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 past two decades have seen important progress on child rights, yet while much has been achieved, sharp disparities remain. In most countries, inequality is higher today than a generation ago, including in middle-income countries where a majority of the world’s poor children now live. The rapid pace of urbanization and the growing youth bulge in Africa and parts of Asia will require significant expansion of the provision of essential services for children. These challenges are compounded by the scale and complexity of crises triggered by conflict, natural disasters or epidemics. The global community faces these challenges when the political and economic environments pose challenges of their own, testing the world’s commitment to protecting the most vulnerable. In this environment, strong and consistent leadership of UNICEF is critical to enable the achievement of results for children.
Job Organizational Context
The situation in Afghanistan remains exceptionally complex, with a protracted emergency situation, characterized by recurrent natural disasters, an increased number of people living in poverty, continued internal displacement, unprecedented levels of food insecurity, further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. This complexity has greatly impacted the situation of children and women in the country. The withdrawal of United States military forces from Afghanistan in August 2021 and the establishment of a de-facto government by the Taliban has exacerbated the complexity and uncertainty of the situation. UNICEF is required to rapidly adapt our ways of working to address the multiple operational constraints present in the highly volatile and unpredictable context. This includes the need to establish a Programme Management Unit that will provide operational and transactional capacity to the Afghanistan Country Office to ensure urgent lifesaving and resilience building programmes can continue.
The Project Management Unit (PMU), through its Cash and Incentives Team and Beneficiary Data Management Team, supports the nationwide implementation of several types of cash transfer programmes, including:
Monthly incentive payments for frontline service providers, including teachers and Polio Front Line Workers;
• Humanitarian Cash Transfer programmes, such as the Mother and Child Cash Transfer programme and Winterization assistance; and
• Ad hoc cash transfer interventions developed in response to the programming needs of the Afghanistan Country Office’s Programme Sections.
The Beneficiary Data Management Team provides information management, and systems support to facilitate effective programme operations, strengthen data management processes, and promote evidence-based decision-making across the PMU and Programme Sections.
Purpose for the Job
The Project Management Unit’s Information Management Officer (Beneficiary Data) will be based in Kabul and report directly to the Programme Specialist (Beneficiary Data). The incumbent will support the PMU Beneficiary Data Management Team in delivering effective and secure beneficiary data management services.
The position will contribute to the implementation of Humanitarian Cash Transfer and Incentive Payment projects through partner capacity-building, beneficiary data processing and management, and the administration of relevant information systems.
The Information Management Officer will work closely with the PMU and Programme Sections across the Afghanistan Country Office and, where required, coordinate with ACO Field Offices and other relevant stakeholders. This position will contribute directly to UNICEF’s transformative work by:
• Ensuring the effective, accurate, and secure management of beneficiary data;
• Supporting beneficiary registration, verification, data cleaning, payment preparation, reconciliation, and monitoring;
• Strengthening partners’ capacity to implement beneficiary data management processes;
• Supporting project information management, analysis, reporting, and dashboard development;
• Contributing to the administration, maintenance, and improvement of information management systems; and
• Supporting the Programme Specialist (Beneficiary Data) and acting on their behalf when required at the duty station.
In carrying out the work defined in this assignment, the IMO (Beneficiary Data) will ensure full compliance with UNICEF’s Data Protection Policy, security requirements, data quality, and actionable insights to support the effectiveness and efficiency in the team.
Summary of Key Functions/Accountabilities:
Under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist (Beneficiary Data), the Information Management Officer (Beneficiary Data) [NO-B] will perform the following key functions and accountabilities:
1. Provide direct support to Partners and UNICEF users of data systems
1.1. Train Implementing Partners and UNICEF users to perform their respective roles and
functions in relevant data systems, including HOPE, InForm, Kobo, and other applicable platforms.
1.2. Provide first-level support in response to user questions, incidents, and technical support requests.
1.3. Assess and prioritize user support requests and escalate complex or high-priority cases to the Beneficiary Data Specialist for consideration and follow-up.
1.4. Ensure that all tasks performed within the relevant data systems meet established quality standards and are completed accurately and on time.
1.5. Maintain an updated list of Afghanistan Country Office users, roles, and access rights across relevant data systems, and facilitate the required review and endorsement by ACO management.
2. Third-party monitoring and beneficiary registration
2.1. Support the design of third-party verification exercises when existing beneficiary lists are received from external sources.
2.2. Provide oversight and technical support to beneficiary registration exercises, including testing registration questionnaires, supporting field piloting, and accompanying partner enumerators where required.
2.3. Conduct regular data quality assessments, identify bottlenecks and weaknesses in registration and verification processes, and propose appropriate corrective actions.
3. Beneficiary data processing
3.1. Implement targeting methodologies developed by the relevant ACO Programme Sections and conduct accuracy and consistency checks on the resulting target populations.
3.2. Support users of relevant data systems in preparing target populations, cash plans, and other required programme datasets.
3.3. Support users in designing and preparing payment verification exercises and coordinate data collection with Third-Party Monitors, Implementing Partners, SBC/CFM teams, and other relevant stakeholders through RapidPro, HOPE, Kobo, InForm, or field-based surveys.
4. Information management, analysis, and team support
4.1. Support the design, development, and regular updating of data visualizations and dashboards in Power BI.
4.2. Conduct data analysis and prepare reports, summaries, and other information products to support programme monitoring, planning, reporting, and evidence-based decision-making.
4.3. Contributes to the optimization, standardization, and innovation of Data Team processes to improve operational efficiency, data quality, and service delivery.
4.4. Support the Programme Specialist (Beneficiary Data) in coordinating the Data Team’s activities and acting on their behalf at the duty station when required.
5. Data protection
5.1. Support the implementation of UNICEF’s data protection policies and requirements across all levels and among all partners using beneficiary data systems.
5.2. Support the preparation, review, and follow-up of Non-Disclosure Agreements with Financial Service Providers, Third-Party Monitors, Implementing Partners, and other relevant stakeholders.
5.3. Monitor the implementation of recommendations arising from Data Protection Impact Assessments and follow up on identified actions and risk mitigation measures.
