Consultancy: Environment Social and Governance (ESG) Consultant, Office of Innovation, 7 months, (Remote)

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. ­­­­

UNICEF’s Office of Innovation creates opportunities for the world’s children by focusing on where new markets can meet their vital needs.

For every child…innovate

Our Team

UNICEF’s Innovative Finance Hub, based in Helsinki, aims to catalyze global capital in support of children to fill the SDG gap and radically accelerate progress towards the SDGs. It sits at a unique vantage point where an organization working on global issues meets the startup thinking, new ideas, and partners to turn this energy into scalable solutions. 

How can you make a difference?

Under the direct supervision of the Lead, Innovative Financing, the ESG consultant will support in finalizing the listed equity guidance document for Child-lens Investing Framework (CLIF), a framework to guide investors to incorporate child-related considerations in investment decision-making. The consultant will do a landscaping exercise of the existing listed equity indices and research around key challenges and opportunities to develop a child-index. They will draft a workplan for the creation of a child-index and the terms of reference for potential partnerships in developing the index. 

The consultant will:  

• Finalize the listed equity guidance document including:  
• Coordinate receiving and integrating comments from several UNICEF teams on the listed equity guidance document for CLIF. 
• Coordinate receiving and integrating comments from several Asset Managers on the listed equity guidance document for CLIF. 
• Coordinate receiving and integrating comments from any other stakeholder, as needed on the listed equity guidance document for CLIF. 
• Critically review and give inputs to the listed equity guidance document. 
• Finalize the listed equity guidance document including proof-reading. 
• Liaise with the design agency to get it design-ready for publishing. 
• Lead the groundwork for Child-Index including: 
• Conduct a landscaping exercise of the existing listed equity indices and research around key challenges and opportunities to develop a child-index. 
• Organize internal brainstorming sessions for the development of this index. 
• Develop a workplan for the creation of a child-index. 
• Draft a TOR for potential partnerships with relevant stakeholders (e.g., Index providers, Academia) that could support UNICEF in developing the index. 

Please see detailed ToR (Terms of Reference)  ESG Consultant (1).pdf

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

• A master’s degree in finance, Business Administration, Public Administration, or a related field is required. 

 *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. 

• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in Finance, Impact or ESG Investing, Sustainable finance/innovative finance, or related field is required. 
• Strong analytical and communications skills, verbal and written is required. 
• Strong knowledge and understanding of the Listed/Public Equity space and its association opportunities and challenges is an asset. 
• Understanding of child rights is an asset. 
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment, across geographies and establish harmonious working relationships, both within and outside the organization. 
• Experience in the UN system is 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:

None 

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.   

How to apply:

• Interested applicant is required to submit a financial proposal with an all-inclusive fee. Please see the financial proposal template.  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.  

General Terms and Conditions:  

Please review UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for Consultants here for important information regarding contract obligations, including medical insurance, SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) vaccination, and income tax requirements.

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.

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.

Contact: For any queries, please contact: [email protected]