Knowledge Management Associate

Knowledge Management Associate

Host entity: UNICEF

Advertisement end date: 2026-11-08T00:00:00

General

Description of assignment title: Knowledge Management Associate

Assignment country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Duty stations: Sarajevo

Work location: On UN premises

Expected start date: 2027-02-01T00:00:00

Expected end date: 2028-02-01T00:00:00

Duration: 365 days

Sustainable Development Goal: 10. Reduced inequalities

Modality: Onsite

Type: International

Volunteer category: International Associate Premise Fulltime LongTerm

Work schedule: -

For how many hours per week will the volunteer be required?: -

Number of Assignments: 1

Details

Mission and objectives

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.

Through 2018-2021 Strategic Plan, UNICEF’s work in education prioritizes equity – supporting all children regardless of their circumstances to have equal opportunities in education and learning – helping children secure basic skills such as literacy and numeracy and a wider range of skills. This includes paying particular attention to early learning, girls’ education, education for children with disabilities as well as education in emergencies and post-crisis context. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNICEF’s education programme is focused on the area of inclusive early learning, quality primary and secondary education and intercultural and inclusive education. In the area of inclusive early learning, the programme supports the continued expansion of preschool education programme.

Context

Every year, UNICEF in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its partners produce and gather a wealth of knowledge: evaluations, research and studies, data and statistics, field insights and lessons from programmes in health, education, child protection and social protection. Used well, this knowledge is one of the office's most powerful assets. It tells us what works, for whom, where and why, and helps us design better programmes, adapt them during implementation, and measure what really changes for children.

The Country Office is turning this knowledge into a living system: an Evidence Hub that is easy to search, connected across sectors, and analyzed to shape programme design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. A particular focus is on the children most at risk of being left behind, such as Roma children, children with disabilities, girls and children in rural areas, who are often the least visible in existing evidence and data.

The assignment is fully funded by the Czech Republic and builds on shared priorities under the Czech Development Cooperation Programme with Bosnia and Herzegovina 2024–2030, including the inclusion of marginalized groups and persons with disabilities, gender equality, digital transformation and the country's EU integration. The UN Volunteer will help connect UNICEF's knowledge work with these priorities and with Czech partners in the country.

The UN Volunteer will join the Child Rights Monitoring and Evaluation team alongside two other UN Volunteers, with structured mentoring and a reporting line to the Child Rights Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist. It is a hands-on opportunity to learn how a UNICEF office generates and uses evidence, and to build skills in data analysis, digital knowledge tools and evaluation.

Task type

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Child Rights Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, the Knowledge Management Associate will undertake the following tasks:

Building the office’s knowledge system

• Supports the development and curation of the office’s SharePoint evidence repository, making UNICEF’s evaluation findings, research, studies, data and programme documentation easy to access and connected across sectors. Documents are tagged by theme, location and population group, including Roma children, children with disabilities, girls and children in rural areas.
• Contributes to mapping knowledge produced by institutions, United Nations agencies, academia and civil society, keeping an up-to-date picture of what is known about children in Bosnia and Herzegovina and where the gaps are, particularly for the most vulnerable groups.
• Turning knowledge into insights for better programming
• Assists in analyzing the office’s knowledge base to inform programme design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation, for example by synthesizing findings and recommendations across evaluations and studies, keeping an overview of evaluation recommendations and follow-up actions, and identifying recurring lessons and challenges.
• Contributes to analysis focused on the children most often left behind, such as reviewing what evidence exists and whether data are broken down by sex, disability, ethnicity or location, to help teams target interventions, select meaningful indicators and see where new evidence is needed.
• Assists in preparing short, engaging knowledge products, such as evidence snapshots, “what we know” briefs and data visualizations, for programme planning, mid-year and annual reviews, advocacy and donor reporting and external audiences.

Voices, innovation and partnerships

• Supports, together with programme colleagues, efforts to bring the voices of children, young people and communities into knowledge products, including by synthesizing feedback from U-Report polls, youth consultations and partner organizations, including Roma and disability organizations, in line with UNICEF ethical standards for evidence generation.
• Contributes to making selected external products accessible to the communities and external audiences they concern, such as plain-language, easy-to-read or child-friendly summaries, prepared with UNICEF colleagues and partners.
• Explores, with guidance, innovative knowledge management and analytics solutions, such as AI-assisted search and summarization in line with UNICEF guidance, simple dashboards (e.g., Power BI) and smarter ways of tagging and connecting evidence and helps pilot those that add value.
• Contributes to cooperation with the Embassy of the Czech Republic and Czech development partners in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by contributing to updates around common areas of interest (e.g., disability inclusion, Roma inclusion, maternal and child health) that could inform UNICEF’s work.
• Assists in organizing knowledge cafés, brown-bag sessions and other learning moments that bring colleagues together around evidence and strengthen its use in programming.

During the first month of the assignment, the UN Volunteer will work closely with his/her direct supervisor to finalize an agreed-upon work plan. The work plan should outline key objectives and activities and include regular check ins with the supervisor to review progress and receive performance feedback.

Eligibility criteria

Age: 18 - 80

Required experience: 1 month

Nationality: Candidate must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment.

Duration limit: Maximum years of service as an international UN Volunteer is 4 years.

Assignment requirements

Relevant experience: No experience required

Languages: English, Level: Fluent, Required; Bosnian, Level: Basic, Desirable; Croatian, Level: Basic, Desirable; Serbian, Level: Basic, Desirable

Required education level: Bachelor's degree Social Sciences, Public Policy, International Development, Information and Knowledge Management, Data Science, Statistics, Economics, Human Rights, or a related field. Coursework or research on social inclusion, child rights, or monitoring and evaluation would be an asset.

Area(s) of expertise: Communication, advocacy, public information, Community development

Driving license: -

Competencies and values

Adaptability and Flexibility

Building Trust

Commitment and Motivation

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Creativity

Ethics and Values

Knowledge Sharing

Planning and Organizing

Professionalism

Respect for Diversity

Technological Awareness

Working in Teams

Skills and experience

Demonstrated interest and/or experience in:

• Knowledge management, research, data analysis, or monitoring and evaluation;
• Using knowledge and evidence to support programming, advocacy or policy process-es, ideally with a focus on social inclusion or child rights;
• Contributing to knowledge products and/or communication materials based on data, research and evaluations;
• Supporting collaborative learning or knowledge sharing with public institutions, academia or civil society;
• Working with or for marginalized communities (e.g., Roma, persons with disabilities) would be an asset;
• Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded.

Skills in:

• Excellent written communication in English, with the ability to draft clear, engaging and user-friendly content for different audiences
• Curiosity and an analytical mindset, with the ability to extract key insights, patterns, lessons and programmatic implications from diverse documents, data and sources of evidence
• Synthesis: distilling large volumes of information into concise summaries, briefs and key messages
• Organization and digital tools: structuring and maintaining digital knowledge systems (e.g., SharePoint, repositories, knowledge libraries), with an interest in new digital and AI tools
• Inclusive communication and respect for diversity, presenting information in accessible formats, including for children and communities
• Assets: basic data analysis and visualization (e.g., Excel, Power BI); familiarity with monitoring and evaluation or results-based planning; familiarity with development co-operation or European Union accession processes

Living conditions and remarks

Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its largest urban centre, with an estimated population of around 370,000. The city lies along the Miljacka river, surrounded by the Dinaric Alps, and is known for its long tradition of religious and cultural diversity. It has a continental climate with warm summers and cold, often snowy winters, so warm winter clothing is needed. There are no administrative restrictions on international personnel travelling within or from the country.

Regular medical facilities are available, including two main hospitals and a number of private clinics. Banking services (credit cards, ATMs), domestic and international communications, and food, furnishings and other necessities are readily available. Public transport (tram, bus, trolleybus, taxi) is available, and the international airport is a 20-minute drive from the UN building. Public water supply, electricity and sewerage systems are in place.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is at United Nations Security Level 1 (minimal), the lowest level in the Security Level System, across the whole country including Sarajevo. The situation is generally calm; as elsewhere in Europe, personnel should take normal precautions against petty crime and traffic accidents. Some areas remain affected by landmines, so personnel are advised not to deviate from well-travelled routes and paths.

The Conditions of Service, available here: https://explore.unv.org/cos, outline the policies and rules governing UN Volunteer assignments. Full information on entitlements at the duty station can be accessed here: https://app.unv.org/calculator.

Additional eligibility criteria

This assignment is funded by the Government of the Czech Republic and therefore specific criteria apply:

• Only nationals of the Czech Republic can be considered.
• Candidates who already served on a UN Volunteer assignment funded by the Government of the Czech Republic are not eligible.

APPLICATION

• You may apply to a maximum of three assignments and indicate the order of preference in the ‘Additional remarks’ field when filling in the application form.

SELECTION

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. The selection will be done by the UN Host Entity at the level of the country of assignment.