Under the guidance of the Chief of the Area Office, and in close collaboration with the PRIME Section, the Planning and Monitoring Specialist provides technical, operational, and administrative support throughout the planning and monitoring cycle at the field office level. This includes preparing, executing, managing, and implementing a range of tasks that contribute to effective planning, implementation, oversight, data and information management, and reporting. The role ensures that programmes are implemented and monitored in accordance with national and field office plans, including adherence to agreed quality standards and timelines.

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, the right to dedication

How can you make a difference? 

To ensure that the UNICEF Country Office has useful, valid and reliable information on

  • the situation of children’s and women’s rights;
  • the performance of UNICEF-supported programmes including their relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability, and in emergency contexts, their coverage, coordination and coherence.

To work within the UN country team to support UNCT goals for delivering valid and reliable information on the attainment of the SDGs and other goals, and on the performance of UN- supported programmes.  

To assist in the establishment of a data and monitoring systems and monitoring and evaluation tools which enhance partnership between the UNCT, government and other key players to collectively track progress on SDGs, achievement of humanitarian results and other international commitment for children.

To assist in the development of national capacities for monitoring, evaluation and research, with special attention to the interest, concern and participation of government, community, and civil society stakeholders.

III. Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

  1. Setting standards for, and lead programme planning and monitoring at the field office level
  2. Situation Monitoring and Assessment
  3. Programme Performance Monitoring
  4. Planning and Monitoring Capacity Building
  5. Data and Information Management at the field office level
  6. Networking and partnership building.
  7. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

Setting standards for, and lead, programme planning and monitoring at the field office level:

  1. Lead and provide technical support to the process of developing and monitoring Field office Work Plans, including reporting on progress of the equity and gender marker as outlined in the Programme Policy and Procedures Guidance.
  2. Provide technical support in organising and managing annual/mid-year/mid-term/end term field office and country programme reviews ensuring consistency with objectives and goals set out in the field office workplans, national workplans and contribute to the Annual Management Plan.
  3. Monitor follow-up actions based on management decisions resulting from Field Office and country Office performance monitoring.
  4. Provide technical support to develop and finalize partnership programme documents PDs at the field office, quality assurance of the PD results frameworks and workplans in line with the CPD and the field office workplans.  
  5. Provide technical support to the development of the donor proposals at the field office level and quality assurance of the proposals results frameworks to ensure alignment with the CPD and field office workplans priorities

Situation Monitoring and Assessment

  1. Ensure that the field office have timely and accurate measurement of change in conditions in the field office, including monitoring of socio-economic trends and the state’s policy, economic or institutional context, to facilitate planning and to draw conclusions about the impact of programmes.
  2. Support national partners in the establishment and management of sub-national statistical databases, (e.g socio-economic profiles) ensuring that key indicators are readily accessible by key stakeholders. Potential uses include the Situation Analysis, Common Country Assessment, Early Warning Monitoring Systems, and Mid-Term Reviews.
  3. Support a collectively Situation Monitoring and Assessment system owned by all key partners at the field office level which supports the preparation of field level statistical and analytic reports on the status of children’s and women’s rights issues. 
  4. In humanitarian response situations, provide professional support for one or more rapid assessments (inter-agency or independently if necessary) to be carried out within the first 48-72 hours and humanitarian performance monitoring at the field level.

Programme Performance Monitoring

  1. In close collaboration with the PRIME section in Port Sudan, ensure that the Field Office has quality information to assess progress towards expected results established in annual work plans.
  2. Support the programme components at the field office level to effectively monitor and report on the intersectoral programme results, cross sectoral programme component results and field office results to facilitate programme coherence and convergence where appropriate.
  3. Contribute to development of programme monitoring framework for the field office, in line with the national level programme monitoring framework, including technical backstopping to the field team for convergent programming.
  4. Provide technical support to ensure that a set of programme performance indicators is identified and adjusted as necessary at the field office level, with inputs of all concerned partners in the context of the multi-year and annual Integrated Monitoring and Evaluation plans, and the field office Work Plans.
  5. Coordinate with partners to ensure that monitoring systems at the field office level are properly designed, and that data collection and analysis from field visits are coordinated and standardised across programmes to feed into to programme performance monitoring, with special attention to humanitarian response.
  6. Drawing on monitoring and analysis of key program performance and management indicators, provide professional input to field office management reports, including relevant sections of the annual reports.
  7. Act as the field office focal point for any national-based planning, monitoring and evaluation initiatives and facilitate data collection and field visits by external evaluations if required. 
  8. Support UNICEF-supported evaluations at the field office level as necessary. Monitor and ensure the quality of the field work and data management during the implementation phase, and the quality of the analysis and ease of understanding during the report writing phase.

Planning and Monitoring Capacity Building

1. In close collaboration with the PRIME Section in Port Sudan, ensure that the Planning and monitoring capacities of Field Office staff and national partners – government and civil society – are strengthened enabling them to increasingly engage in and lead monitoring and evaluation processes.

Data and Information Management at the field office level

  1. Provide leadership for the IM function at the Field Office Level in close coordination with PRIME Section. 
  2. Responsible for leading and managing the collection, analysis and sharing of information that is essential for field and section staff to make informed, evidence-based, strategic decisions.

Networking and partnership building:

  1. Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders at the field office level, through active sharing of information and knowledge and build their capacity for planning and implementation. 
  2. Participate in appropriate inter-agency meetings/events with inter-agency partners/colleagues at the field office level as necessary.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building:

  1. Identify, capture, synthesize and share lessons learned from the field office monitoring efforts, for integration into the broader office knowledge development planning and management efforts. Ensure innovations are sought and implemented for planning and monitoring, especially with use of digital technology for data collection and analysis. 
  2. Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.

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

Minimum requirements:

Education:

  • An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: social sciences, statistics, planning development, planning or related field. 

    • *A first level university degree (Bachelor's) in a relevant field (social sciences, statistics, planning development, planning or related field) in conjunction with seven (7) years of relevant work experience may be taken in lieu of an advanced university degree.

Work Experience:  

  • Professional work experience in programme development and implementation including monitoring and evaluation activities as follows:
  • At least five years of relevant professional work experience.
  • Relevant field work experience, preferably in developing country contexts.
  • At least one instance of exposure to emergency programming, including preparedness planning. Active involvement in a humanitarian crisis response programme preferred.
  •  

Language Requirements:

  • Fluency in English and Arabic is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Technical Competencies:

Specific Technical Knowledge & Competencies Required (for the job)

  • Professional technical knowledge/expertise in Results Based Management.
  • Professional technical knowledge in data and information management systems.
  • Emerging international good practice in monitoring and evaluation partnerships.

b) Common Technical Knowledge Required (for the job group)

  • Professional technical knowledge/expertise in demography, statistics, and data management.
  • Professional technical knowledge/expertise in methodology of Planning and Monitoring, including theories, standards and models, quantitative/qualitative/mixed methods, validity/reliability testing of data, data analysis and interpretation, and statistical inference methods.
  • Professional technical knowledge/expertise in Activity Monitoring, data analysis, and reporting.
  • Gender equality and diversity awareness

c) Technical Knowledge to be Acquired/Enhanced (for the Job)

  • Professional/technical knowledge/expertise in Team Management, Coaching & Training.
  • Mastery of UNICEF’s M&E policies and procedures.
  • Latest programme monitoring and evaluation theory, methodology, technology and tools.
  • Understanding of UN Mission and system, current key UN topics; and International Code of Conduct.
  • Understanding of UNICEF Mission Statement and UNICEF Guiding Principles. 
  • UNICEF strategic framework for partnerships and collaborative relationships  

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

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

  • Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (1)
  • Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
  • Works Collaboratively with others (2)
  • Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
  • Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
  • Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
  • Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
  • Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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 a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation 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.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable Females are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

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.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

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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.