United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (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.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: National Consultant – Senior Technical Advisor (Social Protection)
Job ID: 582582
Location: Abuja (FCT)
Contract type: Consultant
Level: Consultancy
Duty Station: Abuja
Categories: Social Policy
Scope of Work
Coordinate technical support from DPG the Ministry of humanitarian affairs, specifically:
Coordinate Technical Advisors (TA) Across Core Areas:
- Provide day-to-day coordination support to the TAs working on the core areas.
- Ensure that the technical inputs of each TA are cohesive, complementary, and aligned with the Ministry’s agenda.
Liaise Between the Ministry and UNICEF:
- Serve as the focal point for the draft implementation and monitoring of the workplan between the Ministry and UNICEF
- Facilitate information flow, meeting coordination, and reporting to ensure mutual alignment and accountability.
- Support the preparation of briefings, presentations, and updates for both Ministry leadership and UNICEF stakeholders.
Provide Strategic and Operational Support:
- Identify synergies across the four core technical areas and support cross-functional collaboration among the TAs.
- Assist in tracking milestones, deliverables, and timelines for technical outputs.
- Ensure timely escalation to UNICEF of any bottlenecks or issues requiring senior-level decisions.
Support Documentation and Reporting:
- Consolidate inputs from all TAs into unified technical reports and progress updates.
- Maintain proper documentation of TA deliverables, stakeholder feedback, and engagement outcomes.
Work Assignment Overview
Tasks/Milestone:
- Review workplans and key milestones for each technical area supported by DPG
Deliverables/Outputs:
- Consolidated DPG workplan
- Prepare presentation of key activities and milestones 2025-2026
Deliverables/Outputs:
Presentation:
- Facilitate monthly coordination meetings with TAs to review progress of implementation.
Deliverables/Outputs:
- Progress update reports (per core area of support)
- Prepare monthly technical updates and reports for DPG members
Deliverables/Outputs:
- DPG briefing notes and slide deck
- Coordinate and support DPG-Ministry meetings
Requirements
- An advanced university degree (master’s or higher) in Social Policy, Economics, Public Administration, Development Studies, Social Protection, or a related field from a recognized institution.
- Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience in strategy development, policy dialogue, and institutional capacity strengthening for social protection at national or subnational level.
- Demonstrated experience providing technical advisory support to government ministries, departments or agencies on social protection, poverty reduction, or related policy reforms.
- Familiarity with shock-responsive social protection systems, social registries, cash transfer programs, and inter-agency coordination mechanisms is highly desirable.
- Experience working with international development partners (e.g., UN, World Bank, EU, bilateral donors) on social protection or humanitarian-development nexus programming is a strong asset.
For every Child, you demonstrate:
- UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.
- UNICEF is also proud of a diverse workforce who are profoundly committed to supporting the full realization of children’s rights, and in uplifting a rights-based approach in all that we do.
Competencies:
The UNICEF competencies required for this post are:
- Builds and maintains partnerships
- Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
- Drive to achieve results for impact
- Innovates and embraces change
- Manages ambiguity and complexity
- Thinks and acts strategically
- Works collaboratively with others.
Application Closing Date
12th August, 2025.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online
Note
- 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.