Government and Industry Engagement Manager (Spectrum Certificates)

The UNOPS Global Portfolios Office (GPO) brings together diverse expertise to help partners deliver impact worldwide. With hubs in New York, Geneva, and Vienna, and expert teams operating globally, GPO leads multi-regional initiatives that advance sustainable development, climate action, and peacebuilding - including in some of the world’s most challenging environments. By leveraging our collective expertise and global networks, GPO supports UNOPS’ strategic priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals across more than 130 countries. We work closely with major global partners - including governments, international financial institutions, and UN agencies - to deliver a wide range of services, such as project management, fund management, hosting services, and HR support.

From Geneva, UNOPS facilitates the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), working with governments, other United Nations (UN) agencies and partners by providing quality servces, integrated solutions and management support through strategic, cost-effective and results-oriented approches. This includes supporting platforms and hosting high-profile, flagship initiatives and funds focusing on health, nutrition, water and sanitation, sustainable cities, environment, energy, climate and trade. UNOPS is a recognized resource for the UN system in Geneva – from fund management and oversight and advisory services, to providing hosting solutions to a range of global initiatives, as well as operational support to partner organizations.

UNOPS Geneva Office is providing support to a wide range of portfolios, including UNICEF.

This position is a Partner Personnel role. The selected candidate will be hired by UNOPS under its rules and regulations and will be engaged as UN Partner Personnel for UNICEF - Digital Inclusion (DI) and will operate under the effective management and supervision of UNICEF. UNOPS is supporting UNICEF-DI as a UN Partner and acting on its behalf to provide recruitment and administrative support for this position.

About UNICEF Digital Inclusion

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

UNICEF’s Digital Inclusion team accelerates access to affordable, sustainable, safe and resilient digital infrastructure for every child. We do so by supporting governments and partners to expand equitable and affordable connectivity across child-facing service locations such as schools, health facilities, and social protection locations, and addressing related infrastructure such as electricity and computer. Our work empowers children and their communities through information, opportunity, choice and dignity. The Digital Inclusion team includes functions that support Giga, the joint partnership between UNICEF and ITU to connect every school to the internet.

Digital Inclusion team is part of the Digital Impact Division (DID), which is at the heart of reshaping how UNICEF delivers lasting results for all children everywhere, and is committed to harnessing the full potential of emerging digital technologies to advance UNICEF’s mission. DID works in close collaboration with a network of colleagues in more than 190 countries and territories at country, region and headquarters levels to leverage technologies and capabilities that accelerate progress on UNICEF’s goals, strengthen community resilience, and expand access to essential digital services and information.

Spectrum Certificates is an open-source solution for issuing temporary spectrum-use authorizations under existing regulatory frameworks. It enables the creation of cryptographically signed, machine-readable authorizations that define frequency, geographic area, duration and operational parameters, with transparent verification and auditability. A working prototype has been developed, and regulators in multiple countries are engaged at various stages of exploration and implementation. The project is incubated within UNICEF's Digital Inclusion portfolio, while open-source assets and standards are stewarded by the Connect and Compute Foundation in Geneva. The open-source protocol and platform is free to regulators with services developed by a range of vendors.

The Manager will build on existing technical assets, including a working prototype, regulator engagement materials and implementation frameworks, to convert regulator demand into formal partnerships, signed sandbox agreements and operational deployments, and establish the framework in the standards ecosystem.

Government Engagement and Closing (approx. 50%)

• Manage the regulator pipeline end to end, including outreach, follow-up, clarifications, negotiation, and signature of sandbox letters of intent and pilot agreements.
• Convert the current pipeline (~4 countries) from engagement to signed, bounded pilots, then extend to new markets.
• Leverage bilateral and multilateral engagement channels to facilitate access to target authorities, in coordination with the portfolio lead and other senior stakeholders.
• Manage each pilot relationship through its 90-day cycle to a published findings note and a continuation decision by managing expectations and coordination with the CTO/Development team to scope these to deliverables/delivery.

Industry and Operator Demand (approx. 20%)

• Build relationships with terrestrial operators in target markets that want dynamic, short-duration, or shared spectrum access, so that operator demand reaches regulators before and during pilot conversations.
• Sequencing guardrail: ensure pilots are opened with regulators on issuance speed, auditability, and sovereignty. Transferability and secondary markets are not part of any opening pitch and enter scope only at a regulator’s documented request.
• Develop partnerships with technology providers in dynamic sharing, LEO and non-terrestrial systems, and unmanned systems, in coordination with the space track.

Standards and Ecosystem (approx. 15%) in coordination with the CTO/Dev to push/create a certificate protocol telecom standards moving forward:

• Execute the standards ladder (IEEE and comparable bodies), including membership, working-group participation, and formal positioning of the certificate specification, building on the engineering lead’s ecosystem map.
• Coordinate white papers and conference talks; place the framework in at least two recognized industry or standards venues per year.

Communications and Sustainability (approx. 15%)

• Coordinate the production and export of external material: blog posts, media, and public documentation
• Coordinate within the team and with partners to develop the sustainability model published cost-recovery fee schedule, budget, and the analysis underpinning any future operating structure.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

Deployment is measured on a four-rung ladder: (a) signed letter of intent; (b) sandbox live with test issuances; (c) certificates issued against real spectrum under existing authority; (d) production use by operators.

Required:

Advanced university degree in Telecommunications, Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, Policy, Public Administration, International Relations, Business Administration, Economics, Law, Development Studies, or another relevant field.

A first University degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced University degree.

Required

• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience working in one or more of the below areas:
  • Spectrum or wholesale leadership in an operator active in emerging markets
  • National regulator or ministry with deal execution
  • Government or infrastructure business development at a technology or satellite company
  • Development-finance transaction teams in connectivity
• Demonstrated record of closing agreements with governments or regulators: signed contracts, licenses, concessions, or pilot agreements under personal accountability
• Experience working effectively within public-interest, open-source or digital public goods initiatives. Ability to engage credibly with governments, regulators and partners in support of the adoption of non-commercial solutions.
• Experience with spectrum policy and licensing practice, and technical fluency to work with an engineering lead on product decisions without translation
• A track record of independently navigating and executing multi-country pipelines in highly ambiguous environments.

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