Consultancy - Global Lead - SPARK Innovation Award, Office of Innovation,Helsinki, 12 months (Remote/Work from home)

Contract Duration: 12 months

Working arrangement: Home-based

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.

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide strategic, operational, and community leadership for SPARK globally, positioning it as UNICEF’s flagship innovation platform for identifying, developing, and supporting high-potential innovations and teams. The consultant will be responsible for stewarding the successful delivery and continued development of the annual SPARK Innovation Award, the SPARK Accelerator for UNICEF Country Offices and implementing partners, SPARK Week as UNICEF’s annual flagship innovation event, global innovation culture programming, community and partnership development, portfolio governance and learning, automated digital systems for mentorship and community engagement, and resource mobilisation and strategic positioning. Through this assignment, the consultant will help ensure that SPARK strengthens UNICEF’s pipeline of innovative solutions, supports high-performing teams, and contributes to UNICEF’s longer-term innovation capacity across countries, regions, and headquarters.

Under the supervision of the Innovation Manager (Systems & Services), the consultant will provide targeted advisory, mentoring, and quality assurance support, aligned with the resource coverage model. The scope includes:

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the Terms of Reference here:  ToR Global Lead Spark TMS.pdf

• Systems thinking
• Innovation leadership
• Human-centered design
• Strategic communication
• Community building
• Portfolio management
• Partnership development
• Facilitation and coaching
• Learning and adaptive management

• Minimum 12+ years of relevant experience
• Experience leading innovation, accelerator, entrepreneurship, transformation, or design programmes
• Experience managing global and multi-stakeholder initiatives
• Experience building communities and partnerships
• Demonstrated ability to lead strategic programmes and deliver measurable results
• UN experience is an asset

Prior experience designing or managing innovation awards, accelerators, challenge funds, or venture-style support programmes is highly desirable. Experience supporting innovation teams from idea development through testing, evidence generation, scale-readiness and partnership development would be an asset, as would experience building mentor networks, communities of practice, innovation events, demo days, or learning journeys for diverse internal and external audiences. Familiarity with UNICEF country office programming, resource mobilisation, and digital collaboration or automation tools would also be an advantage.

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.

• An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter 
• A separate financial proposal  Financial proposal Global Lead SPARK Innovation Award .xlsx

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.

Advertised: 24 Aug 2026 FLE Daylight Time
Applications close: 02 Sep 2026 FLE Daylight Time

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