Re-advertisement: Innovation Specialist, (Connect, SPARK and COMPASS oversight) P-3, Temporary Position, 364 days, #00137210, Office of Innovation, Stockholm, Sweden

Organizational Context

UNICEF operates in over 190 countries, dedicated to saving children's lives, defending their rights, and helping them reach their full potential. The Office of Innovation (OoI) aims to accelerate and scale innovative solutions to critical challenges affecting children and young people globally, enhancing UNICEF's capacity and programme effectiveness.

Job Purpose

The Innovation Specialist will play a crucial role within UNICEF's Office of Innovation (OoI), specifically supporting the Connect function. This position is responsible for overseeing and coordinating key innovation initiatives, including SPARK and COMPASS, ensuring their coherent design, effective delivery, and alignment with OoI's strategic objectives. The specialist will manage consultants and delivery inputs, ensuring quality assurance of outputs and processes. This role is vital for linking innovation platforms, country engagement, and delivery capacity, translating portfolio-level strategy into consistent, high-quality implementation. By coordinating these efforts, the specialist contributes to strengthening UNICEF's organizational innovation capacity, improving programme effectiveness, and generating evidence to inform future innovation investments, ultimately supporting progress towards child-related Sustainable Development Goals.

Responsibilities

The Innovation Specialist will be responsible for the oversight and coordination of the SPARK and COMPASS initiatives, ensuring they are aligned with the Office of Innovation's priorities and responsive to country needs. This includes managing consultants and delivery inputs, ensuring that all project activities are executed efficiently and effectively. A key responsibility is the quality assurance of outputs and processes, guaranteeing that innovation solutions meet UNICEF's standards. The role involves strategic alignment and integration, ensuring that innovation efforts are connected to broader organizational learning and governance processes. Furthermore, the specialist will coordinate country engagement and support, facilitating the adoption of innovative solutions in field operations. Learning, reporting, and knowledge contribution are also critical, involving the systematic collection and dissemination of insights gained from innovation initiatives to inform future investments and organizational strategy. This position requires managing multiple workstreams and stakeholders to drive impactful innovation for children.

Work Experience

Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible experience in innovation, programme management, strategy, or portfolio coordination. Demonstrated experience overseeing complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives involving consultants and country offices. Experience working with or within the UN system or large international organizations is an asset.

Skills

Coordination skills, Synthesis skills, Project oversight skills, Consultant management, Stakeholder engagement, Communication skills, Strategic alignment, Operational management, Learning and development, Quality assurance, Innovation management, Portfolio coordination

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