UNICEF - Vacancy, Temporary Appointment, Knowledge Management Specialist , UNICEF ESARO (Re-advertisement)

UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, Nairobi

Temporary Appointment (TA) – Knowledge Management Specialist

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Position Title:      Knowledge Management Specialist

Equivalent Level:    P-3 (TA)

Location:    Nairobi

Duration:        364 days   

Reporting to:      Regional Chief of PPME, ESARO

Background and Justification

The chief purpose of this assignment is to activate, coordinate and foster knowledge exchange and encourage learning on UNICEF - supported Measuring Results for Equity Systems (MoRES) framework in 21 countries in the UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO). This is a system for monitoring for results that ensures an equity perspective when measuring outcomes for children and women. Specifically the work will focus on Level 3 monitoring which involves monitoring the removal of barriers and bottlenecks to accessing services by the most vulnerable children.

Rationale and context of the assignment:

This Temporary Appointment (TA) directly contributes to the UNICEF’s Institutional Strengthening to Improve Programme Monitoring and Response (IPMR) project in 21 countries in the UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO). The IPMR project aims to enhance and simplify the monitoring of intermediate results and associated feedback mechanisms for improved delivery of UNICEF’s health programmes in addition to nutrition, HIV, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). Beyond the countries of ESARO, it is anticipated that the activities will facilitate further refinement and knowledge sharing, and will maximize institutional learning across UNICEF.

The key objective of the project is to enhance programme performance, especially at the level of implementation, through bolstering real time monitoring, social accountability, feedback loops and programme adjustments, and peer-to-peer learning within and among countries. The project has an integral Knowledge Exchange (KE) component to strengthen knowledge sharing and foster continual learning of UNICEF, government staff and other partners in the 21 ESARO countries on the UNICEF MoRES framework – specifically the Level 3 programme monitoring and response.

The project will support and reinforce the following key approaches:

• In-country learning while doing – supporting countries, UNICEF and its partners to continually reflect on their own experience in implementing decentralized monitoring, and to identify challenges, lessons learned and good practices;

• Country to country learning in the ESARO region– getting insights into programme monitoring based on the approaches taken and lessons learned from other UNICEF country offices;

• Country to country collaboration between partners – sharing experiences among implementing partners supported by UNICEF. This is critical for supporting governments and other partners to identify new and innovative approaches to address challenges in developing national level monitoring systems and in effectively using this data for decision-making; and

• Contribute to fostering continual refinement of UNICEF’s global guidance, technical support and training, taking into account direct country level learning.

Scope of Work

• The main scope of this work entails leading a wide range of knowledge-sharing activities that foster and advance collaboration, learning, capture, use and adaptation of both evidence-based and experiential knowledge on Level 3 monitoring. The Knowledge Management Specialist will be instrumental in establishing and refining knowledge exchange mechanisms, and in managing and facilitating an online Community of Practice (CoP) or similar platform to support peer-to-peer learning about programme monitoring within and among all country offices and country partners in ESARO.

• The Knowledge Management Specialist will be a key driving force for this project and will (a) provide expertise in knowledge facilitation and capture techniques, (b) establish and refine knowledge exchange mechanisms, development and facilitation of the CoP, and knowledge dissemination, and (c) introduce and promote the adoption of new tools and platforms that can enhance the work to this end.

• The Knowledge Management Specialist will work with the designated lead – the Regional Planning Officer in ESARO – as well as with the Chief of KE unit within the Division of Data, Research and Policy at New York Headquarters, under a matrix-reporting arrangement. Performance assessments will be jointly conducted, with the project lead providing to day to day supervision, with technical guidance and quality assurance provided by the Chief of the KE Unit.

Responsibilities:

• More specifically, the Knowledge Management Specialist will be responsible for the following duties and responsibilities in relation to strengthening knowledge and use of Level 3 monitoring of the UNICEF supported MoRES framework:

• Develop and implement a Knowledge Exchange (KE) plan and approach, including all communications-related efforts coordinating sector specific focal points, monitoring and evaluation and knowledge managers officers across the 21 ESARO countries working with the ESARO Planning Officer, the KE Unit in New York Headquarters, and partners to support the IPMR project rollout;

• Plan and implement an online CoP engagement strategy and provide high quality facilitation with the help of various communication tools and techniques. Facilitate an environment where members work together to build shared outcomes, driven by a common vision, and point to specific outputs;

• Coordinate with ESARO Information Technology (IT), New York Information Technology Support Services (ITSS) and KE unit in New York to prototype and refine an interactive community platform that is integrated into existing online tools, e.g. SharePoint and Yammer, and is customizable in the Cloud; organize the virtual platform and actively contribute content to the platform and provide training and support to users. Ensure the platform is kept up to date and functional, as well as foster its evolution by collating and acting promptly on user feedback;

• Lead the preparation and launch of the CoP; manage membership and member engagement related processes; guide members to outcomes and help them iterate and build a sense of ownership;

• Actively promote a culture of innovative knowledge management across UNICEF ESARO, using the CoP platform and other innovative tools as instruments through which members engage and exchange knowledge and practices with one another; mobilize existing CoP champions to ensure the adoption of the platform for effective collaboration;

• Conduct a series of face-to-face and online meetings for training and experience-sharing among ESARO community members; plan and implement peer learning events at regional and country levels, many of which will be organized virtually through a series of scheduled webinars/video conferences. Facilitate peer responses to country initiated practical queries;

• Organize regular peer learning events to foster country-to-country knowledge exchange, including cross-practice knowledge sharing. This includes facilitating and sustaining learning partnerships between two or more ESARO countries to learn from one another and help solve specific challenges;

• Facilitate e-discussions on key topics specific to the IPMR project, including discussions at the national level with key partners on lessons emerging from the project, with a view to scaling up good practices. Guide the members to contribute high quality submissions across the entire suite of tools and techniques available and generate compelling content;

• Develop and disseminate e-discussion syntheses and briefs, addressing emerging issues, and keep abreast of requests for additional peer learning from countries. Produce and disseminate a regular community newsletter and editorial. Ensure editorial and content management of online/web spaces (intranet, internet etc.) for the IPMR project. Monitor trends in online community tools, facilitation, trends and applications;

• Coordinate with Communication colleagues the collection and documentation of lessons learned, good practices and innovations that come from monitoring the project and using the community platform. Contribute to capturing and sharing them through a narrative-based approach to ensure members can readily use them.

• Monitor effective benchmarks for measuring the growth and health of the CoP, using quantitative and qualitative measures. Provide regular feedback and insights gained from community monitoring to the project leads, to help them evolve their strategies in a timely fashion; and

• Develop and manage strong relationships with key external partners and stakeholders and sustain dialogue, mutual learning and engagement during all phases of the IPMR project – testing and strengthening systems for countries to maximize the learning from one another’s experiences.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

• An advanced degree in social sciences, information and knowledge management, communications, or a related technical field;

• Five years of progressively responsible professional work experience at national and international levels in development planning, information and knowledge management, research and/or evaluation. Exposure to and understanding of the UNICEF supported MoRES framework is an asset;

• Proven experience in developing and implementing community management and engagement strategies for the UN, nonprofit organizations and/or private sector companies, tracking their success and analyzing results;

• Proven ability to conceptualize, plan and execute ideas as well as transfer knowledge and skills;

• Proven writing skills, with an ability to convey complex ideas in a clear, direct, and lively style;

• Excellent knowledge of online collaborative tools with the ability to adapt quickly to technological changes and foster use of appropriate KE tools and technologies to improve KE for internal and external partners;

• Experience in reporting on qualitative and quantitative analytics;

Competencies of Successful Candidate

• Communicates effectively to varied audiences, including during formal public speaking.

• Able to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment.

• Sets high standards for quality of work and consistently achieves project goals.

• Has good leadership and supervisory skills; co-ordinates group activities, ensuring that roles within the team are clear.

• Translates strategic direction into plans and objectives.

• Analyzes and integrates diverse and complex quantitative and qualitative data from a wide range of sources.

• Quickly builds rapport with individuals and groups; maintains an effective network of  individuals across organizational departments.

• Identifies urgent and potentially difficult decisions and acts on them promptly; initiates and generates team- and department-wide activities.

• Demonstrates, applies and shares expert technical knowledge across the organization.

Interested and qualified candidates should send their applications (motivation letter, UN personal History Form (P11 available on http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc), and updated CV to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  by 29 July 2015.

Incomplete application or received after the deadline will not be considered.

Please note that acknowledgement of application will be extended only to short-listed candidates.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.