PSP Officer (Education), P3 Private Sector Partnerships Service Private Partnerships & Philanthropy Section
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering a Temporary Appointment within the Private Partnerships & Philanthropy Section of the Private Sector Partnerships Service in Copenhagen, Denmark UNHCR is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights, and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict and persecution. We are in over 125 countries, using our expertise to protect and care for millions.
Title: PSP Officer (Education)
Duty Station: Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 6 months (with the possibility of extension)
Contract Type: Temporary Appointment
Closing date: 23 August 2022 ¿ Interviews are expected to be held during the week of 29 August
Start date: As soon as possible
Organizational context
The Education Unit ¿ which is a part of UNHCR¿s Division of Resilience and Solutions ¿ is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is working towards ensuring that refugees are increasingly included in education sector planning goals and action plans; that refugee and host community students are prepared equitably to succeed in national systems wherever they live; and that the particular learning needs of refugee and host community students are addressed by expanding existing programmes and partner investments in support of innovative local solutions.
With significant private sector interest in education, UNHCR¿s Private Sector Partnership Service (PSP) is working closely with the Education Unit to build relationships and generate resources from existing and prospective partners. PSP supports the Agency¿s global collaboration with the private sector through its network of fundraisers and national associations in over 30 operations in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Gulf region (¿the PSP network¿). The ambitious PSP Global Strategy 2018-2025 has the vision to grow PSP into a service capable of generating $1bn annually.
As part of the strategy, PSP works to build and manage partnerships with corporations, foundations, and High Net Worth Individuals (collectively called ¿PPH donors¿) that bring funding and other forms of support to UNHCR and persons of concern. UNHCR technical units are a crucial part of this effort as their support is necessary to develop proposals for grants, manage the technical aspects of projects funded by partners, and provide technical input on UNHCR¿s activities to inform fundraising initiatives. Technical units work closely with PSP¿s Partnership Support Unit, which supports the PSP network by helping to develop fundraising packs, proposals, concept notes and reports, and by playing a clearance role for all private sector grant agreements and pledges. The Education unit has already provided support to ¿ and benefitted from ¿ multiple private sector partnerships and fundraising campaigns and appeals. Given the prominent and growing private sector interest in refugee education as a thematic area, it is expected that the collaboration between PSP and the Education Unit will continue to be strong.
The position The PSP Officer (Education) will be a key function bringing additional technical capacity to the Education Unit to help develop funding opportunities and acting as a bridge linking PSP to essential information and resources on education to better understand and leverage UNHCR¿s education programmes in fundraising and partnerships with the private sector. The incumbent will report to the Chief of the Education Unit. Under this supervision, the aim of this role is to provide the Education team with additional technical capacity to support collaboration with PSP and to help shoulder the additional workload engendered by engagement with PSP and the private sector. Within PSP, this role will have an anchor as a member of the PSP Thematics Unit. The incumbent will focus on assisting PSP navigate UNHCR¿s work on education and ¿ in collaboration with the Education Unit, providing technical input that allow the development of inspiring fundraising products to secure private sector interest and support, as well as the necessary technical knowledge to support private partnerships on education.
Duties and responsibilities
Working closely with both the Education unit and PSP, the incumbent will support with the following tasks: ¿ Act as focal point offering technical knowledge of UNHCR¿s education programmes, priorities and approaches for PSP, and respond to global requests from PSP fundraisers for technical input and any other query on education programmes ¿ Proactively identify new private sector opportunities for education, supporting technical education colleagues to leverage opportunities across UNHCR¿s portfolio and package content for PS partners ¿ Support PSP fundraisers to navigate and be able to encourage support for education programmes and opportunities to develop and cultivate robust and relevant private sector partnerships. ¿ Work with account leads to develop high-level bespoke proposals, draft additional content, talking points and other relevant documents and communication to engage donors. ¿ Work with PSP¿s Thematic Unit to proactively identify, create and facilitate content for flexible fundraising materials and proposals, including translating technical language into accessible donor-friendly language whilst ensuring that technical requirements are not lost. ¿ Work with PSP¿s Partnership Support Unit (PSU) and colleagues in the wider PSP network, as appropriate, compile and draft narrative and financial reports to private sector donors as it relates to education activities ¿ Provide technical support for the development of identified PSP partnerships, including attending donor meetings and events based on the needs of account managers ¿ Under the guidance of DRS/DER management, work collaboratively with other technical colleagues, especially those in DRS and DRRM, to keep abreast of the latest developments in their thematic areas that might affect or be of interest to PSP ¿ Act as technical focal point on education for PSP campaigns and provide technical clearance as needed ¿ As appropriate, and under the supervisor¿ guidance, work with relevant PSP and DRS staff, regional bureau, and relevant field colleagues to ensure PSP-supported activities are prioritized in DRS plans and in country plans and budgets ¿ Assist in the development of guidance on UNHCR¿s engagement with the private sector in Education. ¿ Provide other types of support to the education team as needed.
Monitoring and Progress Controls: ¿ High-quality and donor-friendly proposals, concept notes and fundraising packs are thoroughly researched, timely produced and updated as required, with the appropriate input on education programmes and budgets ¿ The products/content shared externally have up-to-date and reliable information as it pertains to UNHCR education programmes, budgets, and priorities, and accurately reflect the nature of UNHCR¿s work ¿ Accurate information is provided to feed into reports and updates for donors as it pertains to education activities funded by them ¿ Specific inputs or tailored content-based fundraising documents on education are produced according to donors¿ needs and requests. ¿ High standards are upheld in all products and materials shared externally ¿ In as far as relevant, training materials are produced to build PPH fundraisers¿ understanding and capacity on UNHCR education programmes ¿ Perform other duties as required.
Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required
The ideal candidate will have: ¿ Undergraduate degree (equivalent of a BA/BS) in Education, Political science, International Relations, Development, Humanitarian aid, Communications, Business, Marketing, Social sciences, or a related technical discipline plus minimum 6 years of previous work experience relevant to the function. Graduate degree (equivalent of a Master¿s) plus 5 years or Doctorate degree (equivalent of a PhD) plus 4 years of previous relevant work experience may also be accepted. ¿ Professional experience in in writing, editing, and proof-reading, developing technical funding proposals, budgets, and reports for a private sector audience, and in the education sphere ¿ Superior ability in understanding and presenting complex/technical issues to external private sector audiences, presenting the organization and diverse operations in an appealing and concise manner, and understanding how to reconcile different sets of needs and interests ¿ Experience in fundraising and/or partnership management and/or donor relations which could include government donors, foundations, corporations, or other private partnerships. ¿ Fluency in English, including strong drafting skills.
Desired qualifications and competencies
¿ Good understanding of UNHCR, its mandate, priorities, and field operations, especially related to education ¿ Superior negotiation, communications, networking, and relationship-building skills, with an ability to work with colleagues of different cultures and in different functional streams ¿ Flexible mindset and openness to learning ¿ Ability to work under pressure, multi-task, and juggle different requests at the same time ¿ Excellent knowledge of English; knowledge of another UN language would be an asset ¿ Excellent computer skills (Word, Excel, and power-point essential) ¿ Exposure to UN system or multi-cultural working environments highly desirable
Location
The successful candidate will be based with the team in the UNHCR PSP HQ in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Conditions
The Temporary Appointment is for a period of up to six months (with the possibility of extension) and the start date is as soon as possible. It is a full-time role with working hours starting from 9 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday (40 hours per week).
How to apply
For a full job description and to apply, interested candidates are requested to visit the UNHCR career page at www.unhcr.org/careers – click on the Vacancies tab and enter job ID 36789.
The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.
Please note that UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, travelling, processing, training or any other fees).
The closing date for this TA advertisement is Saturday 23 August 2022 (midnight Geneva time).
