The Position:
The Strategic Engagement Advisor is located in the Malawi Country Office (CO) and reports to the Representative. S/he leads the Policy, Population and Data Unit of the Country Office in coordination with all programmatic thematic units and staff to advance UNFPA’s upstream work on demographic change, population dynamics, sustainable financing, and evidence-based development planning.
S/he contributes directly to the operationalization of the UNFPA Strategic Plan 2026–2029, particularly Outcome 4: adaptation to demographic change through evidence-based and rights-based policies. contributes directly to the operationalization of the UNFPA Strategic Plan 2026–2029, particularly Outcome 4: adaptation to demographic change through evidence-based and rights-based policies
S/he establishes and maintains collaborative relationships with counterparts in government, parliamentarians, multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, UN agencies, civil society, local authorities, academia and the private sector to ensure that population dynamics inform national development planning, demographic intelligence guides policy development and implementation, and sustainable financing supports population and SRHR investments
S/he should effectively influence counterparts from diverse backgrounds to contribute to achieving four strategic outcomes of the UNFPA Strategic Plan using population data and demographic intelligence and the implementation of the Government of Malawi and UNFPA 9th Country programme.
The role positions UNFPA as a thought leader and strategic partner to governments in addressing demographic change as a driver of inclusive and sustainable development.
How you can make a difference:
UNFPA is the lead United Nations agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is intended, every childbirth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled. The UNFPA Strategic Plan for 2026-2029 articulates the organization’s response to a complex global environment, providing a roadmap for resilience and renewal. It is designed to accelerate the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. This mandate is pursued through a focus on four interconnected outcomes: ending the unmet need for family planning; ending preventable maternal deaths; ending gender-based violence, harmful practices and HIV; and adapting to demographic change through evidence and rights-based policies.
In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.
UNFPA is seeking candidates who transform, inspire, and deliver high-impact and sustained results and ensure effective external relations, communications, and partnership-building and resource mobilization in a rapidly changing development and funding landscape. We need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them, and who commit to delivering excellence in programme results
All staff of UNFPA Malawi will contribute towards achieving the objectives of 9th Country Programme Document (Malawi CPD [2024-2028]) which responds to the Malawi 2063 Vision and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), 2024-2028 among others and to accelerate progress towards the three UNFPA strategic plan outcomes.
Job Purpose:
In line with the existing gaps in adolescent girls and young women’s SRHR status, 9th Country programme prioritizes the health and well-being of adolescent girls, including by improving access to adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights and increasing the agency and empowerment of adolescents to reduce gender-based violence and harmful practices, including child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and HIV prevention, among others.
The Advisor provides strategic leadership across three mutually reinforcing areas: Population policy and demographic intelligence, Sustainable financing for population and SRHR, Strategic engagement and policy advocacy. The Advisor ensures that population data and evidence inform national policy dialogue, development planning, and financing strategies, while strengthening UNFPA’s strategic positioning with government and partners. The Advisor also oversees the Policy, Population and Data Unit, strengthening UNFPA’s capacity to generate and apply demographic intelligence for programme impact.
In Coordination with the Representative, the Strategic Engagement Advisor supports the Deputy Representative to use population data and demographic intelligence to design, develop, and management an innovative and responsive country programme and to build a programme team, inspiring it to translate the regional and country goals into specific solutions and results.
You would be responsible for:
A. Strategic policy leadership
Lead UNFPA engagement to integrate population dynamics into national development planning.
- Lead high level policy dialogue with Government counterparts,UN and other development partners to facilitate the incorporation of UNFPA’s programme priorities and ICPD agenda into national policies, strategies and plans, UN systems initiatives and development and humanitarian frameworks (CCA, UNSDCF, HNA, HRP).
- Leads the translation of global and regional frameworks and strategies using Utilises population data, trends and demographic intelligence to inform country specific strategies, creates and delivers effective evidence-based advocacy messages to promote UNFPA’s programme goals taking into account political and social sensitivities.
- Provides support to programme teams in tracking Malawi’s commitments to global, regional and national frameworks related to UNFPA’s agenda.
- Utilizes population data, demographic trends and demographic intelligence to inform policy dialogue, strategic planning and evidence-based advocacy on population dynamics and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and strengthens accountability mechanisms to track national commitments and progress toward the ICPD Programme of Action and UNFPA Strategic Plan outcomes.
- Utlilises population data, demographic trends and demographic intelligence to advocate for evidence informed policies and strategies engaging government ministries, parliamentarians, multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, UN agencies, civil society, religious leaders, local authorities, the private sector and media to advocate for the advancement of universal access to comprehensive SRHR, GBV prevention and response, and population dynamics.
- Utlilises population data, demographic trends and demographic intelligence to inform the development of white papers, briefing notes, policy briefs and infographics and other products, by considering the targeted audience.
- Represents UNFPA in strategic forums to position the ICPD agenda and the four strategic outcomes under the UNFPA mandate.
B. Demographic Intelligence, Data and Foresight
Provide strategic leadership on population data systems and demographic analysis.
Responsibilities include:
- Oversee support to the Government of Malawi in undertaking national census, population based surveys, civil registration and vital statistics systems including brokering the provision of technical assistance, resource mobilisation, use of digital technologies and knowledge-sharing.
- Oversee support to the Government of Malawi in strengthening harmonized national information systems, relevant national sectoral data systems including National Health Management Information System, Gender-based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS).
- Advocate, promote, and strengthen national capacity to gather, analyse and use disaggregated data to inform the development of policies, programmes, track progress in achieving global, continental and regional commitments.
- Promote demographic foresight and gathering of demographic intelligence to advocate for Malawi to make investments in youth so that Malawi can benefit from the first demographic transition in the future.
- Support the integration of migration policies within the range of possible solutions to address demographic change, informed by disaggregated migration data, and to ensure that planning reflects the rights and needs of migrants, displaced people and host communities, including in access to SRH services.
- On climate change and humanitarian crisis support the Government of Malawi to use demographic and geospatial data to assess vulnerability, plan for mobility and integrate SRHR and gender equality into climate adaptation strategies.
C. Sustainable Financing and Public Investment
Lead UNFPA engagement on sustainable financing for population and SRHR programmes.
Responsibilities include:
- Lead efforts to engage government, international financial institutions and the private sector to expand and mobilize sustainable financing for achieving the ICPD Programme of Action, the SDG targets and accelerate progress towards SRHRR.
- Work with the other UN entities and International Financial Institutions to provide technical assistance to address persistent financing gaps through innovative financing Modalities.
- Undertake periodic budget and expenditure analysis, investment case studies and cost of inaction studies to advocate for leveraging public finance, including domestic budget allocations and public investments frameworks to ensure that SRHR, gender equality and population change are meaningfully resourced in national policies and budgets.
- Lead development of policy briefs, analytical reports to integrate the four key outcomes of UNFPA into national budgets and public investment frameworks.
D. Political engagement and advocacy
Strengthen partnerships and promote evidence-based advocacy.
- Ensure the strategic collection, analysis and use of population data, demographic and political intelligence to inform the development of evidence based advocacy strategies, policies and sectoral strategies and approaches to advance the four key outcomes of the UNFPA Strategic Plan. This includes the development of policy briefs, briefing notes, white papers, analytical reports and demographic profiles.
- Develop and implement a political engagement strategy and broker policy and political engagements with key stakeholders including the Ministries of Finance, Economic Planning and Development; Ministry of Health. Ministry of Education, Ministry of Gender, International Finance Institutions, research institutions, development partners, key civil society actors, religious and cultural leaders on the four transformative results of UNFPA.
- Work in partnership with relevant UN agencies in Malawi to ensure a system wide and coordinated effort to strengthen evidence based national policies, data systems, population data and demographic intelligence, and to advocate for increased domestic financing, including supporting the development of the UNSDCF and participating in relevant Joint UN Structures as may be determined by the Resident Coordinator and the Representative of UNFPA,
- Collaborate with the Deputy Representative to provide strategic and policy support for drafting key UNFPA documents including the Country Programme Document, Resource Mobilisation Strategy, Advocacy and Partnership Frameworks.
- Supports the UNFPA team, including management, to continue advancing the ICPD agenda and the SDGs within UN and country dialogues and UN engagements.
- Promotes knowledge sharing and continuous learning, use of innovative technologies including to AI, testing, linking and documenting innovative strategies, approaches, lessons learned and best practices inside and outside UNFPA and replicating these strategies and approaches.
E. Management and Oversight
Provide strategic leadership and supervision for the Population and Data Unit.
Responsibilities include:
- Oversee and supervise the functions of key staff in the Policy, Population and Data Unit of UNFPA in Malawi.
- Provide strategic leadership, management and oversight of the unit including defining and upholding the purpose and mission of the unit, clarifying roles and responsibilities, providing regular guidance and timely guidance and coaching to team members under your supervision.
- Ensure that all new team members are inducted, are orientated on the policies and procedures of UNFPA, have completed all the relevant mandatory courses, assess their performance, regular communication with team members and promote a culture of .
- Ensure that work plans, budgets and progress reports for the Unit and Implementing Partners are developed timeously. In consultation with the Deputy Representative, actively participate in the implementation and monitoring of UNSDCF.
F. General Support
Carry out any other duties as may be required by UNFPA leadership.
Qualifications and Experience:
Education:
A completed Master’s Degree in Demography, Economics, population Studies, Public Policy, Political Science, Statistics, Development Studies, Public Health
Knowledge and Experience:
- At least 7 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in the field of policy development, demographic analysis, development and/or health economics, public financing, national development planning, policy development.
- Demonstrated experience in policy engagement and strategic dialogue with government institutions, particularly ministries responsible for planning, finance, health, or national statistical systems.
- Proven experience in using population data, demographic trends and analytical evidence to inform policy development, national planning processes and development strategies.;
- Experience supporting evidence-based policy advocacy and strengthening accountability mechanisms related to population dynamics, SRHR and development commitments.
- Demonstrated ability to engage with a wide range of stakeholders including government institutions, parliamentarians, UN agencies, development partners, civil society organizations and research institutions.
- Experience in developing policy briefs, analytical reports, or strategic think pieces, and talking points to inform decision-making and policy dialogue.
- Excellent interpersonal, communication, negotiation, and managerial skills required. Self-starter, proactive, passion for the issues;
- Significant work experience in the SRHR, Gender, Youth areas required. Working experience in Humanitarian context is an asset.
- Experience in programme/ project management including experience in large multi-sector programmes;
- Strong knowledge on Results Based Programming and budgeting:
- Excellent written and oral communication skills and experience with management of staff in multi-locations.
- A thorough understanding of the UN system in general, and especially UNFPA mandate, its policies and operations and current development topics and political issues in Malawi.
- Working experience with Government, NGO, parliamentarians, Foundation, or private sector in Malawi.
- Demonstrated ability to work in and lead a team to achieve evidence-based results.
Languages:
- Fluency in oral and written English is required.
- Knowledge of local language is desired.
- Working knowledge of another UN Official Language, an asset.
Required Competencies:
Values:
- Exemplifying integrity,
- Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system,
- Embracing cultural diversity,
- Embracing change
Core Competencies:
- Achieving results,
- Being accountable,
- Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,
- Thinking analytically and strategically,
- Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,
- Communicating for impact
Functional Competencies:
- Organisational Leadership and direction
- Strategic Planning and Leadership
- Policy Advocacy and strategic engagement
- Population and Demographic analysis Data for development and evidence based programming Sustainable financing and Development Economics Partnerships and stakeholder engagement
- Knowledge management and Strategic Communication
- Proficiency in current office software applications
Managerial Competencies
- Providing Strategic Direction and Leadership
- Engaging in internal/external partners and stakeholders
- Leading, developing and empowering people, creating a culture of performance
- Making decisions and exercising judgement
- Driving innovation and adaptive management.
Compensation and Benefits:
This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.
UNFPA Work Environment:
UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here to learn more.
Disclaimer:
Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements.
UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts.
Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.
