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For every child, Support!
The Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation (PME) function supports the office in delivering high-quality, results-driven programmes by providing strategic leadership in planning, monitoring, evaluation, and knowledge management. The PME Manager (Joint Programmes) ensures that programme implementation is guided by evidence, aligned with national priorities, and contributes to the achievement of UNICEF’s goals. The function plays a critical role in coordinating joint UN programmes, supporting integrated planning and reporting, and strengthening the office’s capacity to deliver impactful results for children through data-informed decision-making and interagency collaboration.
How well do you know Uzbekistan?
A country wrapped in ancient mysteries with a rich cultural heritage, a bustling capital with modern infrastructure and lifestyle.
UNICEF Country Office in Uzbekistan embraces diversity…
We deliver more…
We innovate more…
We celebrate more…
We are resilient… we make sure that no child is left behind.
So, are you thinking about applying to Uzbekistan? We promise you an experience of a lifetime.
Uzbekistan, nestled in the heart of Central Asia, is a land where tradition meets modern aspirations, creating a vibrant tapestry that beckons with promise and charm. Imagine walking through the bustling streets of Tashkent, the capital city, where contemporary buildings stand alongside majestic mosques and bustling bazaars. Experience the warm and welcoming spirit of the Uzbek people and experience their rich cultural heritage. The country's commitment to education and healthcare ensures a good quality of life, while its diverse landscapes, ranging from the rolling Kyzylkum Desert to the lush Fergana Valley, offer endless opportunities for adventure and exploration.
Beyond the urban allure, Uzbekistan's cities like Samarkand and Bukhara transport you to the romance of the ancient Silk Road. Stunning mosques and minarets, with blue-tiled facades, gleam under the sun. Life in Uzbekistan is enriched by a deep sense of history and a lifestyle that emphasizes family and community. The country's recent economic reforms and improved infrastructure are making life increasingly convenient and prosperous, with a growing number of international businesses and tourists discovering its potential. Living in Uzbekistan means being part of a dynamic, evolving society that holds tightly to its roots while ambitiously looking to the future, offering a unique blend of stability, culture, and growth.
Country Typology:
- Country Income Level: Uzbekistan is a Lower-Middle Income country.
- Duty Station: Tashkent is a “A”, family, and non-emergency duty station.
- Office Size: 70 staff
- Annual Budget 2025: US$ 70 million approximately.
- Schooling: 10 international schools, many offering the IB programme.
Brief country context:
Uzbekistan is a lower-middle income country nestled in Central Asia. Geographically, it is one of the only two double land-locked countries in the world. Its geo-political location provides an important opportunity for Uzbekistan to play a critical role in the development of the region. With a population of over 36 million, several development indicators show a positive trend in Uzbekistan. The country has adopted ambitious development plans which focus on legislative, economic, and social reforms aimed at developing human capital and economic prosperity. UNICEF Uzbekistan is also the focal point for the Termez Humanitarian Logistics Hub located in the southern region of Surkandarya, which provides essential logistical and procurement support to UNICEF Afghanistan. Given the operational complexity and high-level engagement with the Government, the Deputy Representative Operations will play a critical role in ensuring smooth support to the Office. Twenty-five UN Agencies, Funds, and Programmes comprise the UN Country Team in Uzbekistan, chaired by the United Nations Resident Coordinator.
UNICEF Uzbekistan stands as the third largest office in Europe and Central Asia Region. With contributions from the Vision 2030 Fund, International Financial Organizations, and government donors, the office is vigorously scaling up its efforts to transform the lives of children across the nation. This dynamic environment is ripe for a passionate and experienced leader to join the team.
For more information on UNICEF Uzbekistan watch the video accessible via this link UNICEF Uzbekistan Recruitment
UNICEF Uzbekistan Country Programme (2021-2025) is aligned with the Government of Uzbekistan National Development Strategy 2030 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF). The programme supports the Government of Uzbekistan to meet its commitment to respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights in line with international conventions and standards. The country programme is guided by the principles of children’s rights, equity, gender equality, inclusion and resilience, and supports evidence-based, integrative and innovative programming. The vision is that ‘all girls and boys in Uzbekistan, especially the most disadvantaged and deprived, realize their rights’. The programme focuses on: early childhood development; early learning and quality education; adolescent development and participation; social and child protection; social policy and child rights advocacy and programme effectiveness (planning, monitoring, evaluation, HACT, coordination of Joint UN Programmes, external communication and partnerships). The programme is based on ‘leaving no child behind’, realizing ‘rights for all children in Uzbekistan
Programme planning, monitoring and evaluation in line with key UNICEF programming principles is increasingly critical to the delivery of results for children in Uzbekistan, given the particular relevance of UNICEF programming principles – (1) leaving no one behind, (2) human rights-based approach to development or (3) gender equality and women’s empowerment – to the Uzbekistan context. This post is responsible in for leading UNICEF’s engagement in coordinating the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of Joint UN Programmes, ensuring planning, budgeting, and implementation are aligned with national priorities and UNICEF/UN joint programming guidelines. In addition, the post will provide strategic leadership in planning, monitoring and evaluation within the office with in-house technical support in planning, monitoring and evaluation.
Purpose for the job:
Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Representative and in close coordination with Chiefs of Sections, this post will be responsible for providing strategic leadership and technical support to PME, across programme sectoral areas, supporting achievement of UNICEF's priorities.
Working closely with relevant sections in the UNICEF office and interacting closely with Government, donors, NGO and private sector partners, this will lead the coordination and management of monitoring and evaluation activities of Joint UN Programmes, including oversight of the results-based planning, budgeting, expenditure tracking, financial forecasting, and reporting in close collaboration with Programme Teams, Operations, and UN agencies. This includes major initiatives such as Vision 2030 Fund and the Aral Sea Trust Fund, or any upcoming international financial institution (IFI) initiatives. The post will provide strategic and technical guidance to the office in the areas of programme planning, review and reporting; programme implementation and programme performance monitoring; evidence generation/ management and evaluation; and knowledge management and sharing. This post will play a critical role in strengthening UN-wide planning, monitoring and reporting in the context of the ongoing UN reform, whereby all the UN agencies in the country are required to work together for joint planning, monitoring and reporting.
Summary of key functions/accountabilities:
1. Country programme, annual workplan and project planning, review and reporting (both UNICEF-specific and contribute to the UN country-team wide/ UN Joint Programme)
- Coordinate and guide the development of results-based and affordable UNICEF country programme, multi-year rolling/ annual work plan (RWP/ AWP) and annual management plan (AMP), as well as the annual Joint Work Plan (JWP) for the UNSDCF/Joint Programmes;
- Provide technical guidance and support to programme teams in developing project documents and funding proposals to ensure that they are RBM and RBB compliant;
- Coordinate and guide the process of country office mid-year and annual review and reporting through RAM/ Insight and the process of reporting on the JWP through UN Info;
- Ensure that all donor reports are up to the quality standards and results-focused, attached with accurate and up-to-date financial report;
2. Programme implementation and programme performance monitoring
- In close coordination with partners, ensure that a set of equity-focused and gender-specific programme performance indicators is identified and adjusted as necessary, in the context of the multi-year and annual integrated monitoring and evaluation plans (IMEPs), AMP, RWP/AWP and JWP;
- Ensure that key annual programme indicators of Joint UN Programs are tracked and analyzed and share the result with the Country Management Team for effective programme, advocacy and management decisions;
- Ensure that collection and analysis of data from field visits is coordinated and standardized across programmes to feed into to programme performance monitoring; and undertake field visits to the cases where management attention and intervention are required and suggest required corrective action;
- Provide technical support for establishing and implementing programme monitoring mechanisms and tools, whereby progress to date and bottlenecks to be addressed by the programme sections are identified;
3. Evidence generation/ management and evaluation
- Provide technical guidance and collaboration in planning and establishing the major research, monitoring and evaluation activities in multi-year and annual IMEPs that are aligned with the M&E plan for the joint UN programmes and UNSDCF;
- Manage the effective governance structure for evidence generation and quality assure evidence generation activities;
- Provide technical advice and guidance to the office to ensure that evaluation design, management and documentation meet quality standards and comply with the organization's programme evaluation policies and guidelines, while satisfying stakeholders' requirements;
- Coordinate and provide advice to ensure that a management response to the findings and recommendations of the evaluation is completed, recorded, and follow-up actions are monitored and closed in a timely manner;
4. Knowledge management and sharing
- Coordinates the implementation of knowledge management processes and systems to be initiated in the office;
Package and communicate knowledge on PME and innovation for evidence-based decision making;
- Strengthen documentation of best practices and ensure effective sharing and generation of knowledge between UNICEF Uzbekistan and global, regional PME network.
5. Capacity building, partnership, collaboration and resource mobilization
- Lead PME- related proposal and partnership development efforts in collaboration with programme teams, the partnership manger and the RO;
- Strengthen national planning, monitoring and evaluation capacity through a partnership with various stakeholders, including national M&E association and through representing UNICEF at UN M&E technical working group;
- Foster and develop partner networks with local innovators, civil society, academia and private sector to build and provide a space to nurture and test innovative approaches;
- Provide capacity-building and training to UNICEF staff, partner staff and end users for PME
6. Coordination and Financial Oversight of Joint UN Programmes
- Lead and coordinate UNICEF’s engagement in monitoring, reporting and evaluation of joint UN programmes, ensuring strategic alignment with the UNSDCF, national priorities, and UNICEF’s Country Programme.
- Serve as the focal point for joint programme planning, budgeting, performance monitoring and reporting, including Vision 2030 and other cross-sectoral initiatives.
- Coordinate UNICEF and interagency expenditure tracking, financial forecasting, and reporting in collaboration with UNICEF Operations and participating UN agencies.
- Ensure coherence across joint programme workplans and results frameworks, and promote harmonization with national systems.
- Support joint programme governance structures and interagency collaboration, including representation in UN coordination mechanisms and technical working groups.
- Facilitate knowledge sharing, joint evaluations, and documentation of lessons learned from joint programming.
Impact of Results:
The incumbent is expected to improve internal and external PME performance across UNICEF programmes, particularly in relation to large scale Joint UN Programmes, to advance children’s rights through quality programming and solutions, therefore sharpening the approach of all programme results and improving the targeting and monitoring of outcomes and outputs. He/she will be responsible for establishing systems and influencing the work of all sections to improve the efficiency and efficacy of the UNICEF supported programme. This in turn provides evidence, guidance, innovative tools and resources to expand the scope and leverage the scale of UNICEF programmes and to improve effectiveness and efficiency of UNICEF staff and partners. The incumbent will also enhance the visibility, coherence, and performance of UNICEF’s implementation of joint UN programmes by strengthening interagency coordination, financial accountability, and results-based management, thereby contributing to a more integrated and impactful UN presence in Uzbekistan.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Minimum requirements:
- Education:
Advanced university degree in social sciences, international development, development planning, public administration or a related technical field.
- Work Experience:
A minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional work experience, including both International and national work experiences;
At least one instance of exposure to emergency programming preferred
Experience in coordinating large-scale multi-agency or joint UN programmes, including planning, budgeting, and results reporting is requiered.
- Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Russian is desirable. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
Desirables:
Advanced analytical and conceptual thinking, especially in results-based planning and performance monitoring.
Proficiency in data visualization and reporting tools.
Excellent communication and negotiation skills for engaging with government, donors, and UN partners.
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
(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 | 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 female candidates 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.
Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
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.
