Senior Manager (Supply Financing), Copenhagen

UNICEF - United Nations Children’s Fund; København; On-site; DKK 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

UNICEF is seeking a Senior Manager (Supply Financing) to lead the VII and related financing tools, ensuring timely provision of essential supplies through strong forecasting, budgeting, and risk management. The role requires collaboration with UNICEF SD units and external partners to optimize capital use.

You will build strategic partnerships, originate financing transactions, develop risk strategies, and guide a multi-disciplinary team to deliver impactful results across diverse country

Qualifications

• Master or equivalent in Finance, Economics, Business Administration or related field.
• At least 10 years in managerial roles with financing instruments and markets.
• Experience with donor engagement and domestic resource mobilization.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for the VII and other financing tools.
• Expand VII adoption and bridge financing to improve timely delivery of supplies.
• Identify financing opportunities with country and market perspectives.
• Originate transactions and negotiate terms with countries and suppliers.
• Develop risk management strategies and oversee capital utilization.
• Lead a team to execute transactions and manage risks.

Skills

Financial modeling

Leadership

Negotiation

Strategic analysis

Policy influence

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Master’s degree in Finance / Economics / Business Administration

Tools

PowerPoint

Office applications

Job description

Job no: 595366
Position type: Fixed Term Appointment
Location: Denmark
Division/Equivalent: Field Results Group
School/Unit: Copenhagen
Department/Office: Supply Division, COPENHAGEN
Categories: Supply Management

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.

For every child, the right to a Future

How can you make a difference

The purpose of this position is to provide leadership and oversight management to SD’s portfolio of supply financing tools to support the timely availability of affordable essential supplies. Timely access requires good forecasting, planning, and adequate budgeting, financing, and execution on that financing. However, funding delays, market constraints, and other factors jeopardize systematic access and are a leading cause of commodity stockouts in countries. The position will lead the deployment of pre-financing interventions to help bridge these short-term funding gaps and deploy risk financing to improve access and market dynamics of these supply of critical essential commodities supplies. The position will oversee UNICEF’s main tool for supply pre-financing and other supply financing interventions, the Vaccine Independence Initiative (VII), which is deployed to improve access to vaccines and other non-immunization commodities

The Senior Manager (Supply Financing) has the overall strategic leadership of the VII and other financing tools and will:

• Building upon a well-established foundation and risk management process, take VII to the next level in terms of professionalization and sustainability.
• Lead the internal and external work on expansion of VII and other bridge financing tools with the objective of helping improve operational timeliness for the provision of essential commodities and/or market dynamics, and improved domestic resource mobilization
• Identify opportunities from both a country financing and market dynamics perspective that would benefit from a financing intervention, including by engaging with respective UNICEF SD business units and external partners.
• Originate transactions from both a country-facing and markets-facing perspective which will utilize the VII and VII-enabled transactions, including on design and negotiation of terms with countries and suppliers.
• Develop and pursue a smart risk management strategies, including with active recovery efforts for executed transactions to protect the VII capital base.
• Oversee & monitor capital base utilization to optimize use for financing and reporting.
• Manage a team that seamlessly executes on transactions and actively manages risks and opportunities.
• Manage forecasting of demand for pre-financing and other financing interventions.
• Coordinate the underwriting process and financial management of country-subscriptions (including efficient credit line applications and VII action plans are followed), ad hoc prefinancings special contracting ensuring the good stewardship of the VII.
• Provide technical advice, guidance and design improved operational processes and systems improvements to ensure supply financing activities are compliant to UNICEF FRR, applicable financing agreements, and overall operational efficiency.
• Lead day-to-day resource mobilization activities with donors and financing partners the VII.
• Work with external partners (including other UN agencies) as a thought leader and collaborator on initiatives which can leverage VII’s capabilities and support the strengthening of domestic resource mobilization activities.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Finance, Economics, Business Administration or other related fields.
• Work Experience: At least 10 years of progressively responsible managerial experience in complex and large operations involving planning and operation of financing initiatives and tools, (for example) loan facilities, revolving funds, credit facilities and sovereign financing and/or other supply financing or alternative financing instruments for supplies or services. Demonstrated experience in markets, market dynamics and/or analysis for health supplies.
• A proven track record of creating transactions, articulating the required terms that justify the risk, as well as articulating when impact doesn’t justify the opportunity cost or financial risk.
• Demonstrated experience in engaging with countries on the mobilization of domestic resources and/or credit recovery processes.
• Skills: Computer skills, including preparation of power point presentations, draft written documents for senior leadership audience and various office applications. Well-developed financial modeling expertise. Ability to apply sound judgment and a proven track record of having sourced, executed, managed, and exited multiple financing deals. Knowledge of current trends, practices in specialized financing field of UN/UNICEF work. High level of leadership, analytical and negotiation skills. Ability to articulate and conceptualize ideas and influence policies, strategies and priorities. Ability to express clearly and concisely, ideas and supply financing concepts in written and oral form. Strong problem solving orientation. Ability to plan, co-ordinate and manage multiple supply financing activities. Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships
• Language Requirements: Proficiency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
• Experience with reviewing procurement strategies particularly of vaccines is an added advantage.
• Experience in UN/UNICEF or other development agencies or Private Sector including: Capacity to diagnose and resolve multiple, concurrent problems; a conceptual and strategic analytical capacity.
• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

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

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

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 a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation 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 .

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 promoting 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 are conditional on the selected candidates willingness to comply with current or future vaccination requirements, should UNICEF mandate it for personnel. Failure to comply with such requirements, where applicable and without a duly approved medical exemption from the relevant UN authority, will result in the cancellation of the selection or may lead to other administrative measures, including separation from service.

Remarks:

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. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates are encouraged to apply.

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.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here .

Advertised: Aug 26 2026 Romance Daylight Time
Application close: Sep 29 2026 Romance Daylight Time