Contract Duration: 12 months

Working arrangement: 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, the right to education

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Purpose of Assignment:

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide strategic, operational, and community leadership for SPARK globally, positioning it as UNICEF’s flagship innovation platform for identifying, developing, and supporting high-potential innovations and teams. The consultant will be responsible for stewarding the successful delivery and continued development of the annual SPARK Innovation Award, the SPARK Accelerator for UNICEF Country Offices and implementing partners, SPARK Week as UNICEF’s annual flagship innovation event, global innovation culture programming, community and partnership development, portfolio governance and learning, automated digital systems for mentorship and community engagement, and resource mobilisation and strategic positioning. Through this assignment, the consultant will help ensure that SPARK strengthens UNICEF’s pipeline of innovative solutions, supports high-performing teams, and contributes to UNICEF’s longer-term innovation capacity across countries, regions, and headquarters.

Scope of Work:

Under the supervision of the Innovation Manager (Systems & Services), the consultant will provide targeted advisory, mentoring, and quality assurance support, aligned with the resource coverage model. The scope includes:

1. Strategic Leadership and Programme Management (10%): Provide strategic direction and overall management of SPARK.

2. Global Innovation Award (15%): Lead the overall governance, design direction and integrity of the annual SPARK innovation Award.

3. Innovation Accelerator (20%): Lead SPARK as a global innovation accelerator.

4. High-Performing Teams Development (10%): Ensure SPARK teams receive coherent, high-quality capacity-building support aligned with accelerator objectives, scale-readiness pathways and OOI priorities, with delivery led through the Innovation Capacity Development Lead and relevant partners.

5. SPARK Week Leadership (20%): Provide strategic direction and oversight of SPARK Week as UNICEF's flagship annual innovation event, ensuring alignment with SPARK’s objectives and overall innovation strategy.

6. Digital Systems, Automation, and Tool Development (10%)

7. Innovation Culture and Community Building (5%): Provide strategic direction for innovation culture and the global SPARK community, ensuring alignment with SPARK objectives and UNICEF’s broader innovation agenda.

8. Partnerships and Resource Mobilization (5%): Lead strategic positioning and senior level engagement for SPARK partnership and resource mobilization, ensuring alignment with OOI priorities and long-term sustainability of the programme.

9. Learning, Evidence and Portfolio Insights (5%): Provide strategic direction and oversight of SPARK portfolio learning, ensuring that evidence generation, insights and knowledge products are coherent, high quality and inform programme decision-making and positioning.

How can you make a difference?

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the Terms of Reference here: Download File ToR Global Lead Spark TMS.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

Education: Masters degree in Innovation, Design, Technology, Public Policy, International Development, Business, Entrepreneurship, Organizational Development, or related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum 12+ years of relevant experience
Experience leading innovation, accelerator, entrepreneurship, transformation, or design programmes
Experience managing global and multi-stakeholder initiatives
Experience building communities and partnerships
Demonstrated ability to lead strategic programmes and deliver measurable results
UN experience is an asset

Language Requirements: Excellent written communication in English; working knowledge of another UN language is an asset.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:

Systems thinking
Innovation leadership
Human-centered design
Strategic communication
Community building
Portfolio management
Partnership development
Facilitation and coaching
Learning and adaptive management

Desirables:

Prior experience designing or managing innovation awards, accelerators, challenge funds, or venture-style support programmes is highly desirable. Experience supporting innovation teams from idea development through testing, evidence generation, scale-readiness and partnership development would be an asset, as would experience building mentor networks, communities of practice, innovation events, demo days, or learning journeys for diverse internal and external audiences. Familiarity with UNICEF country office programming, resource mobilisation, and digital collaboration or automation tools would also be an advantage.

For every Child, you demonstrate Care

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 (Talent Management System):

An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
Cover letter
A separate financial proposal Financial proposal Global Lead SPARK Innovation Award .xlsx

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.

Consultancy - Global Lead - SPARK Innovation Award, Office of Innovation,Helsinki, 12 months (Remote/Work from home)