Long-Term Agreement (LTA) for Individual Consultant as Behavioural Scientists, Social and Behaviour Change, Global Programme Division, Remote, Req # 593846

Background and Rationale

Evidence-based Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) programming is central to UNICEF’s mandate to improve outcomes for children and communities. Achieving lasting behaviour change requires systematic understanding of the psychological, social, cultural, and structural factors that shape how people make decisions and act. Behavioural science offers a rigorous toolkit to diagnose drivers of behaviour, design interventions that move them, and measure change in ways that hold up to scrutiny. As UNICEF SBC programming continues to scale across health, nutrition, education, child protection, WASH, Social Policy and climate resilience, the need for specialised behavioural-science expertise has become increasingly critical.

The UNICEF SBC Functional Capabilities Mapping 2025 identified behavioural science as an area of insufficient internal capacity across the organisation. Teams consistently report challenges in conducting rigorous behavioural diagnosis, designing and testing evidence-based interventions, applying advanced analytical methods to programme data, and translating behavioural findings into actionable programme decisions.

The behavioural-science field is also undergoing a methodological broadening. Traditional knowledge–attitude–practice approaches have given way to a richer toolkit grounded in behavioural economics, social psychology, decision science, and implementation science, increasingly augmented by computational methods including machine learning, large language models, agent-based simulation, network and geospatial analysis, and adaptive experimentation. UNICEF needs reliable access to consultants who are fluent across both traditions and can pick the right tool for the question at hand.

The objective is to establish Long-Term Agreements for Services with qualified individual consultants to provide on-demand behavioural science support to UNICEF Country Offices, Regional Offices, and Centres of Excellence across the full programme cycle through Research, Design, and Evaluation in both Core and Computational modes, as well as Advisory services covering translation, capacity-building, and decision-maker support required for most assignments.

Purpose

The purpose of these Terms of Reference is to establish Long-Term Agreements for Services with individual consultants who can provide UNICEF with reliable, on-demand technical support in behavioural science for SBC programming. Selected consultants will be eligible for a Long-Term Agreement to provide on-demand technical support to UNICEF Centres of Excellence (CoEs), Country Offices, Regional Offices, and other offices as required. The services of consultants selected under the Long-Term Agreements may also be made available to other UN agencies. Long-Term Agreements are non-binding arrangements that do not constitute a commitment to acquire a consultant’s services.

Objective

UNICEF’s behavioural-science work is empirical, methodologically plural, and context-sensitive. It favours designs that yield credible causal evidence, combines quantitative, qualitative, and computational methods to suit the question at hand, and grounds interpretation in the realities of the contexts that children, caregivers, frontline workers, and decision-makers are navigating. Consultants engaged under this Long-Term Agreements will work alongside UNICEF teams globally to generate behavioural evidence, design interventions, and advise decision-makers in ways that inform operational, programmatic, and policy decisions, strengthening the quality, cost-effectiveness, and scalability of programming across sectors.

The Scope of Work is organised across four primary categories — Research, Design, Evaluation, and Advisory — each comprising one or two methodological sub-categories: Core (established behavioural-science methods) and, where applicable, Computational (computational, AI-augmented, and algorithmic methods). Advisory is principally human-centred and is presented as Core only.

The remainder of this section lists the tasks UNICEF expects consultants to be able to deliver across these seven cells. A given commission will draw on a subset of cells; no single consultant is expected to cover all of them.

Consultants may need to travel to UNICEF offices for on-site or in-country support. Consultants will need to make their travel arrangements and will be reimbursed for travel costs and subsistence allowance in line with and limited to those payable by UNICEF. The payment of travel costs shall be limited to economy class air travel, regardless of the length of travel. Airfare and terminal expenses will be paid upon completion of each duty travel against the invoices.

The Long-Term Agreement will be for a duration of three years. The services of the consultants selected under the LTA would also be made available to UNICEF Regional and Country offices.

The LTA to be signed will have a fixed fee rate reflecting deliverables and including daily fee. However, UNICEF does not guarantee that any quantity of services will be purchased during the term of the LTA as this will depend on forthcoming requests.

The consultant is expected to provide a quotation for the services he/she will provide as part of the application.

LTA Financial Proposal Template

Whenever consultancy services are required, details of the services will be presented according to the availability of the LTA holder.

Upon receipt of confirmation of availability and interest in the assignment, a contract will be issued with the prices/fees agreed in the LTA. The consultant must sign the contract prior to commencement of work.

Payment will be made after the completion of deliverables and submission of invoices for the actual work completed, subject to satisfactory performance.

The application to be submitted through the online portal should contain four separate attachments:

• A Cover letter explaining the motivation for applying and explaining how the qualifications and skillset of the candidate (to be uploaded online).
• Curriculum Vitae with named projects, roles, and links to portfolio or work examples where possible. (CV) (to be uploaded online).

Copies of educational qualifications (to be uploaded online).

• Any attempt to unduly influence UNICEF’s selection process will lead to automatic disqualification of the applicant.
• Joint applications of two or more individuals are not accepted.
• Please note, UNICEF does not charge any fee during any stage of the process.
• Active in more than 190 countries and territories through country programmes and National Committees. We are UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund.
• Persons from all gender, ethnicity, and religious background meeting the requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds including persons living with disabilities to apply.

• Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

Note: Candidates are free to apply to any category based on their qualifications and experience. They can also apply for multiple categories or all of them. A candidate may be awarded LTA for one or more than one category.

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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

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.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.