Cash Based Assistance Consultant
Organizational Context
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential. At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.
Job Purpose
The purpose of this consultancy is to provide selected UNICEF country offices in Asia with essential technical and operational support concerning the effective utilization of cash-based assistance modalities. This support is particularly crucial in fragile and humanitarian contexts where children's rights and well-being are most vulnerable. The consultant will play a key role in strengthening the capacity of these country offices to implement and manage cash-based programmes, ensuring they are responsive to the needs of children and communities. This involves advising on programme design, operational readiness, risk management, and monitoring systems, ultimately contributing to UNICEF's mission of saving children's lives and helping them fulfill their potential.
Responsibilities
The consultant will support the global HOPE rollout and its regular use at country-office level, collaborating closely with the HOPE Team Lead and beneficiary data management colleagues. They will also support the rollout of UNICEF's global capacity-building strategy for cash-based assistance, targeting both UNICEF staff and government partners. This includes conducting in-country field-support missions of up to four weeks and providing remote support to enhance country-office readiness. Responsibilities encompass technical and operational assessments, preparedness planning, designing cross-sectoral cash programmes, developing risk matrices, ensuring quality assurance, establishing standard operating procedures for payment processes, and providing monitoring support. The consultant will advise country offices on the selection of appropriate delivery systems, including national systems and direct delivery, and liaise with the Poverty Centre of Excellence's Shock-Responsive Social Protection focal points. Furthermore, they will support country offices in establishing robust monitoring and verification systems for cash-based assistance, contribute to capacity-building activities, gather and analyze data, and document good practices and lessons learned to inform global and regional evidence and advocacy efforts.
Work Experience
A minimum of five years of professional experience in humanitarian assistance, social protection, or programme management, with a focus on cash-based interventions. Experience working in Asian contexts and fragile/humanitarian settings is highly desirable.
Skills
Cash-based assistance programming, Humanitarian response, Social protection, Programme design and implementation, Risk assessment and mitigation, Monitoring and evaluation, Capacity building, Stakeholder engagement, Data analysis, Report writing, UNICEF operational procedures, Cross-cultural communication