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.

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.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to a Future

How can you make a difference?

The Public Partnerships Division (PPD) works to strengthen UNICEF's position as a partner of choice for children's rights among governments and public actors around the world. Along with the Private Fundraising and Partnerships Division (PFP), PPD advocates for sustainable partnerships and mobilize flexible and predictable resources to achieve UNICEF's Strategic Plan results in the context of Agenda 2030.

Risk management within the Public Partnerships Division (PPD) is a strategic function that helps UNICEF anticipate, identify, and mitigate risks associated with more than $5 billion in annual public sector funding.

The team supports UNICEF by advising on negotiations and contracting with public sector donors, ensuring that agreements are properly reviewed, potential risks are well understood, The function also coordinates UNICEF’s engagement with public sector partners related to misconduct notifications to ensure clear, timely communication and protect UNICEF’s public sector partnerships. In addition, the team contributes to strengthening UNICEF’s policy framework related to public partnerships by identifying and addressing policy gaps and presenting coordinated responses to internal and external audit exercises. The team also equips PPD leadership, teams, and field offices with timely risk insights and practical guidance to support informed decision‑making and build capacity for managing risks within individual partnerships.

The UNICEF Chief Legal Counsel has exclusive accountability to provide legal advice and guidance to all business units of the organization, including PPD; the Legal Team in the Office of the Executive Director works closely with the Director’s Office of PPD in the negotiation of, and in advising on, partnerships with the public sector and agreements setting out such partnerships.  

Positioned within the Director’s Office of PPD and under the supervision of the Public Partnerships Manager (Risk), the Partnerships Specialist (Contracts and Compliance) plays a central role in ensuring that UNICEF’s public-sector partnership agreements are negotiated, reviewed and cleared in line with organizational policies and requirements. The incumbent serves as the initial point of contact for PPD teams on contractual and donor conditionality issues, providing analytical support, facilitating internal escalation and decision-making, and maintaining internal records on pipeline of negotiations and donor conditions.

In close collaboration with the Legal Team in OED, the Specialist supports decision-making around non‑standard conditions, ensures adherence to the Delegation of Authority framework for agreement signature, and contributes to governance mechanisms related to resource mobilization decisions. The role strengthens organizational compliance by documenting and analyzing donor‑conditionality trends, advising on operational risks, and supporting process improvements related to agreement negotiation and signature workflows.

The Specialist also leads capacity‑building and knowledge‑management efforts related to contracting, maintaining consolidated tools, guidance, and trackers that promote consistent, policy‑aligned decision‑making across PPD. Additionally, the role contributes to broader partnerships risk‑management initiatives by coordinating exchanges on donor conditions and compliance issues, preparing senior‑level materials, and providing backstopping support across the Risk Management Team.

Contracting and negotiations support

• Serve as initial point of contact for PPD teams on legal agreements, templates and clearance requirements
• Review business terms and agreements to identify risks and document and escalate as necessary to senior management colleagues, including those requiring guidance from the UNICEF Chief Legal Counsel and her team. Refer all legal terms and issues re same to the UNICEF Chief Legal Counsel and her team.
• Support negotiations and decision-making related to non-standard donor conditions and terms, facilitating internal escalation pathways, and advising on alignment with UNICEF policies.
• Support compliance with the Delegation of Authority (DoA) Policy with regard to the signature of public sector donor agreements
• Support overall engagement between PPD and the Legal Team through maintenance of pipeline/docket, meeting agendas and preparations, background material and issues analysis

Policy Development and Governance Support

• Support the maintenance and implementation of UNICEF’s governance framework for public sector partnerships, including the Resource Mobilization Policy, Donor Conditions Guidance, and DoA-related procedures.
• Act as focal point with Regulatory Framework Secretariat on regulatory matters
• Document and analyze donor conditions trends and risks to inform senior decision‑making.
• Provide support in developing internal work processes related to public sector agreement negotiation and signature to ensure that accountabilities are clear and placed at the adequate levels as per global policies and/or best practices
• Coordinate inputs and follow-ups for governance mechanisms related to Resource Mobilization ensuring clear documentation of decisions and actions.

Capacity building and knowledge management regarding contracts

• Develop and deliver guidance, training, webinars, and information sheets on contract review, negotiation practices, and donor conditionalities.
• Create and maintain consolidated knowledge platforms, tools, trackers, and best‑practice resources, including negotiation/contracting best practices, in coordination with the Legal Office as appropriate.
• Build staff awareness of regulatory content (e.g., notification policies, donor conditions) and their implications for agreements.
• Maintain up‑to‑date donor‑conditions and legal pipeline trackers to support consistent, policy‑aligned decision‑making across PPD

Support Risk Management Team Activities

• Coordinate and support internal and interagency exchanges on donor conditionalities, risk issues, and negotiation practices
• Support team workflows, including monitoring deadlines and priorities
• Contribute to preparation of senior-level materials, briefings and meeting support.
• Other support to the team as necessary, including backstop of other functions.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  Partnerships Specialist (Contracts & Compliance), P-3, Fixed Term Position, Public Partnerships Division (PPD),JD.PDF

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

Minimum requirements

• Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Law. 
• Work Experience: 5 years continuous experience with primary/regular responsibility reviewing contribution agreements between the UN and bilateral/multilateral donors, with demonstrated experience in identifying risks in such agreements and coordinating decision-making through escalation pathways.
• Skills: Experience reviewing and negotiating public sector funding agreements, with strong ability to assess legal, financial, operational, and reputational risks and propose mitigation actions. Proven capacity to manage escalation pathways, prepare decision documentation, and translate complex legal and policy requirements into clear, actionable guidance for non-technical stakeholders.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English required.

Desirables

• Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish)
• Experience operationalizing Delegation of Authority frameworks, analyzing donor conditionality trends, and developing policy recommendations to address risk areas. Fluency in English is required; knowledge of another UN language and familiarity with UN systems or regulatory frameworks are assets.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships
(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
(3) Drive to achieve results for impact
(4) Innovates and embraces change
(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity
(6) Thinks and acts strategically
(7) Works collaboratively with others

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitableare encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants' bank account information.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF's Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.