Social Policy Officer, Nairobi, Kenya

General

Description of assignment title: Social Policy Officer

Assignment country: Kenya

Duty stations: Nairobi

Work location: On UN premises

Expected start date: 09/03/2026

Duration: 12 months(with possibility of extension)Long-term benefits and allowances

Sustainable Development Goal: 1. No poverty

Host entity: UNICEF

Modality: Onsite

Type: National

Volunteer category: Specialist UCoS from Apr2026

Work schedule: Full-time

Number of Assignments: 1

Details

Mission and objectives:

• UNICEF, also known as the United Nations Children's Fund, is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. The agency is among the most widespread and recognizable social welfare organizations in the world, with a presence in 192 countries and territories. UNICEF's activities include providing immunizations and disease prevention, administering treatment for children and mothers with HIV, enhancing childhood and maternal nutrition, improving sanitation, promoting education, and providing emergency relief in response to disasters.

Context:

• The Social Policy programme section of UNICEF Kenya Country Office works to promote and protect the rights of every child, with a strong focus on reducing child poverty and strengthening social protection systems. The Social Policy Section leads UNICEF's work on child poverty analysis, public finance for children, social protection, and the generation of evidence to inform policy and programme decisions. This encompasses both direct programme work with government and civil society partners as well as linkages and support to teams working on education, health, child protection, water and sanitation, and nutrition. Improving data and evidence on child poverty and vulnerability to increase their use in policy and programme action is one of the key components of
• UNICEF's overall support to the Government of Kenya under the Social Policy Section. Under the overall guidance of the Chief of Social Policy, the Social Policy Officer (Child Poverty and M&E) will support the Section's work in generating, analyzing, and communicating evidence on child poverty and multidimensional deprivation, and in strengthening and coordinating monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities for social policy programmes and results in coordination with the PME section. The Volunteer will work as part of a small, collaborative team alongside the Social Policy Specialist and M&E Officer, with regular opportunities for mentoring, on-the-job learning, and exposure to national-level policy dialogue.The Social Policy Officer will provide technical and analytical support to the Social Policy Section on child poverty measurement, data analysis, and programme monitoring and evaluation.

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Geographic Reference

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• The assignment aims to strengthen the evidence base used for policy dialogue, advocacy, and programme design related to children's wellbeing, while supporting the tracking of results against the Country Programme and broader national development frameworks.

Task description:

• Under the supervision of the Chief of Social Policy, the Social Policy Officer will carry out the following primary duties:
• Child Poverty Analysis
• Support the production and updating of child poverty and multidimensional deprivation analyses, including MODA (Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis) or similar methodologies. Contribute to the analysis of national household survey data (e.g., Household Budget Surveys) to generate evidence on child poverty trends and drivers.
• Support the collection, analysis and user-friendly presentation of data on multidimensional and monetary child poverty, including strengthening national capacity to collect routinely, report and use data for policy decision-making.
• Support advocacy efforts on child poverty reduction, including preparation of talking points, presentations, and advocacy materials for use by the Chief of Social Policy and senior management.
• Support dissemination of child poverty evidence and findings through events, publications, briefings, and media/communication products, in coordination with the Communication section.
• Support and strengthen the section's engagement and data-sharing arrangements with the National Statistics Office and other relevant government partners.
• Monitoring & Evaluation
• Support the design and maintenance of M&E frameworks, indicators, and data collection tools for social policy programmes. Assist in the design, implementation, and maintenance of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) indicators for social policy programmes. Track and compile indicator performance data against the Country Programme Document (CPD) and support the preparation of the Annual Work Plans.
• Support the implementation and follow-up of studies and research related to child poverty and social protection. Contribute to data quality assurance processes for social policy programme data.
• Support the preparation of management reports (e.g., Situation Reports, Annual Reports, Results Assessment Module (RAM) inputs).
• Cross-cutting (as capacity allows)
• Provide regular socioeconomic and data analysis to support the evidence needs of the Social Policy Section, including timely turnaround of data requests, contribution to periodic data updates/briefs, and quality-assured analytical outputs that inform section planning, reporting, and decision-making.
• Assist in preparing policy briefs, factsheets, and presentations, translating data findings into accessible messages for policymakers and partners Contribute to knowledge management, ensuring analyses, tools, and lessons learned are well documented and accessible.
• Perform any other duties as required by the Chief of Social Policy, in line with the scope of the assignment.

Eligibility criteria

Age: 18 - 80

Required experience: 3 years

Nationality: Candidate must be a national, legal resident or hold refugee status in the country of assignment.

Assignment requirements

Relevant experience:

• 3 years

Languages:

• English, Level: Fluent, Required

Required education level:

• Bachelor's degree in Statistics, Economics, Social Sciences, Demography, Public Policy, or a related field is required.

Competencies and values:

• Accountability
• Adaptability and flexibility
• Creativity
• Judgement and decision-making
• Planning and organising
• Professionalism
• Self-management

Skills and experience:

• Minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience in data analysis, working with socio-economic datasets, monitoring and evaluation, social policy, or a related field.
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills and ability to articulate technical information clearly and effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel is required; familiarity with statistical software (e.g. SPSS, STATA, R, or Python) is an advantage.
• Proven ability to present data/information in understandable tables, charts, graphs and reports; Ability to produce data insights to inform strategy and decision-making
• Experience working with household survey data (e.g. MICS, DHS) and/or poverty analysis is an advantage.
• Experience working with UN agencies, government institutions, or development partners is an asset.

Area(s) of expertise:

• Information technology and telecommunications, Monitoring, evaluation, Project management, programme development, strategy

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