Partnerships Specialist (Contracts & Compliance), P-3, Fixed Term Position, Public Partnerships Division (PPD), New York, #00132153

UNICEF

About The Position

The Public Partnerships Division (PPD) works to strengthen UNICEF's position as a partner of choice for children's rights among governments and public actors around the world. Along with the Private Fundraising and Partnerships Division (PFP), PPD advocates for sustainable partnerships and mobilize flexible and predictable resources to achieve UNICEF's Strategic Plan results in the context of Agenda 2030. Risk management within the Public Partnerships Division (PPD) is a strategic function that helps UNICEF anticipate, identify, and mitigate risks associated with more than $5 billion in annual public sector funding. The team supports UNICEF by advising on negotiations and contracting with public sector donors, ensuring that agreements are properly reviewed, potential risks are well understood, The function also coordinates UNICEF’s engagement with public sector partners related to misconduct notifications to ensure clear, timely communication and protect UNICEF’s public sector partnerships. In addition, the team contributes to strengthening UNICEF’s policy framework related to public partnerships by identifying and addressing policy gaps and presenting coordinated responses to internal and external audit exercises. The team also equips PPD leadership, teams, and field offices with timely risk insights and practical guidance to support informed decision‑making and build capacity for managing risks within individual partnerships. The UNICEF Chief Legal Counsel has exclusive accountability to provide legal advice and guidance to all business units of the organization, including PPD; the Legal Team in the Office of the Executive Director works closely with the Director’s Office of PPD in the negotiation of, and in advising on, partnerships with the public sector and agreements setting out such partnerships. Positioned within the Director’s Office of PPD and under the supervision of the Public Partnerships Manager (Risk), the Partnerships Specialist (Contracts and Compliance) plays a central role in ensuring that UNICEF’s public-sector partnership agreements are negotiated, reviewed and cleared in line with organizational policies and requirements. The incumbent serves as the initial point of contact for PPD teams on contractual and donor conditionality issues, providing analytical support, facilitating internal escalation and decision-making, and maintaining internal records on pipeline of negotiations and donor conditions. In close collaboration with the Legal Team in OED, the Specialist supports decision-making around non‑standard conditions, ensures adherence to the Delegation of Authority framework for agreement signature, and contributes to governance mechanisms related to resource mobilization decisions. The role strengthens organizational compliance by documenting and analyzing donor‑conditionality trends, advising on operational risks, and supporting process improvements related to agreement negotiation and signature workflows. The Specialist also leads capacity‑building and knowledge‑management efforts related to contracting, maintaining consolidated tools, guidance, and trackers that promote consistent, policy‑aligned decision‑making across PPD. Additionally, the role contributes to broader partnerships risk‑management initiatives by coordinating exchanges on donor conditions and compliance issues, preparing senior‑level materials, and providing backstopping support across the Risk Management Team.

Requirements

Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Law.
Work Experience: 5 years continuous experience with primary/regular responsibility reviewing contribution agreements between the UN and bilateral/multilateral donors, with demonstrated experience in identifying risks in such agreements and coordinating decision-making through escalation pathways.
Skills: Experience reviewing and negotiating public sector funding agreements, with strong ability to assess legal, financial, operational, and reputational risks and propose mitigation actions. Proven capacity to manage escalation pathways, prepare decision documentation, and translate complex legal and policy requirements into clear, actionable guidance for non-technical stakeholders.
Language Requirements: Fluency in English required.

Nice To Haves

Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish)
Experience operationalizing Delegation of Authority frameworks, analyzing donor conditionality trends, and developing policy recommendations to address risk areas. Fluency in English is required; knowledge of another UN language and familiarity with UN systems or regulatory frameworks are assets.

Responsibilities

Serve as initial point of contact for PPD teams on legal agreements, templates and clearance requirements
Review business terms and agreements to identify risks and document and escalate as necessary to senior management colleagues, including those requiring guidance from the UNICEF Chief Legal Counsel and her team. Refer all legal terms and issues re same to the UNICEF Chief Legal Counsel and her team.
Support negotiations and decision-making related to non-standard donor conditions and terms, facilitating internal escalation pathways, and advising on alignment with UNICEF policies.
Support compliance with the Delegation of Authority (DoA) Policy with regard to the signature of public sector donor agreements
Support overall engagement between PPD and the Legal Team through maintenance of pipeline/docket, meeting agendas and preparations, background material and issues analysis
Support the maintenance and implementation of UNICEF’s governance framework for public sector partnerships, including the Resource Mobilization Policy, Donor Conditions Guidance, and DoA-related procedures.
Act as focal point with Regulatory Framework Secretariat on regulatory matters
Document and analyze donor conditions trends and risks to inform senior decision‑making.
Provide support in developing internal work processes related to public sector agreement negotiation and signature to ensure that accountabilities are clear and placed at the adequate levels as per global policies and/or best practices
Coordinate inputs and follow-ups for governance mechanisms related to Resource Mobilization ensuring clear documentation of decisions and actions.
Develop and deliver guidance, training, webinars, and information sheets on contract review, negotiation practices, and donor conditionalities.
Create and maintain consolidated knowledge platforms, tools, trackers, and best‑practice resources, including negotiation/contracting best practices, in coordination with the Legal Office as appropriate.
Build staff awareness of regulatory content (e.g., notification policies, donor conditions) and their implications for agreements.
Maintain up‑to‑date donor‑conditions and legal pipeline trackers to support consistent, policy‑aligned decision‑making across PPD
Coordinate and support internal and interagency exchanges on donor conditionalities, risk issues, and negotiation practices
Support team workflows, including monitoring deadlines and priorities
Contribute to preparation of senior-level materials, briefings and meeting support.
Other support to the team as necessary, including backstop of other functions.