Consultant, Refugee-Inclusive National Child Protection Systems

Coordinate UNICEF–UNHCR work on refugee-inclusive child protection. A 16-month remote consultancy linked to Amman, with missions; ten years’ experience required.

Assignment and location

• Sixteen-month individual consultancy within Global Programme Division Child Protection, linked to the Amman Centre of Excellence, Jordan. Home-based/remote work with specified in-person missions.
• Coordinate UNICEF–UNHCR cooperation through PROSPECTS and From Policy to Protection to include refugee children in national systems.
• Supervised by the systems-strengthening/care specialist in Amman, under the violence-prevention/response senior adviser, in collaboration with humanitarian protection and UNHCR teams.

Responsibilities and deliverables

• Coordinate implementation, technical assistance, learning, advocacy and interagency reporting, connecting workstreams and supporting country teams.
• Organise 16 internal and joint coordination meetings and circulate minutes by 29 February 2028; indicative input 16 days.
• Prepare/present protection inputs to the 2027 global monitoring, evaluation and learning session and assist country sessions by 30 November 2027; 16 days.
• Prepare a 10–15-page brief on workforce strengthening/costing, inclusion measurement and cross-border case management across eight PROSPECTS countries by 30 July 2027; 40 days. The timetable lists two five-day missions and names Sudan and Egypt.
• Deliver the final PROSPECTS workshop and report by 30 September 2027; 40 days with a seven-day mission in Amman.
• Run four thematic technical meetings with minutes by 30 October 2027; ten days. Deliver the fourth joint inclusive-systems learning series by 31 May 2027; 30 days.
• Support inclusion-measurement rollout in one country and workforce-costing rollout in another, remotely and in person, by 30 November 2027; 40 days per output and a seven-day mission per country in MENA or Eastern/Southern Africa.
• Update the joint PROSPECTS document/product repository and help design and populate the global learning platform by 31 December 2027; eight days.
• Supply narrative and budget protection inputs to final reporting and support joint resource mobilisation by 29 February 2028; 40 days.

Education and experience

• Master’s in social work, forced displacement, migration, law, social/international development, social sciences or a related field.
• At least ten years of progressively responsible protection, migration, displacement and humanitarian/development experience, including substantial UNICEF, UNHCR, IOM, international/NGO or interagency work.
• Proven national-system strengthening, refugee inclusion, social-service workforce, cross-border case management, policy and systems-based expertise.
• Multi-country and multi-stakeholder technical/strategic support with governments, UN agencies, donors, civil society and development partners.
• Extensive planning, monitoring, evaluation, accountability, learning, knowledge management, evidence generation, donor reporting and programme documentation.
• Resource mobilisation, proposals, donor engagement, reports, briefs, guidance and advocacy; regional/global workshop, exchange, webinar and practice-community facilitation.

Skills and languages

• English proficiency is essential; another UN language is highly desirable.
• Excellent analytical writing, editing and synthesis for guidance, policy briefs, learning, donor reporting and varied audiences.
• Knowledge of refugee-inclusive systems, benchmarks, workforce strengthening, children’s migration/displacement and humanitarian–development approaches.
• Knowledge of UNICEF/UNHCR frameworks, humanitarian principles, refugee coordination and protection/migration/displacement standards.
• Strong presentation, facilitation, public-speaking and relationships with governments, agencies, donors, academia, NGOs and civil society; interagency coordination and cross-country partnership management.

Desirable experience

• UNICEF–UNHCR joint partnerships and global/regional refugee-inclusion or system-strengthening programmes.
• Guidance, tools, learning and evidence on protection systems, workforce, inclusion measurement or cross-border case management.
• Institutional-donor multi-country coordination, reporting and accountability. PROSPECTS or similar initiatives are an advantage.

Application

• Apply through UNICEF’s portal by 11 October 2026, 11:55 PM Jordan time.
• Submit updated talent-management profile, CV, cover letter and a separate financial proposal using only the linked template.

Contract and recruitment conditions

• Fees are payable after deliverables are submitted and accepted. Payment may be withheld for late or inadequate outputs; service conditions are governed by the consultancy contract.
• Consultants are not UN or UNICEF staff members and do not receive staff leave or medical-insurance benefits. They are responsible for applicable taxes, valid health insurance and any required visa throughout the contract.
• Selected candidates undergo credential, employment-history and reference checks. UNICEF requires child safeguarding and prohibits exploitation, abuse, harassment, discrimination and abuse of authority; applicants married to a child under 18 are ineligible.
• All qualified applicants are welcome and reasonable accommodation is available for applicants with disabilities. The organisation’s values are care, respect, integrity, trust, accountability and sustainability.
• WHO-endorsed full COVID-19 vaccination may be required before assignment. The exemption covers fully remote consultants with no UNICEF premises or programme-site visits, direct community interaction or assignment travel.
• No recruitment fees or bank-account information are requested. Only shortlisted candidates are contacted.