Health Innovation Consultant, UNICEF Office of Innovation (OOI) – Stockholm, Sweden, 8 months (remote with travel)

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 for as long as we are needed. 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 professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

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

For every child, the right to Safety.

How can you make a difference?

This assignment aims to strengthen UNICEF's health innovation portfolio by advancing the development and scale-up of innovative solutions that improve child health outcomes, with a particular focus on AI-enabled community health worker programmes, innovative approaches to childhood noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), sustainable financing models, and AI-enabled diagnostics. Working closely with governments, UNICEF offices, implementing partners, academia and the private sector, the consultant will support country engagement, assess readiness and demand, guide solution design, and facilitate the integration of innovation into primary healthcare systems.

The assignment will also contribute to expanding the portfolio through resource mobilisation, including the development of funding proposals, investment cases and strategic partnerships. In addition, the consultant will strengthen the health innovation ecosystem through evidence generation, market intelligence and knowledge sharing, helping governments identify, adopt and scale sustainable, government-owned innovations that improve health outcomes for children and communities worldwide.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: TMC0007727 TOR.pdf

Minimum requirements:

• Education:
  • Advanced university degree (Master's or higher) in public health, health sciences, health systems, innovation management, biomedical sciences, international development, engineering, business administration or a related discipline. A first-level university degree with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.
• Work Experience:
  • At least five years of relevant professional experience in health innovation, programme implementation, innovation management or health systems strengthening innovations. Demonstrated experience translating innovation concepts into practical workplans and outputs; applying lean innovation, iterative experimentation or adaptive management; and coordinating technical partners, innovators and implementing organisations. Ability to independently deliver defined work packages, identify bottlenecks and adapt activities based on evidence.
  • Mandatory prerequisite: Prior experience supporting deployment of innovations at the frontline and supporting resource mobilisation to sustain those innovations. Applicants must identify the Country Offices, innovations, their own contribution and the resource mobilisation support provided
• Language requirement:
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; proficiency in additional UN languages is an asset.
• Skills:
  • Practical innovation management, including formulating hypotheses, planning proportionate tests, documenting learning and adapting delivery. Working knowledge of primary health care and service delivery in resource-constrained settings. Ability to assess feasibility, readiness, indicative costs and sustainable financing; synthesise evidence and landscape findings; and translate specialist input into actionable service models and decision briefs. Strong coordination, facilitation and communication skills, with the ability to work independently within a small multidisciplinary team.

Desirables:

• Experience supporting innovation in low- and middle-income countries and working across health innovation domains, such as digital health, AI-enabled solutions, community health systems, medical oxygen, diagnostics or other medical technologies. Training in human-centred design, implementation science or innovation management is an asset. Deep specialisation in a single technology is not required.

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

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 reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. 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.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal, TMS (Talent Management System):

• An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• A separate financial proposal TMC0007727 Financial Proposal.docx
• A technical proposal of up to five pages covering the three workstreams, high level workplan and sample learning loops. Include a CV and cover letter with examples supporting the five criteria and mandatory experience requirements. Submit a separate all-inclusive financial proposal by deliverable, showing professional fees.

Remarks: If the TOR or financial proposal documents are not visible on certain recruitment platforms, please visit our official page Vacancies | UNICEF Careers.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.