Health Specialist - Adolescent Health
Organizational Context
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence. The Global Programme Division (GPD) drives programme excellence, providing strategic leadership and technical expertise. Within GPD, Centres of Excellence offer high-quality, demand-driven technical assistance to advance results for children globally.
Job Purpose
As Health Specialist (Adolescent Health) within UNICEF's Global Programme Division, this role provides strategic leadership, technical expertise, and programmatic guidance to advance adolescent health and well-being globally. The incumbent supports countries in addressing persistent health challenges like inequitable access to quality services, fragile health systems, and workforce shortages, exacerbated by humanitarian crises and climate shocks. Guided by UNICEF's Strategic Plan, the position aims to strengthen adolescent-responsive health systems and services through policy reform, institutional capacity building, evidence generation, quality improvement, and multisectoral programming. This ensures sustainable and equitable outcomes for adolescents, contributing to UNICEF's global health agenda by supporting the design, implementation, monitoring, and scale-up of evidence-based programmes.
Responsibilities
The Health Specialist will provide strategic leadership and technical expertise to strengthen adolescent-responsive health systems and services across countries. This includes leading Capacity Development & Institutional Strengthening efforts, enhancing national policies and service delivery platforms to better serve adolescents. They will drive Quality Improvement at Scale, ensuring that global guidance and quality standards are adopted and implemented effectively across various programmes and contexts. The role involves advocating for Policy Reform & Systems Transformation, working with governments and partners to reshape health systems to be more responsive to adolescent needs. A critical component is Evidence, Data & Knowledge for Action, which involves fostering innovation, generating robust evidence, and facilitating learning across countries to inform programming and policy. The specialist will also focus on ensuring Equitable Access to quality health services for all adolescents, addressing disparities and vulnerabilities. Programme Management & Results Monitoring will be a core responsibility, overseeing the design, implementation, and tracking of evidence-based programmes to achieve sustainable outcomes. Furthermore, the role requires building Strategic Partnerships, Resource Mobilization and Grant Management to secure and manage funding, fostering collaboration with development partners and UNICEF offices. Lastly, the incumbent will engage in Global Advocacy, Knowledge Leadership and Cross-Sectoral Collaboration, promoting UNICEF's leadership in advancing adolescent health and well-being worldwide through integrated and multisectoral approaches.
Work Experience
A minimum of eight (8) years of progressively responsible professional experience in adolescent health is required.
Skills
Strategic Leadership, Technical Expertise (Adolescent Health), Programmatic Guidance, Policy Reform, Institutional Strengthening, Evidence Generation, Quality Improvement, Multisectoral Programming, Capacity Development, Programme Management, Resource Mobilization, Partnership Building