Building a strategy

Knowledge Management Specialist (Research Facilitation)

By 09/04/2018

Knowledge Management Specialist (Research Facilitation), UNICEF’s Office of Research-Innocenti, based in Florence, Italy

Under the guidance of the Chief, you will be responsible for provision of support on research governance, evidence synthesis and research capacity building according to UNICEF’s key strategic priorities.

  • You will be required to provide technical support to ensure the highest quality of research is produced by the organization that institutional incentives are set in place to reward good research and that lessons from previous research can be easily found and shared.
  • You will be expected to play a key role in directly delivering research management training across the organization and to oversee production of a variety of other capacity-building tools for UNICEF staff.
  • You will also be expected to lead on work helping to set Innocenti research within context of the global body of evidence, collaborating with key external partners to produce evidence synthesis products, such as evidence gap maps and systematic reviews.  There is some scope to shape the thematic focus of this role according to your academic background and interests, so long as these relate to key UNICEF strategic research priorities.

Other duties include:

  • Support research governance and quality assurance in collaboration with other parts of UNICEF
  • Capacity development of UNICEF staff and partners
  • Mapping and synthesis of research evidence
  • Strategic Partnerships and Engagement with Relevant Partners
  • Sharing of new Knowledge, Evidence and Lessons

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

Education:

  • Advanced university degree in social or political science, international affairs, development studies, development communication, pedagogy or related field with concentration relevant to research management and evidence informed decision-making.
  • A Ph.D. or equivalent qualification or experience is preferred but not essential

Experience:

  • A minimum of five years of professional experience at the national and international levels in research management, evidence synthesis, knowledge translation and capacity-building.
  • Proven experience in communicating complex scientific concepts in a straight-forward manner for non-specialists, through oral and written channels
  • Sound understanding of quantitative/qualitative research methods, and evidence synthesis approaches in international development
  • Experience in conducting primary research in an international development context, supported by relevant publications in international journals
  • Proven ability to convey credibility and authority when delivering research-related technical advisory support and training
  • Excellent analytical, networking and partnership brokering skills
  • Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency settings is considered an asset.

Language requirement:  Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

Closing Date Mon Apr 30 2018 17:55:00 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)

Job Number: 511876 | Vacancy Link
Locations: Headquarters Locations: Italy
Work Type : Fixed Term Staff