Budget Officer, P2, Hargeisa, Somalia

Contract

This is a P-2 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 2 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 57,661 USD and 78,318 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, hope.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Chief Education (P5), the Budget Officer (P2) will provide technical support to programme budget preparation, monitoring, reporting and analysis to facilitate the achievement of education programme results and therein to improve children’s learning outcomes within equitable and inclusive education systems. The Budget Officer will provide dedicated support to ensuring the effective and efficient implementation of budgetary processes, within the context of a large programme which has significant engagement within the humanitarian response. This technical expertise will further contribute to strengthening the financial management capacities of programme associate staff, both within UNICEF as well as within partner organisations and therein contributing to risk management of HACT implementation in Somalia.

1. Programme Budget Development, Planning and Review

▪ Assist in the preparation of the education programme’s mid-term CPD review process, with documentation and recommendations through financial analysis and budget projections.

▪ Prepare and review documentation relating to the education programme partnership implementation plans, particularly as related to the humanitarian response. Ensure that programme strategies and plans are complemented by results-based budgeting.

▪ Facilitate the review and preparation of Education Programme Work Plans and associated budgets through results-based budgeting processes.

▪ Lead in the preparation of a fund allocation plan for the education programme sector based on the resource envelope and donor conditionality and ensure timely allocation of funds.

▪ Coordinate with the Program staff in the planning and forecasting of budget needs (including cross-sectoral budget contribution allocation) and tracking tool to ensure that sufficient funds from the appropriate sources (and in line with donor conditions) are allocated to ensure proper and timely implementation of programmatic activities.

▪ Participate in strategic programme discussions on the planning of the UNICEF Education Programme and in particular relating to the humanitarian response planning within the Education Programme portfolio.

▪ Work closely and collaboratively with internal colleagues and external partners to discuss programme funding requirements and financial management strategies, to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.

▪ Provide technical budget management support throughout all stages of programming processes to ensure achievement of results as planned and allocated.

▪ Provide technical and administrative support in executing and administering technical programme transactions, preparing materials and documentations, and observing the organizational compliance systems to support programme planning, rights & result-based management, monitoring and evaluation of results.

2. Grant Management, Monitoring and Reporting

▪ Monitor financial execution of resources allocated to the education programme, with analysis disaggregated by fund source, cost center and Results Structure components for tracking within weekly and monthly section meetings.

▪ Coordinate within the Education Programme on incoming funds, grants, extension and adjustments as well as reallocations, with close monitoring of grant conditionality and deviations.

▪ Ensuring the timely allocation of programme funds following Grant Opening processes and in line with grant conditionalities and results structures.

▪ Assist the education programme in allocation and reallocation of funding to maximize the efficiency of the programme’s fund utilization towards results. Conduct regular review and reconciliation of grants, providing analysis across key performance management indicators.

▪ Support mid and end of year grant adjustment procedures as required. Alert the programme colleagues on low utilization and recommend budget reallocation based on the trend analysis

▪ Build and sustain effective working partnerships with localized government counterparts, civil society organizations and education stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results.

▪ Support in verification of completeness of partnership budget documents and provide needful technical assistance to meet office requirements.

▪ Generate fund utilization reports and present analysis for the optimal utilization of resources with focus on supporting full utilization of expiring grants.

▪ Monitor commitments and expenditures to ensure timely, accurate and appropriate grant information is provided on programme budget, allocations, commitments, expenditures and projections and with the aim to ensure delays, errors and discrepancies are detected and corrected.

▪ Ensure that funds are only used for the purposes agreed and in line with project proposals and donor conditions, including by tracking support for cross-cutting programs and operations.

▪ Keep budget owners and section colleagues informed on DCT status and utilization rates and make recommendations for corrective action as required.

▪ Work closely with UNICEF partnership & HACT units in ensuring due diligence and compliance issues of education programme implementing partners are sufficiently addressed and government and CSO partners meet compliance procedures and standards.

▪ Monitor status of implementation of follow-up actions related to high-priority findings and observations from HACT assurance activities and financial spot-checks and audits.

▪ Process transactions in VISION in accordance with organizational policies and procedures.

3. Capacity Building on Budget Management

▪ Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of government/CSO partners and stakeholders in budget planning, execution and monitoring. Conduct short orientation/training sessions, including refresher trainings, on processes, RBM principles, fund management systems and tools, use of VISION, as necessary.

▪ Coordinate the preparation of the education programme HACT plan, monitor assurance activities as per the HACT protocol and advice colleagues in the section for compliance. Prepare training materials and conduct exercises pertaining to HACT related processes and procedures for implementing partners. Utilize the findings of micro assessments and spot checks within capacity building activities and other risk control measures.

▪ Contribute to identifying, capturing, synthesizing, and sharing lessons learned for knowledge development and capacity development of stakeholders.

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

• A university degree in one of the following fields is required: accounting, budgeting, administration, auditing or other directly relevant technical field.
• A minimum of [2 years] of relevant professional experience in in accounting, budgeting and project administration is required.
• Experience in undertaking analysis from and transactions with UNICEF’s VISION financial management system
• Solid experience in grant management/funds management
• Solid understanding of administration and financial management
• Flexible work attitude: ability to work productively independently, and to handle requests or issues as they arise.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to successfully and effectively liaise with people in a wide range of functions in a multi-cultural environment.
• Advanced computer literacy and the ability to effectively use standard office software tools (MS Excel, SharePoint, Enterprise database) and other office technology to create financial analytical products
• Proficiency in using UNICEF SAP/ERP systems (SAP VISION) is mandatory
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

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

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. 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. 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.

Remarks:

Eligible UNICEF National Officer (NO) and General Service (GS) Staff Members on fixed-term, continuing or permanent contracts applying to this TA may be able to retain a lien on their existing post for the duration of this TA.

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable [female candidates] are encouraged to apply.

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

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government 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 only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/”

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.