Senior Adviser - Social Policy & Social Protection (P-5), PG Social Policy, New York HQ # 00131538 (Temporary Appointment 6months)

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

The Social Policy and Social Protection (SP) team within UNICEF’s Programme Group plays a pivotal role in advancing global efforts to improve social policies for children. Focused on eradicating child poverty, strengthening social protection systems, delivering humanitarian cash assistance during emergencies, making finance systems work for children, and advocating for inclusive social policy, the SP team is instrumental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This work aligns with UNICEF’s mandate under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Goal Area 5 of its current Strategic Plan 2022–2025: “Every Child Has Access to Inclusive Social Protection and Lives Free of Poverty.”

Looking ahead, UNICEF’s Strategic Plan for 2026–2029 will prioritize addressing emerging global challenges, advancing children's rights, and implementing strategic shifts in high-impact areas. Emphasizing integrated programming, particularly in humanitarian and fragile contexts, it will adapt differentiated strategies to meet country-specific needs. The plan underscores scaling up efforts to end child poverty globally, integrating climate change considerations, and strengthening systems for long-term sustainability and impact. The SP team will play a central role in driving these efforts, including closing social protection coverage gaps for children, elevating the care and support agenda, and protecting and leveraging resources for children. Moreover, the team will focus on tackling structural inequalities and fostering progress in human capital development, economic empowerment, and resilience-building for children. Strategic discussions are underway, targeting the presentation of the plan at the UNICEF Executive Board session in September 2025.

For every child, a protection……

Join UNICEF’s Programme Group as a Senior Adviser – Social Policy and Social Protection, where you’ll collaborate with teams across New York, Geneva, and 454 staff globally, driving strategic priorities in child poverty, social protection, public finance, and humanitarian cash programming. This role offers the opportunity to lead impactful initiatives like the Finance for Children Framework, Child Poverty Advocacy Strategy, and climate-integrated poverty reduction strategies. You’ll provide intellectual, technical, and advocacy leadership, while building global partnerships to advance children’s rights and equity. Play a key role in shaping UNICEF’s social inclusion policies and strengthening global and regional collaboration, offering high-level support to senior management and country offices.

How can you make a difference?

The Senior Adviser will provide strategic leadership to ensure the successful delivery of 2025 workplans, focusing on global child poverty advocacy, scaling up social protection systems, and advancing the Financing for Children (F4C) framework. This includes identifying potential risks and proposing high-level solutions. The role involves strategically guiding global events, such as the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the Tax and Children Symposium, and the International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD-IV), to ensure alignment with UNICEF’s objectives and maximize their impact. Additionally, the Senior Adviser will lead the development of the next UNICEF Strategic Plan, represent the team in divisional and cross-divisional meetings, and foster alignment across the organization.

The role emphasizes promoting collaboration among Regional Social Policy Advisors, Country Office leads, and key stakeholders within the social policy sector. By offering tailored strategic guidance, the Senior Adviser will support the advancement of the social policy and social protection agenda. Furthermore, the role involves building and strengthening partnerships with external stakeholders, such as research institutions and civil society organizations, to enhance UNICEF’s global social policy efforts and foster impactful initiatives.

The Senior Adviser will contribute to the Programme Group’s Thought Leadership Agenda by identifying and publishing high-impact articles, analyzing macro-level