Job Overview
Consultancy: Senior Consultant – South Africa
UNICEF is hiring a Senior Consultant to join its Education Outcomes Fund (EOF) team in South Africa.
Are you an expert in strategic development with a deep understanding of South Africa’s education sector? UNICEF is seeking a Senior Consultant to provide strategic guidance and implementation oversight for its Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Outcomes Fund in South Africa. This is a three-year consultancy running from September 1, 2025, to August 30, 2028. The role is fully remote, therefore offering the flexibility to work from home.
What You Will Do
You will provide strategic guidance on the implementation of the South Africa ECCE Outcomes Fund, consequently ensuring the timely delivery of key program milestones. Your work will involve managing multiple deliverables across a three-year period.
Key responsibilities include:
- Implementation Oversight: First, you will develop and maintain tools to track project milestones, manage risks, and summarize performance. You will be responsible for producing milestone reports, risk registers, and summary reports.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Furthermore, you will facilitate nine formal governance meetings with government partners, evaluators, and grantees between 2026 and 2028. In addition, you will provide strategic guidance to the team through bi-monthly meetings and produce engagement reports.
- Capacity Building: Next, you will facilitate 16 technical and planning workshops for government and implementing partners on topics such as governance, evaluation design, and sustainability.
- Reporting and Analysis: As a result, you will conduct 12 site visits to validate progress and engage local stakeholders, producing detailed visit reports. You will also draft a 30-page Strategic Intelligence Report analyzing policy shifts and an end-year summary of program successes and challenges.
- Sustainability Planning: Finally, you will co-develop a long-term sustainability proposal for a potential Phase 2 of the ECCE Outcomes Fund.
Senior Consultant
Who We Are Looking For
We are seeking a candidate with a strong background in program management and a proven track record of working with the South African government.
Education:
- You must have a university Degree in Education, International Development, Social Sciences, Project Management, or a related field.
- We prefer a Master’s degree.
Experience & Skills:
- You must have at least 10 years of experience leading and managing strategic development programmes in South Africa, ideally in the education sector.
- You must also have direct experience working with the Government of South Africa, ideally in the education sector.
- In addition, you must have experience leading a team and managing multiple stakeholders across complicated projects.
- You must be fluent in English.
- Prior experience working with international organisations and donors in South Africa is a plus.
- Experience with innovative finance, particularly outcomes funds, is also a plus.
- Fluency in Sepedi, IsiZulu or IsiXhosa is desirable.
Important Information for Education Outcomes Fund
- This is a remote, home-based consultancy role.
- The contract duration runs for three years, from September 1, 2025, to August 30, 2028.
- Payment will be based on the submission of satisfactory deliverables.
- As a consultant, you will not be considered a staff member of the United Nations and will be responsible for your own tax liabilities and health insurance.
Apply on the official website
FAQs for Education Outcomes Fund
Q1: What is an “Outcomes Fund”?
A: An Outcomes Fund is a financing mechanism that links funding to the achievement of specific, pre-agreed results. Funders (like UNICEF) pay for successful outcomes, which encourages service providers to innovate and deliver high-quality, effective solutions.
Q2: Will I need to relocate for this role?
A: No, this is a fully remote, home-based position. You can work from your current location. However, you will be expected to conduct site visits within South Africa as part of your duties.
Q3: Is experience with the Government of South Africa required?
A: Yes, direct experience of working with the Government of South Africa, particularly in the education sector, is a key requirement for this role.
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