Emergency Specialist P3- Fixed Term Appointment- ECARO O/P Istanbul, Turkiye PN#00023295

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. 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 personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

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

For every child, Hope

Countries in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) are prone to multiple risks and hazards, including earthquakes, floods, disease outbreaks, conflict, extreme weather events, and large-scale population movements. In 2023, floods, avalanches, and earthquakes affected over 15.2 million people in Türkiye and more than 450,000 in the Western Balkans and Central Asia. Natural disasters in Central Asia cause economic losses amounting to US$10 billion annually. Political instability, civil unrest, and displacement pose significant risks to families, particularly due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, which has left 16.6 million people, including 3.3 million children, in need. This conflict continues to have devastating impacts on children inside the country and has triggered one of the largest refugee crises in Europe since World War II. Many ECA countries are transit routes for complex mixed migration movements, encompassing refugees, asylum seekers, and economic migrants, leaving thousands of vulnerable families and children in their wake. The humanitarian, economic, and political crises in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa heighten the risk of new population flows into Europe. Additionally, the crisis in Afghanistan poses an ongoing threat to neighboring Central Asian countries. Service disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with significant population movements, have heightened the risks of vaccine-preventable diseases and cross-border epidemics. Moreover, adverse climate projections indicate that recurrent threats such as floods, landslides, extreme weather events, and forest fires will likely be exacerbated in the coming years.

Within this complex and often acute humanitarian setting, marked by increasing fragility across many middle- to high-income countries, humanitarian action remains a priority. In the ECA region, UNICEF’s humanitarian agenda focuses on building resilient systems by collaborating with regional, national, and local entities to promote child- and youth-centered resilience, enhance preparedness and response capacities, provide technical support and capacity building, and advocate for policies aligned with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) , the Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action (CCCs), and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).

UNICEF’s comparative advantage lies in bolstering countries’ capacities for humanitarian action—preparedness, mitigation, and response per the CCCs, while also providing technical support and leveraging national and regional capacities to enhance system resilience to withstand shocks and stresses. Additional priorities include ensuring access to climate-resilient water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities and services.

How can you make a difference? 

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Advanced University degree in one of the following fields: social sciences, public administration, international law, public health, nutrition, international relations, business administration or other related disciplines. Preferably a combination of management, administration, and relevant technical fields.
• Work Experience: Five years of progressively responsible professional work experience at the national and international levels in programme/project development, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and administration.
• Developing country work experience is a must
• Skills: Specialized training/experience in emergency response management highly desirable.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English, a second UN language or Russian proficiency is considered an asset

Desirables:

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency. 
• Typically, as a functional specialist, provides technical leadership, guidance and support for sectoral/inter- sectoral programme development, design, planning, implementation, and administration of specific emergency project activities within a country programme in a small to medium size country office structure.
• As a seasoned professional technical specialist, the incumbent is held accountable for timely and effective technical contribution to the Emergency Preparedness and Response Management besides technical contribution to the preparation of situation analysis, programme documents, as well as programme strategy, planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting.
• Holds primary responsibility for the implementation of Emergency programme goals and objectives consistent with the established strategy.
• Holds contributory responsibility for strategic recommendations and decisions on the components of situation analysis and programme/project strategy development.
• Assumes primary responsibility for effective management of the assigned cluster, including oversight/supervision of project staff, financial accountability of funds and human resources management and development.
• The job requires excellent communication, negotiation, and other human relations skills, as well as effective strong leadership and decision making competency in the complex working environment dealing with other UN agencies, governmental officials, NGO counterparts, donors and other important partners.

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…

(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 

(8) Nurtures, leads and manages people

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility jobs-near-me.org UNICEF.

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’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable, candidates from minor and underrepresented groups 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.

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

HQ specific: visa residence requirements: i.e.: UNICEF shall not facilitate the issuance of a visa and working authorization for candidates under consideration for positions at the national officer and general service category.

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.