UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, Nairobi
Temporary Appointment (TA) – Knowledge Management Specialist
Position Title:
Equivalent Level:
Location:
Duration:
Reporting to:
Knowledge Management Specialist
P-3 (TA)
Nairobi
364 days
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:
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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;
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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
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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.
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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.
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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 matrixreporting 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:
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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:
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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
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working with the ESARO Planning Officer, the KE Unit in New York Headquarters, and
partners to support the IPMR project rollout;
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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;
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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;
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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;
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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;
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Conduct a series of face-to-face and online meetings for training and experiencesharing 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;
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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;
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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;
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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
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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;
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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 esarohrvacancies@unicef.org by 5 February 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.
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