Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) Specialist, Humanitarian Office, Geneva, P-4

The Position:

The Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) Specialist post is located in the Response and Technical Support Unit (RSTU), Humanitarian Office in Geneva and reports directly to the Head, RSTU. S/He is the principal technical adviser and expert in the Fund for the area of Cash-Based Interventions (CBI) in line with the ICPD Programme of Action, World Humanitarian Summit, including the Grand Bargain Commitments and the New Way of Working. The CVA Specialist works through an integrated, coordinated, and systems strengthening approach which is fundamental to UNFPA’s overall strategy.

How You Can Make a Difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young’s person potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s new strategic plan 2018-2021, focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal death; to end unmet need for family planning; end gender-based violence and harmful practices.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction. UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results. We need staff who are transparent and exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Job Purpose:

The overall purpose of the Humanitarian Office is to facilitate the delivery of the UNFPA mandate by supporting humanitarian preparedness, response, and recovery actions in increasingly complex humanitarian situations, within globally agreed frameworks (2030 Agenda, Grand Bargain Commitments, Sendai Framework, etc.). The Humanitarian Office leads in leveraging and increasing effectiveness, efficiency and capacity of UNFPA staff and partners to scale up UNFPA’s role as a key global humanitarian actor. Through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (IASC) and other associated entities, the Humanitarian Office acts as a point of convergence on humanitarian activities, including policy, coordination, programming, advocacy, field capacity development, resource mobilization, innovation, partnerships, technical guidance and, crucially, thematic integration, ensuring complementarity between humanitarian and development action within the organization.

HO advocates among humanitarian agencies to include sexual and reproductive health and rights needs and sexual and gender-based violence prevention needs and humanitarian concerns of population into the overall humanitarian preparedness and response frameworks. The HO facilitates the development of UNFPA capacities to prepare and respond to the emergencies and to ensure the fund is well equipped to deal with the context of fragility and disaster risk reduction.

The Technical Adviser post provides strategic technical leadership to ensure that CBIs are firmly placed within UNFPA’s humanitarian response at all levels. S/he will provide technical assistance to develop the capacity of countries to mainstream CBI in humanitarian response and their budget frameworks and to enhance the use of knowledge and empirical evidence for policy design and evaluation. 

The incumbent will influence the substantive knowledge agenda in the area of CBI and linkages with the Minimum Initial Service Package and UNFPA overall humanitarian response throughout the displacement cycles. S/He will advise on priorities for CBI programming, maintain technical partnerships on substantive issues with relevant institutions; and, provide leadership to ensure that technical knowledge of cash-based interventions is generated, collected, updated and disseminated for effective technical and policy dialogues.

Requirements:

Qualifications and Experience  
Education:

Advanced university degree in social sciences, public information, information management, information systems or related field. 

Knowledge and Experience:

• 7 years of progressively responsible relevant national and international experience in information management, including at least four years working on Cash Based Interventions in international development;

• Strong track record of leadership in emergencies, and proven ability to produce demonstrable results in the area of cash based related interventions; 

• Excellent research and writing skills, with experience writing reports, newsletters and programme updates, and developing web content;

• Experience working on sexual and reproductive health, gender and population issues; 

• Experience working as an organization’s focal point for communication, information management, partnerships, preferably for a UN agency;

• Strong outreach experience and excellent interpersonal communication and project implementation skills required;

• Field experience working on humanitarian issues desirable.

Languages:

• Proficiency in English and French is required; 

• Knowledge of an additional UN language is an asset.