Consultancy for Junior Archivist Consultant (6 months)

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. 

The Executive Board is the governing body of UNICEF, providing intergovernmental support and oversight to the organization, in accordance with the overall policy guidance of the United Nations General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. The Office of the Secretary of the Executive Board (OSEB) is responsible for maintaining an effective relationship between the Executive Board and the UNICEF secretariat.

Since its inception, UNICEF has produced and stored Executive Board documents and files related to its sessions, meetings and activities. These documents provide an institutional memory for the organization, and can provide evidence, explanation and justification for past decisions made by the organization. Given the significance and the scale of UNICEF’s work for children and families worldwide, it is the organization’s obligation to ensure preservation of such materials for future generations as an indispensable source on UNICEF’s history and activities, and to ensure full transparency by making them available publicly. The archiving project aims to create a complete digital library of all Executive Board files.

How can you make a difference? 

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide support to the Documentation Team OSEB with an archiving project. The consultant will accurately archive, tag and preserve Executive Board physical and digital materials and organize the files to be uploaded into a new trusted digital repository.

Duties and responsibilities

• Provide support to the OSEB Documentation Team in building a historical archive of documents and records.
• Processing archival records according to the ISAD(G) standard; and according to the UNICEF retention policy.
• Organize electronic data, files and physical records in preparation for digitization.
• Create descriptive metadata tags and produce finding aids for archival records.
• Use Adobe Acrobat Standard or Pro to re-scan documents as needed in searchable PDF format with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to allow for word searches in the documents.
• Follow OSEB archive naming conventions for new files.
• Save and store files in online SharePoint libraries and add metadata for each file as needed.
• Save and store files in the trusted digital repository for public access.
• Verify the quality of the files to ensure the digitized version accurately represents the content of the original document and that the information is legible.
• Complete any other tasks related to the archiving assignment that may be assigned by the supervisor.

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

• A degree programme in an undergraduate or graduate school in archival studies or library & information sciences or related field or be a recent graduate within the past two (2) years with specific post-secondary education in archival studies or library & information sciences or related field.
• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant administrative or clerical work.
• Understanding of international archival standards, including ISAD(G).
• Understanding of archival metadata standards and their application.
• Organizational, planning and prioritizing skills and abilities.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Native-speaking ability in English. Knowledge of French, Spanish or other United Nations official languages (Arabic, Chinese or Russian) is an asset.
• Ability to multitask where compliance with deadlines is needed is critical.
• Training and experience using Microsoft Word, Excel, SharePoint, Adobe Acrobat and other UNICEF applications are required.

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 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.

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. 

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