The Office of Innovation supports the adoption and scale of innovative solutions that advance UNICEF’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan and Strategic Plan priorities. The consultant will help drive accountability, track progress, and ensure alignment with UNICEF’s climate priorities in close coordination with the Centre of Excellence for Children and Climate. Open for the International consultant only.

Working arrangement: Remote/home based

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child...innovate

UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovation for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives. The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection, where an organization that works on huge global issues meets the start-up thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions.  

Under the guidance of the Initiatives Team Lead, the consultant will provide operational leadership and coordination for UNICEF’s priority climate innovation initiatives. The role focuses on ensuring timely delivery of agreed workplans, maintaining momentum across complex multi-stakeholder initiatives, and supporting effective collaboration across UNICEF divisions and partners.

The focus of the assignment is execution and delivery:

  • Ensuring agreed plans for innovation initiatives are completed in a timely manner
  • Maintaining momentum across complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives and partner conversations
  • Driving accountability, risk management, and measurable progress across team contributing to climate innovation
  • Preserving alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic Plan and Sustainability and Climate Action priorities in close coordination with the UNICEF Center of Excellence for “Children and Climate” 

The consultant will help drive accountability, track progress, and ensure alignment with UNICEF’s climate priorities in close coordination with the Centre of Excellence for Children and Climate.

Scope of work:

1. Climate initiatives oversight Lead and coordinate the execution of agreed climate innovation priorities and annual workplans, ensuring structured tracking of milestones, performance indicators, risks, and dependencies. Maintain clear oversight of progress toward expected country-level outcomes, prepare timely governance documentation and decision briefs, and proactively identify when course correction or escalation is required to safeguard delivery and impact.

 2. Cross-divisional coordination with key climate stakeholders
 Serve as the central coordination focal point across Programme Group, Regional Offices, Supply Division, ICTD, and other relevant divisions, ensuring innovation efforts are embedded within core delivery systems rather than operating as standalone pilots. Maintain structured, proactive engagement with key internal stakeholders to align priorities, strengthen collaboration, and drive coherent implementation.

 3. Team leadership & management
 Act as a coordinator between consultants and technical contributors within the climate initiatives team, ensuring clarity on deliverables, timelines, and accountability. Monitor performance and quality of outputs, proactively manage dependencies, and address bottlenecks to maintain momentum and high standards of delivery.

 4. Partnership & external engagement continuity
 Maintain and steward existing partner and donor relationships, ensuring continuity of engagement on previously agreed collaborations. Support high-quality reporting, briefings, and strategic communications to sustain alignment, confidence, and momentum across partnerships.

 5. Learning & documentation
Capture implementation insights and lessons learned across climate innovation initiatives, strengthening evidence building and performance tracking in collaboration with the OOI MEL team and key internal and external partners.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy on the detailed deliverables and expected outcomes, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:  Download File TMC0001328 External ToR.pdf

Minimum requirements: (QUALIFICATIONS / SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE / EXPERIENCE/Skills)

  • Education*: Master's degree in Social sciences, Engineering, Environmental Science, Business development or other relevant fields to sustainability and climate action. *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree 
  • Work experience: A minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience in the development and humanitarian sector.
  • Knowledge of the UN system is required.
  • Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergencies is required.
  • Language requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal (Talent Management System):

Remarks:  If the TOR or financial proposal documents are not visible on certain recruitment platforms, please visit our official page Vacancies | UNICEF Careers.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

At Impactpool we do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.
Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify. Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.