Overview
The Programme Officer will coordinate UNICEF Ukraine’s work on youth employment, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship, contributing to the ADAP strategy’s economic opportunities and livelihoods outcomes. The role involves designing, implementing, and scaling evidence-based models to increase access to decent work and entrepreneurship pathways for young people.
Tasks Summary
- Co-create, test, and validate youth employment, apprenticeship, and entrepreneurship models.
- Support the development and implementation of strategies and workplans with government, municipalities, UN agencies, and partners.
- Support annual planning, budgeting, and results tracking for the Economic Opportunities portfolio.
- Design and oversee integrated learning-to-earning pathways.
- Provide technical support and guidance on youth employability and entrepreneurship interventions.
- Support and coordinate the development of adolescent-friendly career guidance tools, mentoring models, and transition support packages.
- Draft technical inputs, evidence summaries, and analytical briefs on youth employment, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship.
- Strengthen and support cross-sectoral coordination mechanisms on youth economic opportunities.
- Monitor program implementation and partnerships, identify bottlenecks, and co-develop solutions.
- Support the scale-up and institutionalization of successful youth employment models.
- Contribute to monitoring, evaluation, and evidence use.
- Provide capacity building and mentoring for national and municipal partners.
- Support coordination with EU and bilateral partners.
- Support the development and strengthening of strategic relationships with government, private sector, CSOs, and youth networks.
- Strengthen partnerships with employers, chambers of commerce, and business associations.
- Contribute to partnerships with non-traditional and catalytic funders.
- Coordinate information exchange and synergies between flagship initiatives.
- Conduct field-based monitoring and partner engagement.
- Prepare regular reports and updates for UNICEF management, government partners, and stakeholders.
- Organize national and regional consultations.
- Foster multi-stakeholder platforms.
- Support UNICEF participation in EU and donor coordination forums.
- Facilitate multi-sectoral dialogues.
- Support resource mobilization efforts.
- Introduce and support strategically designed and technically robust approaches to enhance youth employment, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship.
- Research, adapt, and scale international best practices in youth employment.
- Identify and scale innovative green skills development models.
- Plan and conduct joint studies with government, private sector, and CSOs.
- Draft evidence-based technical recommendations.
- Ensure youth centrality and inclusion in all economic opportunities’ interventions.
- Integrate climate and green economy considerations into youth employment interventions.
- Support development of public advocacy materials, human interest stories, and communication content.
- Document and share lessons learned and best practices.
- Generate policy-relevant evidence.
- Contribute to knowledge management for youth economic opportunities programs.
- Contribute to strategic knowledge products.
- Develop targeted advocacy campaigns for government and employer stakeholders.
- Document impact stories.
Experience Requirements
- Minimum 2 years of experience in designing, planning, and implementing youth employment and entrepreneurship programs.
- Robust technical understanding of labor markets, internships, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship schemes.
- Desirable: Experience engaging with key ministries (e.g., Ministry of Economy), working with labor market data, skill gap analyses, or M&E systems for youth-centric economic programming.
- Desirable: Experience strategizing large-scale, sustainable employment programs through multi-stakeholder partnerships.
- Desirable: Experience developing partnerships and networks in skills, youth employment, and entrepreneurship.
- Desirable: Relevant experience in a UN agency or similar organization.
Qualification Requirements
- University degree in social science or a relevant field, such as Economics, Education, Development Studies, Public Policy, Social Work, Labor Market Studies, or Human Capital Development, is mandatory.
- Advanced degree (Master’s or equivalent) in a related field is an asset.
