Partnerships Specialist (Private Sector), P-3, Ankara, Turkiye (FT) #122418 (Non-Turkish Nationals Only)

UNICEF Türkiye is looking for an Partnerships Specialist (Private Sector), P-3 with the mission to deepen collaboration with key private sector stakeholders like companies, foundations, HNWI, and business networks. The Specialist will support the work of the UNICEF Business Advisory Board (launched in 2021) and the close cooperation with the Turkish National committees and other Natcoms. UNICEF Türkiye is keen to step up its engagement with business in line with the Country programme developed with the government and the regional and global strategic goals of the organization..

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.

For every child, Innovation

For more than 70 years, UNICEF has been operating in Türkiye and we have witnessed remarkable progress, especially in the area of maternal and child health. Still, gaps and inequalities remain and UNICEF continues to support systemic reforms in education, social and child protection and justice, through the provision of technical assistance to improve access and quality of services as well as ‘modeling’ of service delivery at both central and local level, especially for the most vulnerable children and young people.

How can you make a difference?

The Partnerships Specialist (Private Sector), under the supervision of the Partnerships Specialist (Public Sector) and in close coordination with senior management, leads the B4R agenda of the office, with the mission to deepen collaboration with key private sector stakeholders like companies, foundations, HNWI, and business networks. The Specialist will support the work of the UNICEF Business Advisory Board (launched in 2021) and the close cooperation with the Turkish National committees and other Natcoms. UNICEF Türkiye is keen to step up its engagement with business in line with the Country programme developed with the government and the regional and global strategic goals of the organization.

The private sector in Türkiye can do very impactful things to mitigate its impact on children and young people, support UNICEF’s programmatic vision, for both early years and adolescents, foster innovation, and protect children/s rights. To find the right balance across the existing B4R opportunities, maximize the potential of different stakeholders and articulate compelling asks to the right partner is a key deliverable of this role.

The Partnerships Specialist (Private Sector) reports to the Partnerships Specialist (Public Sector) with dotted lines to the Deputy Representative. This position will lead the existing Partnerships Team to support business engagement across the programmes and operations.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Manage the private sector engagement in close cooperation with senior management and motivate the team members to embrace business for results approaches across the office.
2. Make sure the Partnerships Team’s activities as well as any other outreach by UNICEF colleagues to private sector partners are coordinated, and strategically contribute to programmatic and fundraising targets.
3. Seek and promote new partnerships, work with UNICEF colleagues and Natcoms to identify funding opportunities, and broker agreements with relevant private sector partners, in coordination with the Turkish National committee, other parts of the organization and other UN agencies as appropriate.
4. Make sure all partnerships discussions happen in full compliance with UNICEF’s due diligence criteria.
5. Provide strategic, logistical and programmatic support to senior management and other UNICEF staff in corporate engagement and interaction with assigned partners.
6. Develop and maintain deep knowledge and familiarity with current and prospective partners and relevant stakeholders, contributing to a database of key contacts and to UNICEF’s base of knowledge.
7. Expand UNICEF’s network of key interlocutors to build stronger relationships between UNICEF and key-decision makers.
8. Coordinate and implement annual work plans and targets.
9. Identify and pursue opportunities for engagement, fundraising, policy influence and collaboration with the private sector, including on how to anticipate and respond to partners’ concerns and priorities, ensure that UNICEF’s interests, perspectives, and knowledge are taken into account in relevant policy and institutional processes, and ensure that they are fully aware of UNICEF’s perspectives, policies, priorities and capabilities. Contribute to the development and management of initiatives for high-level outreach, including for UNICEF’s Senior Management.
10. Contribute to the development of new partnerships, including public-private partnerships for the delivery of social services, and resource mobilization practices and approaches by formulating recommendations for action based on on-going monitoring, analyzing current trends within designated partners and formulating recommendations for strategy approaches and message development.
11. Develop initiatives to enhance UNICEF’s visibility and influence with the private sector, in close coordination with the Communication team. Analyses the current environment and trends and formulates recommendations for strategic approaches and message development. Work closely with UNICEF’s colleagues to ensure that outreach is strongly grounded in the experience and insights of the programmes that UNICEF’s supports.
12. Perform other related duties as assigned by the supervisor to ensure the success of the team, including guiding, training, and coaching short-term staff, including interns and consultants.

Impact of Results:

The Partnerships Specialist (Private Sector) is a seasoned professional in partnership development, with a proven track record of successfully negotiating partnerships of significant financial value, and extremely strong team management and collaboration skills. His/her team is top motivated to do their best for children every day. The quality of work and external communications performed by the specialist directly impacts on the overall reputation of UNICEF. S/He follows established procedures but is expected to make recommendations on strategies for engagement, projects’ proposals’ development and communications products. The Private Sector Partnership Specialist is accountable for quality, substantive input and ability to project a competent and trusted image of UNICEF to partners.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) Marketing, Communications, Business Administration, International Development, or another relevant technical field.
  *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of five (5) years] of relevant professional experience in professional partnerships management and successful team leadership.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is 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: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues

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:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. 

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

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.