Consultancy: GBV Technology Product Deployment Consultant - Req.#582833

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Vacancy Announcement: Consultant

Consultancy Title: GBV Technology Product Deployment Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station:  Child Protection Team - Programme Group

Duration: September 1, 2025 to March 1, 2026

Home/ Office Based: REMOTE 

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does - in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life - in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions - her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens - addressing inequity - not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations. 

Related to this mission, UNICEF is directly involved in addressing gender-based violence (GBV) in some of the world’s most intense and complex conflicts and disasters. GBV in its various forms constitutes a global crisis which undermines social and economic progress; as one of the world’s greatest human rights violations, GBV must be addressed to ensure universal rights and principles with regard to equality, security, liberty, integrity and dignity of human beings. Addressing gender-based violence in emergencies (GBViE) is recognized as a life-saving measure and an essential component of humanitarian action. UNICEF has made GBViE (prevention, risk mitigation and response) one of its targeted priorities in its Strategic and Gender Action Plans (GAP) 2022-2025, as well as in the Child Protection Strategy. GBViE contributes to the results under Goal Area 3 and is a cross-cutting priority across the Strategic Plan, making GBV risk mitigation one of UNICEF’s change strategies and a key contributor across all Goal Areas. GBViE risk mitigation cuts across all sectors and areas of work in UNICEF’s Core Commitments for Children. 

In 2019, UNICEF’s Executive Director issued a call to innovate to fill gaps in accessibility and availability of services at the Oslo Conference on Ending GBV in Emergencies. Since 2020, UNICEF has embarked in developing new technologies for gender-based violence programming. One of these innovative solutions is Laaha, a Virtual Safe Space platform for women and girls. 

Women and girls' safe spaces have long been established as a key approach to provide survivors with information, links to services, skills-building, peer connection, and support. Yet, as access to physical safe spaces is often limited for adolescent girls and women, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF has been developing Laaha, a virtual safe space (VSS) platform for them to access gender-based violence (GBV) information. Following successful piloting of VSS and feedback from adolescent girls in Iraq and Lebanon, a second version of a more interactive platform has been developed and piloted in Iraq and Ecuador. Heavy investment on human-centered design consultations with girls aims at identifying strategies to overcome the digital divide girls face to ensure greater access. As a component of the new iteration of Laaha, UNICEF is also creating a virtual forum which enables girls to seek support, ask questions, receive linkages to specialized services, and in time, replicate the sense of a safe social network (that women and girls note they value from physical safe spaces) on the platform with peers. A chatbot is also being designed to support women and girls to navigate Laaha rich content. In the coming months, Laaha is currently being deployed in a number of additional countries, including Afghanistan, Lebanon, Ukraine and Venezuela. New countries are expressing interest for the scaling phase. Laaha aims at reaching 1 million users and 15 languages by 2025. 

During the 6-month period of the contract, the Consultant will implement the Laaha workplan targeted interventions listed below to support the scaling phase of Laaha. 

Scope of Work: 

Under the supervision of the GBViE Specialist, the consultant will be responsible for the completion of the following deliverables: 

1.         Support maintenance of Laaha to ensure all content is working across all deployment countries;

2.         Share Laaha usage updates to each deployment country end of month;

3.         Support open source text to speech/translation model development with Office of Innovation;

4.         Support evaluation of Laaha in Ecuador and Lebanon;

5.         Participate in the management of the relationship with development vendors and support as needed;

6.         Support deployment and contextualization of Laaha in new languages/countries – including communication with instructional design on content development, and country engagement ;

7.         Prepare quarterly progress reports on Laaha’s deployment and performance, presenting key challenges and achievements;

8.         Contribute to the development of a governance structure for ongoing management of Laaha at both local and global levels.

The consultancy will be home-based with travels to emergency-affected contexts, as feasible.  

Terms of Reference / Deliverables 

Support maintenance of Laaha to ensure all content is working across all deployment countries

- Bi-weekly testing sessions for at least 4 countries deployed countries (select one at random) carried out

- Issue logs maintained and resolved within 5 working days

- 6 Functionality checklist completed

- Final summary report on maintenance status submitted and approved   

1 March 2026

Share Laaha usage updates to each deployment country end of month    

- 6 monthly reports submitted (including user engagement data, content completion rates, issues documented)

1 March 2026

Support open-source text to speech/translation model development with Office of Innovation

- Contribution summary and report (including lessons learned) drafted and submitted      

20 November 2025

Support evaluation of Laaha in Ecuador and Lebanon

- Evaluation plan co-designed with Ecuador and Lebanon Country Office developed.

- Results presented to UNICEF stakeholders during 1 virtual session      

23 December 2025

Participate in the management of the relationship with development vendors and support as needed

- Minutes of Meetings (including tracking of Action Points) with Vendor drafted and shared (est. twice a week)

- Minutes of Meetings (including tracking of Action Points) with Vendor and Country Offices drafted and shared (at least 2 coordination calls per week, plus 3 milestone meetings for kickoff, mid-term, and close-out)

- Issue tracking log (including resolution timeline) updated and shared    

31 December 2025

Support deployment and contextualization of Laaha in new languages/countries – including communication with instructional design on content development, and country engagement

- Content Modules (including narrative, videos, images) reviewed and updated, based on country feedback.

- At least 3 localization discussionswith at least 2 deployment countries (inception, support, closure) supported and documented with Minutes of Meeting and Action Points

- Translation, voiceover, and image contextualization reviewed and validated

- Documentation of content updates and localization decisions delivered

20 January 2026

Prepare progress reports on Laaha’s deployment and performance, presenting key challenges and achievements

- 2 progress reports submitted and finalized based on inputs, including deployment status per country; key performance metrics; challenges, risks, and mitigations, recommendations for next quarter, stakeholder review notes

- Quarterly newsletter published

- Lessons learned and impact of Laaha collected and compiled in an online tracking document

15 February 2026

Contribute to the development of a governance structure for ongoing management of Laaha at both local and global levels            - Draft governance model shared for feedback, including roles, responsibilities, escalation pathways, and maintenance workflows

- Governance structure model finalized based on feedback received

- Model presented in at least 1 stakeholder validation session     

15 March 2026

Qualifications

(1) Education

University degree in Computer Science, Business Administration or related technical field.

Language Proficiency:

Fluency in English is required. 

Fluency in Arabic, Spanish and French is considered an asset for this role.

(2) Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *:

At least 7 years of experience in supporting and coordinating tech project activities across a large organization and with other international partner organizations

•            Specific experience as a product manager for users in emerging markets.

•            Experience preferably including GBV programming in humanitarian contexts.

•            Progressively responsible professional work experience in communication, technology fields, youth participation and gender, some of which should be in an international setting.

•            Experience in managing projects with strong technology components.

•            Project Management Professional (PMP)®, PRINCE2 certification and/or MBA from a recognized university or college are a plus.

•            Familiarity with Agile development methodology and Software development project management using GitHub e.g., Pivotal Tracker, Redmine, Trello, etc.

•            Technical skills and track record on Apps development processes.

•            Creative, innovative thinker who can also translate ideas into practical applications.

•            A strong understanding of UNICEF programmes, communication, technology, user-centered design, youth participation and partnership goals.

•            Deep understanding of GBV guiding principles and what it means to provide a survivor-centered response.

•            Strong interpersonal skills and proven ability to manage relationships with UNICEF partners, including women and girls.

•            Proven skills in communication, networking, strategic thinking, advocacy, negotiation, and ability to relate this to new media and young people.

•            Proven ability to conceptualize, plan and execute ideas.

•            Proven capacity to work with and lead collaborative teams across different locations and with different technical skills.

Requirements: 

Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate… UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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Remarks:  

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, are encourage to apply are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

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Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (if applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract.

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