Youth & Adolescent Development Officer до UNICEF

UNICEF Ukraine’s Youth and Adolescent program focuses on empowering adolescents and young people to be active agents in Ukraine’s recovery, social cohesion, and EU integration process. Key priorities include youth civic engagement, skilling, employability, psychosocial wellbeing, and policy advocacy.

This UNV assignment will support the meaningful participation of adolescents and young people through structured platforms such as the Young People’s Advisory Board (YPAB), advancing employability and entrepreneurship initiatives linked to Ukraine’s recovery, and strengthening youth-related policy reform at national and local levels.

The UNV will also contribute to improved information management and reporting to capture results and evidence for advocacy. In addition to duty station specific vaccine requirements, appointments are subject to confirmation of fully vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the appointment.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for UN Volunteers with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage applicants to disclose their disability during application in case reasonable accommodation is required.

Key Responsibilities:

Under the direct supervision of the Chief, Adolescent Development, the UNV is expected to undertake the following:

1. UCO Youth Participation and Coordination (Young People’s Advisory Board — YPAB):

• Coordinate the Ukraine Country Office Young People Advisory Board (YPAB) as a youth-led participation platform, ensuring effective communication, planning, advocacy, and implementation of activities.
• Conduct regular (bi-weekly) meetings with enrolled young people, follow up on their interventions, and support collaboration opportunities with external stakeholders.
• Facilitate consultations, joint initiatives, and structured engagement between YPAB members, UNICEF program sections, and external partners, including government and civil society, to strengthen cross-program coordination and improve synergy across ADAP initiatives.
• Ensure meaningful inclusion of adolescents and youth from vulnerable groups (IDPs, youth with disabilities, young women, and marginalized communities), promoting equity and accountability in youth participation processes.
• Support the design and facilitation of training, peer-to-peer learning, and capacity-building initiatives for YPAB members to enhance their leadership, advocacy, and project management skills.
• Establish and maintain monitoring mechanisms, track progress, document results, and prepare periodic reports.
• Support youth participation in advocacy initiatives and campaigns, ensuring safeguarding, logistics, and follow up to maximize impact.

2. Youth Employability and Skills Activation:

• Assist in the implementation of youth employability, entrepreneurship, and upskilling programs, with a focus on green, digital, and technical skills aligned with Ukraine’s recovery.
• Contribute to partnerships with private sector actors, local authorities, and civil society organizations to expand youth learning-to-earning pathways.
• Document lessons learned, promising practices, and success stories for scaling and visibility.
• Provide roving field support to systematize youth participation.

3. Policy and Systems Engagement:

• Support UNICEF’s engagement in youth-related policy reforms (including the EU Youth Guarantee) by providing background research, drafting inputs, and preparing technical notes.
• Facilitate inter-agency collaboration with UN partners and government stakeholders by coordinating meetings, documenting outcomes, and following up on agreed actions.
• Monitor and synthesize developments in national youth policy and legislation, producing concise briefs and updates for UNICEF teams and external partners.
• Assist in mainstreaming adolescent and youth participation priorities across UNICEF programs (e.g., Social Policy, WASH, Health, Gender, SBC, Child Protection, Emergency) through technical inputs, documentation, and coordination support

4. Information Management, Knowledge Sharing, and Technical Quality Support:

• Support systematic data collection, analysis, visualization, and reporting, including coordinating all inputs for SitReps, donor reports, and dashboards.
• Manage knowledge-sharing platforms (e.g., SharePoint, and communication channels.
• Provide technical support and quality assurance to ensure youth participation, skills, and employability components are integrated in program planning, implementation, and reporting.
• Participate in field monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews, and prepare reports to guide follow-up action.
• Collaborate with sectoral colleagues and partners to identify and address implementation challenges and propose solutions.

5, Capacity Building and Safeguarding

• Ensure safeguarding protocols are consistently applied in all youth engagement activities, with special attention to IDPs, youth with disabilities, and girls.
• Support the design and rollout of training modules for UNICEF staff, partners, and youth leaders on adolescent participation, and safe civic engagement.

Requirements for candidates:

• Bachelor’s degree in Social sciences, international development, youth studies, education, youth and adolescent development and participation, livelihoods, skills development and employability, social policy, information management or a related field.
• At least 3 years of professional experience in youth and adolescent development, civic engagement, employability programs, or related areas.
• Demonstrated knowledge of youth participation methodologies, including organizing youth advisory boards, consultations, and structured engagement processes.
• Experience in supporting youth employability, entrepreneurship, and skills activation programs, with a focus on green, digital, and technical skills.
• Knowledge and experience in youth-related policy engagement and social policy, including familiarity with frameworks such as the EU Youth Guarantee.
• Strong coordination, facilitation, and partnership-building skills, including the ability to work with government, civil society, private sector, and community-based partners.
• Demonstrated experience in safeguarding and inclusive practices, ensuring safe and equitable participation of vulnerable groups (IDPs, youth with disabilities, adolescent girls, marginalized communities).
• Experience in designing and facilitating capacity-building initiatives for youth, partners, and staff, including training on participation, advocacy, and MHPSS integration.
• Proven experience in field-based program implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, including data collection, analysis, visualization, reporting, and lessons-learned documentation.
• Familiarity with digital platforms and knowledge management tools (e.g., SharePoint, dashboards) to support information sharing and program coordination.
• Ability to prepare analytical briefs, reports, and advocacy materials for internal and external stakeholders, including policy and donor audiences.
• Ukrainian, Level: Fluent, Required
• English, Level: Fluent, Required

This position comes with the following benefits and entitlements for UN Volunteers (National UN Volunteer Specialist):

• Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA): A Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) USD 1,587 is provided monthly to cover housing, utilities, and normal cost of living expenses. This includes Well-Being Differentials for the period while the ICSC applies hardship classification to duty stations in Ukraine as «E».
• Entry and exit lump sum
• Medical and life insurance: Cigna Private Insurance
• Annual leave: 30 days
• Certified sick leave: 30 days annually
• Uncertified sick leave: 7 days annually
• Learning leave: 10 days annually

To apply for the assignment, please first register on the UN Volunteers platform https://app.unv.org/ and send an application using this link: https://app.unv.org/opportunities/1784888021263276

The final date to apply is the 6th of October inclusive.