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 a Hero

How can you make a difference?

The Education Specialist (Emergencies) is a critical role within the Programme Delivery and Quality Team supporting the Chief of Education to oversee ECW’s portfolio of country investments and alignment with ECW’s strategic approach, programme priorities and standardised programme delivery, and quality assurance approaches. The postholder will ensure the effective design, implementation, and strategic oversight of ECW’s country-level investments. This role ensures coherence across ECW’s country portfolios, governance processes, and technical operations, while driving excellence in programme design, implementation, and monitoring. The Education Specialist serves as a key member of the Programme Delivery and Quality Team, working closely with the chief of education to ensure effective running of the team, and contributes to ECW’s mission to deliver quality education in emergencies and protracted crises.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

Portfolio Oversight & Strategic Alignment
Portfolio management, Programme Design & Coherence
Lead on Quality Assurance framework and process
Country Engagement Programming monitoring for quality learning
Governance and Coordination at Programme Level
External Representation, Sector leadership and partnerships

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: Download File JD - Education Specialist (Emergencies), P-4, 00137696.PDF

To qualify as a champion for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements

Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Education, International Development, or other related fields.
Work Experience: Minimum eight (8) years of progressive professional experience in Education in Emergencies and Protracted Crises (EiEPC).
- Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, managing and/or evaluating education programmes in humanitarian, conflict-affected, displacement, fragile-state, or post-crisis settings.
- Strong technical expertise across the humanitarian-development nexus, including crisis preparedness, emergency response, resilience building, and learning outcomes.
- Demonstrated field-level responsibility for education programme implementation and management (not solely headquarters-based advisory experience).
- Experience working in and/or managing education portfolios in at least five ECW-supported countries, preferably across East Africa and/or the Middle East and in crisis-affected contexts.
- Proven ability to manage country portfolios, work with implementing partners and governments, and navigate complex operational environments.
- Significant experience overseeing multi-country education portfolios and/or large-scale donor-funded education investments.
- Demonstrated responsibility for the full grant lifecycle, including programme design, quality assurance, monitoring, reporting, governance reviews, and donor compliance.
- Proven experience coordinating complex stakeholder structures, technical review processes, and quality assurance mechanisms.
- Demonstrated experience representing organisations with governments, donors, UN agencies, implementing partners, and global education coordination platforms.
Skills:
- Strong communication, negotiation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
- Leadership and Change Management.
- Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL/MEL).
- External Representation and Advocacy.
- Cross-Sectoral Collaboration.
- Experience working in complex humanitarian and crisis-affected contexts.
Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required.

Desirables

Language: Professional working proficiency in Arabic and/or French strongly preferred. Knowledge of another official UN language (Chinese, Russian, or Spanish) or a local language is considered an asset.
Experience in MEAL systems and programme quality assurance.
Experience leading or supporting change management and organizational adaptation initiatives.
Experience in stakeholder representation, including engagement with governments, donors, UN agencies, and global education coordination platforms.
Experience providing education programme leadership in humanitarian and development contexts.
Relevant humanitarian field experience, particularly in crisis-affected, displacement, fragile-state, or post-crisis settings.
Experience with inter-agency coordination and multi-stakeholder partnership mechanisms.
Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings, and humanitarian contexts.

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 competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships
(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
(3) Drive to achieve results for impact
(4) Innovates and embraces change
(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity
(6) Thinks and acts strategically
(7) Works collaboratively with others

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, qualified and suitable candidates from other regions, including Eastern and Southern Africa, Europe and Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, West and Central Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and East Asia and the Pacific, 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.

In this role, you will collaborate with colleagues across multiple locations. For effective collaboration, we encourage flexible working hours that accommodate different time zones while prioritizing staff wellbeing.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.

Education Specialist (Emergencies), P-4, TA, 364 days, #00137696, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), UNICEF Hosted Fund, Geneva, Switzerland