Data Protection Consultant (Data Protection Awareness), Chief Data Office of the Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, NYHQ, remote. Req# 584746

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 Title: Data Protection Consultant (Data Protection Awareness)

Division/Duty Station: Chief Data office in the Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring

Duration: 15 December 2025 – 31 December 2026

Home/ Office Based: Remote

 

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

UNICEF has issued a Policy for Personal Data Protection in 2020 (the “Policy”) which applies to any personal data processing by or on behalf of UNICEF. This involves the data of the children who UNICEF serves, its staff, its individual donors, and others. The goal of the policy is to ensure that UNICEF uses personal data in line with individual’s rights and freedoms and without exposing them to inappropriate risks.  

 The Chief Data Office (CDO) is tasked to support offices and divisions with the implementation of the Policy. For that purpose, it is centrally developing a data protection programme, a set tools, guidance, central records and training/awareness measures, to enable the organization to process personal data in compliance with the Policy and in respect of individuals’ rights to privacy. In addition, it is committed to promoting the responsible use of other sensitive data for children in line with the “Responsible Data for Children” principles and toolkit.  

 The Data Governance and Strategy unit (DGSU) in the CDO creates and supports implementation of safeguards to minimize risks and potential harms to children, UNICEF staff, beneficiaries, and donors associated with data and digital technology, ensuring a responsible and safe digital and data transformation. The DGSU implements robust governance of all forms of data at UNICEF, enabling the organization to leverage relevant data for better decision-making and outcomes for children. The DGSU supports country offices working with national partners in advancing data governance in national dialogue and policy making.  

 The successful implementation of the Policy and its corresponding procedures, guidance and tools requires the engagement of staff and affiliated personnel of all UNICEF divisions/offices and coherent understanding on personal data protection under the Policy. Para. 42 of the Policy states, “UNICEF shall provide training and take appropriate action to raise awareness so as to ensure the effective implementation of this Policy by its personnel, taking into account resource and logistics constraints.” Consequently, training and awareness raising are essential components to develop a common level of understanding of the protection and handling of personal data at UNICEF.

In order to fully design and support the roll-out of the UNICEF data protection programme, in particular to increase awareness and strengthen training and data protection education, UNICEF CDO needs to hire a data protection and privacy expert with strong experience on data protection, awareness raising and capacity building, to support the DGSU team.

The Data Protection and Privacy Specialist (country office support) will supervise the consultancy assignment.

Scope of Work:

This assignment will contribute to the following outcomes:  

• Fostering a culture of personal data protection and privacy within UNICEF   
• Support the design and delivery of data protection awareness and training activities for UNICEF staff and affiliated personnel, ensuring that they understand the importance of data protection as well as their roles and responsibilities when handling personal data, thereby reducing risks of personal data incidents that are caused by human error
• Establish regular communications and collaborations with UNICEF Data Protection Champions to implement the data protection program across the Organization. 
• Facilitate communications with senior leadership to obtain support for data protection program implementation, ensuring a culture of privacy within the Organization
• Regular and consistent communicat