evidence to support this goal in collaboration with partners

Improving use of public financial resources for social protection

• You will undertake, support and oversee social protection budget analysis to inform UNICEF’s advocacy and technical assistance to Ministries of Finance, planning commissions and social sector ministries to improve equitable allocations for essential services for children.  You will work with sector colleagues to build capacity to undertake costing and cost effectiveness analysis on priority interventions to help inform policy decisions on child-focused investments

Strengthened advocacy and partnerships for child-sensitive social protection

• You will support correct and compelling use of data and evidence on the situation of children and coverage and impact of child focused social protection – in support of the social policy programme and the country programme overall

UNICEF Programme Management

• You will manage and coordinate technical support around child poverty, social protection, public finance and governance ensuring it is well planned, monitored, and implemented in a timely fashion so as to adequately support scale-up and delivery. You will ensure risk analysis and risk mitigation are embedded into overall management of the support, in close consultation with UNICEF programme sections, Cooperating Partners, and governments

Please click HERE to view the detailed JD To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Education: An advanced university degree in one of the following fields: Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, or another relevant technical field.
• Experience: A minimum of eight years of relevant professional work experience is required.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required.  Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate… Core Values

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability

Core competencies

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (2)
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (3)
• Works Collaboratively with others (3)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (3)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (3)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (3)
• Drives to achieve impactful results (3)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (3)

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, 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 be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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. Remarks: Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. This position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/ assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate