Health Specialist (Paediatric HIV, Child Survival and Development) (P-3), Temporary Position, 364 days, Global Programme Division, #00137245, Nairobi, Kenya

Organizational Context

UNICEF works in over 190 countries to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential. This role is within UNICEF’s Global Programme Division (GPD) and the Health Practice – Child Survival and Development Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Nairobi. The CoEs provide high-quality, demand-driven technical assistance to country and regional offices across priority areas like health systems strengthening and scalable programme design.

Job Purpose

This role contributes to UNICEF’s globally recognized effort to end one of the most urgent public health challenges affecting children today: AIDS. Working at the intersection of global strategy and country-level impact, the specialist will advance the triple elimination of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B, and scale up integrated, equitable approaches to prevention, testing, treatment, and long-term care for children and adolescents. With the highest burden of paediatric HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, this position offers a unique opportunity to influence programmes at scale, supporting governments, partners, and communities to deliver life-saving services where they are needed most. The specialist will collaborate closely with global partners such as WHO, UN agencies, and civil society organizations, translating evidence into action, strengthening health systems, and driving sustainable, impactful solutions for children worldwide. This role offers a powerful platform to shape the future of paediatric HIV programming.

Responsibilities

As a Health Specialist, you will provide expert technical guidance to strengthen paediatric HIV programmes, particularly in high-burden countries across sub-Saharan Africa. This encompasses leading on technical expertise and support, actively assisting country teams in designing and implementing comprehensive strategies that significantly improve HIV testing, treatment, and retention rates among children and adolescents. A key aspect involves integrating these vital services into broader primary health care and nutrition systems to ensure holistic child survival and development. You will also contribute significantly to quality assurance and monitoring frameworks, meticulously ensuring that all programmes deliver measurable, sustainable results and adhere to global best practices. Furthermore, working closely with governments, UN partners, and civil society organizations, you will actively support networking and partnership building initiatives to enhance coordination, foster collaboration, and effectively mobilize essential resources for programme implementation. Finally, you will drive innovation, knowledge management, and capacity building efforts, promoting the dissemination of best practices and strengthening health systems to deliver equitable and impactful health outcomes for children globally. This role is crucial in accelerating efforts to end AIDS among children and adolescents.

Work Experience

A minimum of 5 years of experience in public health, with an emphasis on HIV and paediatric HIV, programme planning and management is required. Experience in programming, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, and in paediatric HIV, facility-based childhood treatment, referral, and quality of care is an asset.

Skills

Paediatric HIV technical expertise, Programme design and implementation, Health systems strengthening, Programme and grant management, Integrated case management of childhood illnesses, Paediatric HIV and AIDS, Resource mobilization for health

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