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.
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For every child, dedication
In Nigeria, UNICEF works in a complex humanitarian and development setting to fulfill and protect children's rights in partnership with the government, civil society, children, and families. UNICEF Nigeria is one of the largest UNICEF Country Offices globally - click the link to learn more about UNICEF in Nigeria: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/.
For every child, a champion
Organizational Context and Purpose for the job
The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.
Social and Behaviour Change in UNICEF is a cross-cutting programme strategy that analyses and addresses the cognitive, social and structural determinants of individual practices and societal changes in both development and humanitarian contexts. SBC uses the latest in social and behavioral sciences to understand people, their beliefs, their values, the socio-cultural norms and the economic and institutional contexts that shape their lives, with the aim of engaging them and increasing their influence in the design of solutions for change. SBC brings social and behavioral evidence generation together with participation in community-led and human-centered processes. SBC is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate, with corporate results across sectors revolving around behaviors like immunization, feeding practices, learning, hygiene, and positive discipline, as well as transformations across sectors needed to make societies more inclusive, equitable and peaceful.
UNICEF SBC employs a mix of approaches including community engagement, strategic communication, applied behavioral science, service delivery improvement, systems strengthening, social mobilization and policy advocacy to advance child rights, survival, development, protection and participation.
How can you make a difference?
Under the guidance of the Chief, SBC Section, the SBC Officer (SCL) will work under the direct supervision of the SBC Specialist and in close coordination with relevant programme sections, implementing partners, and government counterparts. The key objectives of this role include:
- Strengthening UNICEF’s capacity to systematically capture and analyse community voices and social media discourse.
- Ensuring timely synthesis of findings to support programme design, implementation, and course correction.
- Supporting the integration of SCL into broader communication, advocacy, risk communication and community engagement (RCCE), and humanitarian response efforts.
Key functions/accountabilities:
- System Design and Implementation
- Data Collection and Analysis
- Reporting and Communication
- Capacity Building and Coordination
- Knowledge Management and Learning
- System Design and Implementation
- Contribute to the design, refinement, and implementation of SCL frameworks, including identification of key information needs, data sources, and collection tools.
- Support the development of SCL protocols and standard operating procedures tailored to the local context.
- Data Collection and Analysis
- Monitor online conversations, media narratives, and community feedback related to UNICEF-supported programmes, using tools such as Talkwalker, Brandwatch, Meltwater, or similar.
- Conduct sentiment analysis, trend mapping, and keyword monitoring for key social issues, misinformation, rumours, or community grievances.
- Where feasible, triangulate online data with field-level or partner-generated community feedback.
- Reporting and Communication
- Produce regular SCL insight reports, summaries, and alerts with actionable recommendations.
- Prepare presentations and talking points for internal and external dissemination of insights.
- Collaborate with SBC, programme, and communication teams to translate insights into responsive messaging or programme adjustments.
- Collaborate with regional and global SCL partners to ensure local narratives are feeding into policies and decision that affect local programming or communities.
- Capacity Building and Coordination
- Provide orientation or training on social and community listening tools, ethics, and methods to UNICEF staff, implementing partners, and relevant government counterparts.
- Support coordination of SCL activities across sectors and ensure synergy with existing feedback mechanisms, such as U-Report, community mobilisers, or accountability to affected populations (AAP) initiatives.
- Knowledge Management and Learning
- Document lessons learned, promising practices, and challenges encountered during implementation.
- Contribute to the development of case studies, guidance materials, or toolkits to support SCL institutionalisation in the country office.
- Maintain a SharePoint repository of generated reports, and anonymized data to document and archive SCL action.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Education:
A University degree in Social and Behavioral Science, including sociology, anthropology, communication studies/communication for development, psychology, and/or related field is required.
Experience:
- Minimum years of progressively responsible experience in community engagement, media monitoring, social research, data analysis, or digital listening.
- Experience using digital analysis tools (e.g., Talkwalker, Brandwatch, Hootsuite, NVivo, Excel, Power BI) and a strong understanding of data ethics and privacy is advantageous.
- Proficiency in writing analytical reports and translating data into programme recommendations.
- Familiarity with UNICEF programme priorities and working modalities is an asset.
Language Requirements:
Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.
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
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) for supervisory role
During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework 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.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.
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 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.
Remarks:
This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is a role with direct contact with children, works directly with children, is a safeguarding response role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) applies.
UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates are encouraged to apply.
Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government 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.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
