About UNICEF
If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines fordeveloping countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries
Consultancy: Consultancy: Content Developer for Gender-responsive Leadership Training for UNICEF leaders and managers
Duty Station: Global Programme Division, Gender Section
Duration: 16 December 2025 โ 31 December 2026
Home/ Office Based: Remote
BACKGROUND
Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:
UNICEFโs Gender Policy 2021-2030 and Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP) 2026-2029 articulate a bold and ambitious vision for gender equality in UNICEFโs programming and workplaces. The GEAP articulates gender priorities across the life course (for women, girls, boys, men) as well as targeted priorities for adolescent girlsโ wellbeing and leadership. It emphasizes that everyone at UNICEF is involved in promoting gender equality, while simultaneously stressing that accountability for gender equality priorities and results rests at the highest levels.
In 2024, UNICEF commissioned an independent evaluation of UNICEFโs Gender Action Plans 2014-2017 and 2018-2021 to inform the development of a new GEAP. The evaluation identified low country-level leadership and program buy-in in some areas, the need for senior management to step up efforts to clearly reference and communicate existing corporate principles of gender equality for accountability purposes. Staff surveys have also shown that some gender differences in staff satisfaction continue to persist over the years, with female staff less likely than male staff to feel positive about work-life harmony, performance management and professional development, and psychological safety and trust.
In response to these data and observations, the GEAP aims to ensure gender parity in all contexts and the representation of women in senior management; invest in the development and mentoring of young female staff; support inclusive, diverse and family-friendly workplace policies on work-life harmony, parental/caregiver support, and staff mobility; mitigate biases, particularly based on gender, at each stage of the recruitment, hiring and promotion processes; integrate gender equality competencies into staff development and review processes; and have zero tolerance for sexual harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse.
The GEAP recognizes that achievement of these changes will require strategic investments in building the gender capacity of leadership, managers, and HR staff, including by expanding access to values-based gender training for staff across all areas of the organization, GenderPro credentialing, all-staff gender training, and e-learning opportunities. Senior staff including Deputy Representatives, Representatives and Directors, already go through several leadership trainings (such as Leading for the Future, Senior Leaders Orientation, and the Dep. Rep. Leadership Initiative). These trainings/meeting contain some content relevant to leading for gender equality. However, the sessions/modules are rarely explicit on gender equality in the workplace, male and female staff, women and girls in programming as well as men and boys.
The objective of the current assignment is to develop material to enhance the capacity of UNICEF senior staff to lead for gender equality in programmes and the workplace
Scope of Work:
The purpose of this consultancy is to design and develop multipurpose content on leading for gender equality that could be used in sessions at the Senior Leaders Orientation, Deputy Representative Leadership Initiative, and ad hoc Culture and Ethics training with Country Teams. The material is eventually envisioned to also be used in an optional gender module of the Managers Support Programme.
Using structured content, compelling case studies, reflection exercises and knowledge checks, the content will focus on
Leadersโ accountability and strategies for creating workplaces that are transformative. This would include leading by example and communicating clearly, identifying and mitigating personal and organizational biases, intervening in sexism and being an ally, using gender responsive language, etc Leading for gender results such as setting priorities and managing staff/resources/activities (understanding UNICEFโs gender mandate and capacity, ensuring gender analysis, promoting parity and participation of women, allocating resources to gender equality objectives, etc)Drawing on open-source materials, the consultant will develop UNICEF-tailored content in the form of approximately 50 Powerpoint slides that will reflect
key actions for leading for gender case studies and examples exercises to stimulate self-reflection knowledge checks supplementary reading materials, and clear and concise notes/tips for facilitators (as slide notes or an additional Word document)The consultant will have access to select existing online documents, PPTs and videos and be expected to integrate this information into the course. He/she will work closely with the Senior Gender Advisor (Institutional Accountability) and brief an internal reference group at key stages of content development.
Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:
Work Assignment Overview/Deliverables and Outputs/Delivery deadline
1. Workplanย
-ย A workplan outlining the methodology and timeline
10 Jan 2026
2. Slide deck outline
-ย A detailed slide deck outline including structure, learning objectives, topics covered, references/source materials
15 Jan 2026
3.ย First draft of slides
-ย A first draft of the slides that meet the learning objectives set by UNICEF and includesย the key actions for leadership, and case studies and examples. Quotes, links, images and sources to be included, where relevant
15 Feb 2026ย
4.ย Second draft of slides
-ย A second draft of the slides, revised based on feedback provided by the reference group, and now additionally including self-reflections exercises and knowledge checks.
15 Mar 2026
5.ย Third draft of slides
-ย The third draft of slides, revised based on feedback provided by the referenceย group, and now additionally including tips for facilitators
15 April 2026
6.ย Delivery of sessions and capacity building
-ย Facilitation of at least 10 sessions on gender-responsive leadership with leaders and managers (for example, SSRE orientations, RMT sessions, Gender Equality Steering Committee session) with the aim to also demonstrate how the sessions can eventually be replicated with internal expertise
31 Dec 2026
Qualifications
Education:
Advanced degree in gender studies, social sciences, international development, or a related field.
Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *:
At least 15 years of relevant professional work experience in gender equality capacity building, coaching, facilitating Experience and expertise in the international development gender equality ecosystem are strong assets. Experience in working on childrenโs rights, and girlsโ and womenโs issues is an advantage. Experience in work environment of an international agency, UN, or international institutions is desirable; Knowledge of UNICEF/UN systems; familiarity with UNICEF's work and gender equality programming is an asset. Demonstrated writing skills with specific experience writing on gender related issues and knowledge products. Fluency in English (written and verbal) is required Be able to work independently as well as with a team in an international, multicultural, and interdisciplinary environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships both within and outside the organization. Ability to communicate sensitively to different audiences. Ability to work within tight deadlines