Consultancy: UNICEF Innovation Open Source Mentor (remote, part-time) [closes 29 July 2020]

Hi, I am sharing on this opportunity which opened today. Full details below:


Consultancy: Open Source Software Mentor, Office of Innovation, remote, part-time, max 30 days within 6 months

About position

Fintech for Impact is a pilot investment focused on investigating potential financial and banking solutions to benefit youth and families in the Philippines. We’ll be making up to 6 equity-free investments of up to $100k in for-profit technology startups that show potential for significant social impact through the development of financial technology (fintech). UNICEF is investing in fintech for positive social impact as part of our contribution to the growing collection of open source digital public goods (which includes open source software, standards, content and data) that will help accelerate attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals in low- and middle-income countries.

Responsibilities

The Office of Innovation is looking for an Open Source Software Mentor to focus on supporting and advising portfolio companies, providing support in the assessment of new companies, and offering technical guidance in support of the Digital Public Goods Alliance. *DPGs are defined as open-source digital products can be freely used, distributed and adapted by anyone, and conform to minimum standards, for instance related to privacy and security.

  • Technical Assistance: Provide ongoing technical assistance to Fintech for Impact portfolio companies; assist the teams in working through challenges, refer them to additional resources, ensure compliance and track progress with Fintech for Impact/Innovation Fund requirements on software and open source. Provide support for assessment processes for the Digital Public Goods Alliance, as required.
  • Open Source Support: Work with lead OS advisor to develop, document, and implement a replicable process to build, manage and leverage open source communities and networks for portfolio companies
  • Cohort Collaboration: Guide technical integration and establishment of open source platforms based on individual solutions developed by portfolio companies
  • Assessment Support: Provide support in the assessment of new companies the UNICEF is considering investing in
  • Metrics Assessment: Provide ongoing support in the development of metrics that help track and evaluate the growth of digital public goods
  • Sustainability: Explore partnerships and long-term hosting and support options for platforms post-investment period

Qualifications

  • A minimum of three years of progressively responsible professional work experience in relevant field: open source technology development, piloting, and community building (see below).
  • Significant experience in developing and piloting open source technology products, ideally software, data, and content
  • Experience with open source community development and track record of engagement with relevant networks

[…]


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About UNICEF

UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives.

The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection, where an organization that works on huge global issues meets the startup thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions.

UNICEF’s Office of Innovation creates opportunities for the world’s children by focusing on where new markets can meet their vital needs. We do this by:

  • Connecting youth communities (or more broadly – anyone disconnected or under-served) to decision-makers, and to each other, to deliver informed, relevant and sustained programmes that build better, stronger futures for children.
  • Provoking change for children through an entrepreneurial approach – in a traditionally risk-averse field – to harness rapidly moving innovations and apply them to serve the needs of all children.
  • Creating new models of partnership that leverage core business values across the public, private and academic sectors in order to deliver fast, and lasting results for children.

The Office of Innovation specifically looks to form partnerships around frontier technologies (like drones and UAVs, blockchain, 21st century skills, urban technologies, new financial tools, wearables and sensors, or 3D-Printing) that exist at the intersection of $100 billion business markets and 1 billion person needs - and to identify how they can grow and scale profitably and inclusively.

UNICEF Innovation Fund

The UNICEF Innovation Fund has been specifically designed to finance early stage, open-source technology that can benefit children. The core motivation of the Innovation Fund is to identify “clusters” or portfolios of initiatives around emerging technology - so that UNICEF can both shape markets and also learn about and guide these technologies to benefit children. We invest in solutions that can impact the lives of the most vulnerable children. We find these solutions clustered around $100 billion industries in frontier technology spaces, such as: UAVs, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, nano-satellites, and human dynamics. With $29M raised to date, the Innovation Fund is scaling its investment portfolio with the aim of investing in 20 start-ups every year. The current portfolio of 39 companies consists of several cohorts of companies developing and piloting solutions in virtual and augmented reality, data science and artificial intelligence, blockchain, UAVs, IoT, and in assistive technology.


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3 Likes

Hello, Justin.

What is the process of reviewing applications there? I submitted the application on 16th of July and there was an automated letter on that day saying.

UNICEF will review your application and you will be contacted directly should any additional information be required.

Four months have passed, the job has gone from the website, I haven’t got contacted, and my application is in Application acknowledgement status.

image

  • Was anyone hired for this role?
  • What does the Application acknowledgement status mean and what would be the next step?
  • Is there a source code for this app?

I want to get some answers, because it is not clear if the application system/process works to try other opportunities. These projects look very interesting. Just waiting that long is not sustainable.

I’ve just received the reply from UNICEF.

For somebody who is planning to apply to UNICEF positions take a note that it could takes 5 months to consider the application.

@jwf having a live queue in job application software can greatly improve the waiting experience. )

The letter in full if somebody is interested.

Dear Mr Babenia,

Thank you for your interest and recent application for the position of Consultancy: Open Source Software Mentor, Office of Innovation, remote, part-time, max 30 days within 6 months with UNICEF.

We regret to inform you that following an extensive review, another candidate has been selected for the position.

We would like to retain your details on file, should another opportunity arises in the near future; however, please let us know if you would prefer not to have your details held on our database.

Again, we are pleased that you considered UNICEF as a prospective employer and encourage you to apply for any other positions advertised that may be of interest to you.

We wish you every success in your career.

Sincerely,

Division of Human Resources

UNICEF