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 for as long as we are needed. 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 professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.
Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.
For every child, the right to Education
UNICEF Supply Division (SD) works to ensure equitable and inclusive access to essential supplies and services for children and their families, in development, humanitarian and fragile contexts. These supplies are critical to saving lives, supporting children’s health and education, and protecting them from abuse, exploitation, and neglect. As the UN’s largest end to end supply chain entity, UNICEF leverages its global reach, market influence, supply chain expertise and partnerships with governments, civil society, private sector, industry, and other stakeholders to meet children’s needs and protect their rights around the world.
SD focuses on three result areas to maximize impact, scale, and effectiveness: strategic procurement; supply preparedness and response in humanitarian and fragile contexts; and supply chain optimization. To facilitate and accelerate progress toward these results, SD employs three change strategies: financing for supply and services, supply chain digitalization and supply chain localization.
The Programme Manager reports to the Center Chief as the acting DLC Lead. The Operational Analysis and Technology Centre (OATC) provides ICT services for Supply Division (SD) to support UNICEF global supply chain operations. The services portfolio of OATC includes systems analysis, business process analysis, material master data administration, specialized SAP customization, and infrastructure & customer support (helpdesk) services. ICT services are delivered via four units. They are Infrastructure & Operations, Business Process, Web Development, and Systems Development.
How can you make a difference?
Under the direct supervision of the DLC Lead, the Programme Manager will be responsible for leading a team managing all aspects of product delivery of a digital product throughout its lifecycle, from conception to execution, ensuring continuous fit for purpose, organizational priorities, and technical feasibility. In doing so, the Programme Manager will be responsible for partnering with the relevant stakeholders to understand the core business needs, resulting in increased effectiveness, efficiency, or differentiation for UNICEF products and services.
Key functions, accountabilities, and related duties/tasks
- Leading the Product Team comprised of Business Analyst Specialist, Technical Lead, and the Development team
Acts as a coordinator for the team and provides guidance to the team on relevant matters
o Embeds a spirit of learning and continuous development within the team to ensure continued professionalisation of services provided and fine-tuning of professional craftsmanship
o Sets team objectives, performance measurements, standards and results expected to ensure timely and client focused services.
o Monitors implementation and oversee progress
o Works closely with the SME coordinator/Product Owner, OATC team and DID counterparts to oversee the development of estimates and operational requirements to enable accurate planning with realistic timelines
o Establishes team priorities, and supervises the implementation of work plans
o Promotes teamwork and collaboration by providing the team with clear direction, objectives and guidance to enable them to perform their duties responsibly, effectively and efficiently
o Fosters a positive work environment, respectful of both men and women, and ensure that the highest standards of conduct are
- Define and own the product vision and product roadmap
o Partner with key stakeholders to understand their needs, challenges and objectives. Make recommendations and influence the direction of the product developments, to best fulfill the business objectives.
o Creates and maintains product roadmap in alignment with relevant stakeholders
o Collaborates with the DLC Lead and the other product managers, to identify opportunities for better alignment between different products, so end to end business processes can be enabled
o Works closely with SME coordinator/Product Owner, OATC team and DID counterparts to oversee the development of estimates and operational requirements to enable accurate planning with realistic timelines
o Holds responsibility for effective coordination of activities across all stages of the product management.
o Acts as a Project Manager for product development/delivery, bridges gaps and manages dependencies between different business units if/when needed.
- Coordinate with stakeholders and the DLC Leadership
o Ensures that requirements and process design span across wider value delivery processes
o Negotiates with business functions to drive the potential realization of tangible benefits from changes to business process in coordination with the SME coordinator/Product Owner.
o Together with the SME coordinator/Product Owner analyses needs and makes recommendations and demonstrates how to best utilize UNICEF business systems to accomplish business objectives
If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: 
JD_Programme Manager_TA_OATC.pdf
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Minimum requirements:
- Education:
Advanced University degree in Public Administration, Business Administration or Management, International relations, Information Technology, or related field.
Certifications in business analysis, process mapping, project management, and/or analytics tools is desirable
- Work Experience:
Minimum 8 years work experience at the national and international levels in either public and/or private sector in a managerial capacity. Experience working in a multi-cultural environment and/ or developing country situation.
A minimum 5 years of work experience in business analysis, master data management and design of ERP (enterprise resource planning) solutions in the financial and supply chain areas is a must.
Experience in documenting business process requirements and developing functional specifications is essential.
Experience with reporting and querying tools used in business analysis is a must. Familiarity with Microsoft or SAP technologies in this domain is desirable.
Knowledge of UN financial rules and regulations is desirable
- Other Technical knowledge
Knowledge of end to end supply chain processes (Procure to Pay) is a must.
Knowledge of e-Business concepts in particular e-procurement and related technologies is essential.
Strong knowledge of Sales & Distribution (SD), Materials Management (MM), Production Planning (PP), Financial Accounting (FI) modules of the SAP system essential.
Experience defining Supply Chain related systems such as SRM, CRM, Field Engineering and/or Product Catalogue Management is desirable.
Experience defining eCommerce systems is desirable.
- Language Requirements:
Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.
Desirables:
- Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.
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
Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.
UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.
UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.
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 is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable 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.
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.
UNICEF staff members holding fixed-term, continuing, or permanent appointments who are considered to be on abolished post status may apply for this temporary position and, if selected with a start date before 31 December 2025, may take it up as a temporary assignment, in line with UNICEF guidance on separation due to the abolition of posts or staff reduction. They will retain their fixed-term entitlements but will not hold a lien to their abolished post. For other scenarios where a Temporary Assignment may be possible, please refer to Additional guidance on IP to IP temporary assignments after completion of the full TOD.pdf (accessible to UNICEF personnel only).
The conditions of a temporary assignment, including relocation entitlements, will depend on the status of the staff member’s original appointment and may be limited in accordance with applicable UNICEF policies, procedures, and practices in force.
In this role, you will collaborate with colleagues across multiple locations. For effective collaboration, we encourage flexible working hours that accommodate different time zones while prioritizing staff wellbeing.
Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.
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.
