Consultant: Cost Efficiency and Cost Effectiveness of Child Protection Case Management

About the role

UNICEF is seeking an individual consultant to generate evidence on the cost efficiency and cost effectiveness of child protection case management (CPCM) services in selected country contexts. The aim is to inform workforce planning, programme design, localization, scale-up, quality assurance and donor investment. The consultancy is remote, based in Amman, Jordan, and lasts 6 months.

Key responsibilities

• Determine the full costs of delivering CPCM services and calculate unit costs, including cost per child served and cost per case closed, per context.
• Identify the principal cost drivers and examine how caseloads, staffing structures, scale, operational context and the type of implementing entity (government, local community-based organization, INGO) affect costs and efficiency.
• Assess the relationship between programme investments and CPCM outcomes, and develop recommendations to improve value for money while maintaining scale and service quality.

Required profile

• Advanced university degree (Master's or higher) in Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Public Health or a related field.
• At least 8 years of experience in costing, economic evaluation or value-for-money analysis of humanitarian social protection or social service programmes.
• Experience conducting mixed-methods, multi-country research, including key informant interviews and analysis of financial and programme data.
• Proven experience working with UN agencies, governments, INGOs and local organizations.
• Fluency in English; working knowledge of French, Arabic or Spanish is an asset.

Required skills

• Activity-based costing, cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness analysis, including sensitivity modelling.
• Good technical understanding of child protection case management in humanitarian and displacement contexts.
• Strong analytical and writing skills, with a track record of research reports and policy briefs for donors and decision-makers.
• Desirable: previous costing work on child protection, case management or social service workforce programmes.

Candidates apply through the UNICEF online recruitment portal with an up-to-date profile and CV, a cover letter, a financial proposal in the provided template, and a short technical proposal (max. 3 pages) covering the costing methodology, cross-context comparison approach, workplan and an example of previous costing work. The advert was published on 4 November 2026 and closes on 18 November 2026.