Re-advertisement: Senior Adviser Education (Digital Education Implementation), P-5, Fixed Term Position, Programme Group, Education Section, Nairobi, Kenya #00133283

This is a re-advertisement, candidates who have already applied do not need to re-apply.

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 Education

The Global Programme Division (GPD) plays a central role in driving programme excellence across UNICEF. It provides global strategic leadership and policy direction, develops and monitors frameworks and standards, and ensures coherence and alignment across sectors, regions and partners. GPD generates high-impact, evidence-based solutions and serves as a hub of specialized expertise, offering technical guidance on policy reform and scalable programming. GPD leads UNICEF’s policies, standards and negotiations for programme, ensuring the organization’s assets and priorities are aligned with and contribute to child development goals. In addition, GPD strengthens country-level implementation through integrated technical support, linking global policy with on-the-ground action to deliver results for children at scale. As part of this structure, UNICEF has established Centres of Excellence (CoEs) to provide high-quality, demand-driven technical assistance to Country and Regional Offices, and their governments and partners. Located strategically in Nairobi, Panama, Amman and Bangkok, the CoEs bring together cross-cutting expertise across time zones. Global Programme Practices in CoEs function as a single point of entry for support, delivering tailored assistance in priority areas such as policy reform in matters that advance the wellbeing of children, at scale programme design, public finance, workforce development and institutional strengthening, and timely humanitarian response while promoting resilient development. In so doing, the CoEs also contribute to global policy standards ensuring that UNICEF’s support is grounded in practical knowledge. 

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF’s Every Child Learns Education Strategy 2019–2030 and the UNICEF Strategic Plan 2026–2029 set out the organization’s commitments to ensuring equitable access to quality education, improved learning outcomes, inclusion, lifelong learning, and continuity of education in both humanitarian and development settings. Across 144 countries, UNICEF supports governments to provide learning opportunities that prepare children and adolescents with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive—anchored around three key transitions: readiness for school by age 5, acquisition of foundational and socio-emotional skills by age 10, and preparation for life and work by age 18. Through the Education Programme Offer, UNICEF delivers predictive, integrated, and trackable technical assistance to countries, governments, and partners, ensuring system reforms that are resilient, inclusive, and equity focused. To maximize influence and sustain global leadership, UNICEF must be strategically positioned within the evolving global education architecture. With multiple actors shaping policy, investment, and reform agendas, maintaining credibility and visibility is essential for advancing child rights to education, leveraging partnerships, and unlocking resources. UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029 positions education—and the leveraging of digital transformation and innovation—as central to Impact 2: ensuring 350 million more children and young people meet learning proficiencies and acquire skills for work and life by 2029. The UNICEF Digital Education Strategy 2025–2030 further outlines the strategic shifts and priority areas that countries can prioritize to accelerate digital transformation in support of this goal. UNICEF supports governments in developing inclusive, sustainable digital education strategies and policies; enhancing education programming and system-wide strengthening; promoting the safe and impactful use of digital tools that empower teachers and school leaders; and facilitating learning for children across diverse contexts and country typologies. 

Under the overall guidance of the Senior Adviser, Education (Digital Education), the Senior Adviser, Education (Digital Education Implementation): - Provides strategic and technical leadership on the operationalization of UNICEF’s Digital Education Strategy. - Guides UNICEF’s work to empower teachers and school leaders with digital and AI-enabled tools and platforms, improving professional development, collaboration, and classroom practice; and drives the integration of digital and AI approaches into evidence-based models such as Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) and structured pedagogy. - Leads high-impact technical assistance, policy dialogue, and cross-country learning on the implementation of UNICEF’s Digital Education Strategy, working through UNICEF Country Offices, Regional Offices, and national governments. - Provides strategic engagement and quality assurance for country proposals on digital education aligned with key cooperation frameworks. - Contributes to cross-sector partnerships, knowledge exchange, and global positioning of UNICEF’s digital education agenda, ensuring that digital transformation efforts are system focused, teacher-centred, inclusive, and ethical. The role will provide strategic-level coordination and guidance for the implementation of the Digital Education Strategy, strengthening countries’ ability to scale up sustainable, equity-driven models for impact.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

The Senior Adviser, Education (Digital Education Implementation) will be accountable for the following functions, in alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029 and the Education Programme Offer, and the Digital Education Strategy.

1. At-Scale Digital Education System Design
2. Digital Education System Planning and Readiness Assessment
3. Education System Institutional Reform and Governance
4. Quality Improvement through Digital Solutions
5. Digital Education System Strengthening and Sustainability 
6. Equitable Access

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  JD - Senior Adviser Education (Digital Education Implementation)_P5.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Education, Educational Technology, Teacher Education, Learning Sciences, Educational Planning and Management, Public Policy, International Development, Social Sciences, or another relevant field.
  A Bachelor or equivalent (First Level University Degree) in a relevant area combined with 2 additional years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree. This is applicable to internal (FT, Continuing and Permanent) staff only.
• Work Experience: 10 years of relevant work experience in education systems strengthening and digital transformation, and in designing and implementing digital education programmes at national or multi-country level.
• Proven track record integrating technology and AI into teaching and learning with strong attention to equity, safety, ethics and inclusion, and applying evidence-based approaches to enhance learner outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and influence reform in digital education, including shaping policy, governance and financing models, advancing national strategies and curriculum and pedagogy shifts, and strengthening teacher professional development. 
• Skills: AI, leading, coordinating, advocating, representing, troubleshooting.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required.

Desirables:

• Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
• Proven track record scaling digital and blended learning programmes for teachers and learners, with integration into education approaches such as structured pedagogy and TaRL, including in low-resource or humanitarian contexts.
• Experience leading and supervising multicultural teams, managing multi-country portfolios, and coordinating complex technical workstreams.
• Experience in resource mobilization and building and sustaining high-level strategic partnerships in politically sensitive or multi-stakeholder environments.
• Recognised thought leadership and policy influence on digital education, including publications, global advocacy or contributions to normative guidance. 
• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

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 suitable candidates are 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.