Social Policy Officer, NO-2, Bucharest, Romania, Post#:TBC, ONLY FOR ROMANIA Nationals, Fixed-Term Appointment

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, OPPORTUNITIES

 

How can you make a difference? 

Are you passionate about making a difference for children through social policy and advocacy? UNICEF is looking for a Social Policy Officer to join our team and drive impactful, sustainable change for children and communities. This role will involve working with government and civil society partners to advance social protection, equitable public finance, and child-centered governance, ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive.

Key Responsibilities

• Enhance Data for Policy Action: Lead efforts in collecting, analyzing, and presenting data on child poverty and vulnerability to inform actionable policies. Strengthen national capacity to leverage data, ensuring policies effectively address the needs of children.

• Strengthen Social Protection: Support the design and implementation of social protection programs with a focus on reaching marginalized children. Provide technical assistance for integrated social protection systems, linking cash transfers, health insurance, and social services.

• Optimize Public Financial Resources: Conduct budget analysis and collaborate with Ministries of Finance to enhance investments in child-focused services. Build capacity for effective budgeting and transparency at both national and district levels.

• Support Local Government Capacity: In decentralizing environments, work closely with local authorities to improve child-centered planning, budgeting, and monitoring of social services. Promote community participation and accountability to ensure services align with local needs.

• Drive Advocacy and Partnerships: Leverage data to advocate for child-sensitive policies and establish partnerships with government entities, NGOs, donors, and the private sector to advance the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Sustainable Development Goals.

• Program Management: Coordinate and manage technical support for initiatives on child poverty, social protection, and public finance. Ensure timely planning, monitoring, and risk mitigation for KLINDER’s social policy projects.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: JD_Social_Policy_Officer_Level_NO-2_Romania_CO

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: A university degree in one of the following fields is required: Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, or another relevant technical field.
• Work Experience: At least 2 years of relevant work experience in Social Policy area.
• Skills: Strong data analysis, analytical thinking and strategic planning skills, ability to facilitate, consult and negotiate with a broad range of government and non-government partners.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Romanian is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

Desirables:

• Working experience with government ministries, think thanks, or other related institutions on areas related to social protection, public finance, and child poverty.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex topics on social policy.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.

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 

[add the 8^th competency (Nurtures, leads and manages people) for a supervisory role]. 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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.

We offer a wide range of measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will 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.

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 from ROMA population, all religions, ethnicities, cultural background, gender, etc. 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.

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.