Consultancy 12 months: Market Research Specialist, Procurement (Giga), Geneva, Switzerland

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. 

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. 

And we never give up. 

For every child, Connectivity 

UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives.

The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection, where an organization that works on huge global issues meets the start-up thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions.

About Giga

Launched in 2019 as a joint initiative between UNICEF and ITU, Giga has set the ambitious goal to connect every school in the world to the internet. Half of the world’s population has no regular access to the Internet. Millions of children leave school without any digital skills, making it much more difficult for them to thrive and contribute to local and global economies. This has created a digital divide between those who are connected and those who are not, a divide that has become even wider during the Covid-19 pandemic. UNICEF and ITU have therefore joined forces to create Giga, an initiative to connect every school in the world to the Internet and address this new form of inequality.

Giga focuses on connecting schools so that children and young people have access to information, opportunity, and choice. It also uses schools as anchor points for their surrounding communities: if you connect the school, you can also connect local businesses and services. This creates opportunities for service providers to generate revenue from paying users, making connectivity more sustainable. A 2021 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that a 10% increase in school connectivity can increase effective years of schooling by 0.6% and increase GDP per capita by 1.1%.

You can read more about Giga’s work at https://giga.global/ and by following us on twitter @Gigaglobal

How can you make a difference? 

The Giga Procurement Section, based in Geneva, plays a critical role in achieving this goal by ensuring that schools receive high-quality connectivity solutions. This role will be co-managed by Giga and UNICEF Supply Division to support UNICEF Country Offices and their government partners with technical assistance to efficiently procure affordable, quality-assured, and sustainable connectivity.

Under the guidance of the Contract Manager and UNICEF Supply Division’s Sustainable Markets Center, the Market Research Specialist for Connectivity will take a lead role in supporting market research and analysis efforts to uncover market barriers and engage in strategic market shaping initiatives. In collaboration with Supply Division’s Sustainable Markets Center team, this specialist will be responsible in developing and implementing strategies to improve market conditions and increase access to key strategic connectivity products and services for schools.

The role requires agility and adaptability, aligning with Giga’s startup culture. The Technical Specialist will work closely with UNICEF Supply Division, UNICEF country offices and ITU teams, as well as other UN agencies.

Key responsibilities include:

• Market Intelligence and Analysis: 
• Collect, collate, and analyze market intelligence on global and local markets for connectivity solutions.
• Develop and present comprehensive reports on market findings, using graphic data illustrations and translating complex findings into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Monitor pricing, supplier development, key product / service pipelines, industry trends, and changes in the regulatory environment changes to inform procurement strategies.
• Ensure that all market research and analysis efforts are data-driven, employing advanced analytical tools and methodologies to provide accurate and actionable insights.
• Implement a continuous improvement approach by regularly reviewing and refining market research processes based on feedback and new market developments.
• Market Influencing Strategies:
• Contribute to the development of and provide advice on tailored and targeted market acceleration interventions on both the supply and demand sides of the connectivity solutions market.
• Analyze historical data of connectivity services for schools’ quality of services and pricing, to equip and ensure informed intelligence-driven decision making and market negotiations.
• Interpret market research to inform procurement approaches, financing mechanisms, and industry engagement to improve market outcomes.
• Support the development of frameworks and policies to guide strategic supply efforts.
• Capacity Building and Training:
• Provide training on the perspectives of industry suppliers, so that the Giga Procurement Section and other supply staff can be better equipped in market negotiations.
• Lead capacity-building initiatives for UNICEF Country Offices and government partners to improve market research and procurement processes.
• Develop and disseminate best practices and lessons learned to enhance understanding of market dynamics.
• Stakeholder engagement and industry engagement:
• Collaborate with ITU, UNICEF Supply Division and Giga teams (e.g., Mapping/Tech, Modelling, Finance) to help drive procurement strategies and shape the school connectivity solutions market by interpreting market research and recommending approaches to positively influence supplier participation.
• Engage with UNICEF’s market shaping partners and public and private financiers, especially in relation to potential special contracts and supplier financing endeavors.
• Organize stakeholder meetings, consultations, and industry engagements.
• Maintain clear and consistent communication with all stakeholders, providing regular updates on market research findings and the impact of market shaping initiatives.
• Prepare detailed reports and presentations for senior management and key stakeholders to inform decision-making and strategy development.
• Support for Market Acceleration:
• Support the development of a procurement strategy and the implementation of market acceleration plans with well-designed market research analysis.
• Explore the pros and cons of pooled procurement and/or other market acceleration initiatives to assess benefits, potential risks, or unintended consequences on the connectivity solutions market (and how to address these situations from the design of the interventions).

Please access the full Term of Reference (ToRs) and read a more detailed description of the assignment in this file in order to prepare your financial proposal and know more about the role: 

Market Research Specialist FINALv.pdf

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

• A master’s degree in data science, computer science, statistics. *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• Minimum 5 years of professional work experience in data science, computer science, statistics, or a related field with at least 3 years of experience in machine learning or related fields.
• Strong experience in classical machine learning algorithms such as Regression, Classification, Clustering and Forecasting.
• Strong experience in algorithm development in Python
• Experience with cloud services, like AWS, Azure.
• Experienced and comfortable with remote team dynamics, process, and tools (Slack, Zoom, etc.)
• Excellent communication skills and ability to present complex technical concepts to a non-technical audience.
• Experience in the application of the relevant fields in the telecommunications sector is highly desirable.
• Experience with geospatial data is desirable.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency conditions is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset. 

Travel:

• The consultant is expected to travel to the countries Giga is supporting on five (5) trips, for a stay of 5-6 nights each, to Africa, during the period of this contract, covering approximately 9 countries in Eastern, Western and Southern Africa
• The consultant is responsible for arranging his/her own travel, including visa and travel insurance.

Payment details and further considerations:

• Payment of professional fees will be based on the submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.
• The consultant is responsible for his/her own health and travel insurance.
• The consultant is responsible for arranging his/her own travel, including visa.
• This consultancy is based in Geneva.
• UNICEF will facilitate the process for obtaining local permits exclusively for the consultant, excluding any dependents.
• For more information on Non-staff members IO based in Geneva, you can visit this link

How to apply:

• Interested applicants are required to submit a financial proposal with an all-inclusive fee. Please see the financial proposal template here: 
• Consultancy Financial Offer template.docx
• Financial proposal must include travel costs (economy class) and daily subsistence allowance, if travel is required as per TOR and any other estimated costs: visa, travel/health insurance.
• Applications without a financial proposal will not be considered.

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

To view our competency framework, please visit here. 

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

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. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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. 

Remarks: 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. 

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. For more information on Non-staff members IO based in Geneva, you can visit this link.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts. 

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