Contract Duration – 12 months

Working arrangement: office based with travel

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.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

The Researcher / Anthropologist will be based in Islamabad and reports to the M&E Specialist — Polio UNICEF for general guidance and direction; the researcher/anthropologist is expected to work closely with SBC unit for SBC guidance. She / He is responsible for conducting social studies on social characteristics and health behaviors of key population groups in Polio high risk areas to support the program to develop community engagement and communication strategies to improve vaccine acceptance in Pakistan, especially the high-risk areas. The post will help identify the drivers of behavior change and assess the effectiveness of SBC interventions.

The post is responsible for conducting desk research on cultural norms, customs, and behavioral drivers of the key target populations to support the research and studies initiated by the Polio programme. Through engagement with and participation of stakeholders, communities, children, civil society partners and government counterparts, the researcher/anthropologist undertakes field research and observations to understand how the programme can refine its campaign strategies to improve polio acceptance. This subsequently contributes to polio campaign efforts in reducing missed children towards achievement of Polio eradication in Pakistan.

Overall, the deliverables of this position is expected to inform the social behavior change strategies contributing to positive change for children in Pakistan through their expertise in Social and Behavioural Science and their ability to ensure that UNICEF Pakistan programming is evidence-based programme

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: Research Anthropoligist.pdf

Minimum requirements:

Education: Master’s in Social and Behavioural Science, Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, Public Health or another relevant technical field. An advanced university degree (Masters or Higer) and PhD in anthropology will be given preference
Work Experience: a minimum of five years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas in required: anthropology, social research, public health programming
Language Requirements: English, Urdu and Pashto
- Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:
- Qualitative research & analytical skills
- Eperience of field data collection/surveys
- Child Safeguarding & Ethics
- Cultural & Contextual Sensitivity
- Data analysis software
Desirable: quantitative data analysis skills

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.

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.

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

An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
Cover letter
A separate financial proposal (only acceptable in the format of the linked template) Financial proposal for Researcher Anthropoligist.xlsx
A detailed technical proposal: any relevant previous study or article

Remarks:

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.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

National Researcher and Anthropologist (office based with possible travel)