Budget & Programming Officer CST

Finance & Economy

Overview

Support budget and resource analysis and programming activities.

You have:

• Advanced University degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics or other relevant field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses.
• At least 5 years progressive work experience in translating operational requirements into financial information.
• Fluency in English language. Intermediate knowledge of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or WFP's working language, Portuguese.
• Strong analytical, written and oral communication and interpersonal skills.

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WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status, physical or mental disability.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Despite the economic growth of the last decade, the level of food insecurity has been stagnant over the past five years in Armenia. Although the situation is improving for a large share of the population, those worst off are being left behind, demonstrating significant disparities and uneven territorial development in Armenia.

In response to these challenges, WFP Armenia Country Strategic Plan (CSP) 2019 – 2024, building on past and current experience gathered in the implementation on its flagship activity since 2010, foresees significant strategic investment in the establishment of a comprehensive and strategic response to food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty. The four main pillars of WFP’s CSP 2019 – 2024 will be the continuation of its school feeding programme with a clear handover strategy for a full ownership of the programme by the Government of Armenia by 2023; the establishment of effective and sustainable, nutrition sensitive food value chains; support the Government in tackling malnutrition; and emergency preparedness and response. Capacity strengthening will be a cross-cutting effort at all level and will be key to ensure sustainability of the programmes and activities.

In light of implementation of the above-mentioned range of activities, and in addition to this the rapidly evolving and ongoing current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as considering the growing workload in funds management and budgeting, WFP Armenia is in need of Budget and Programming Officer / Consultant.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1. Assess staff capacity, tools & reports developed so far and develop a strategy to strengthen the BPO function at CO level.

2. In line with the agreed and approved strategy support the recruitment, on-boarding, training & coaching of a new national officer to ensure continuity of CO BPO function at a strategic level.

3. Further develop capacity of WFP staff in budgeting, fund management and operational planning, through preparing and delivery training, coaching, guidelines and manuals.

4. Participate in the development and implementation of plans, policies and procedures for budget and programming activities (including PSA, Management Plan, Project budget, extra budgetary, ensuring that objectives are achieved in compliance with corporate, regional and functional strategies.

5. Create and review project budget plans and monitor ongoing project performance against budget, ensuring adherence to guidance and policies, and providing financial analysis and advice to optimize resources.

6. Monitor and provide strategic advice on fund utilization and advance financing, loan and borrowing, repayment and refinancing arrangements; alerting Country Director to approaching deadlines for unassigned funds and potential resource shortfalls/surpluses and proposing appropriate solutions.

7. Monitor and manage the resource pipeline to maximize operational effectiveness, adhering to standards and processes, and providing strategic advice on resource allocations based on severity of pipeline shortfalls using relevant pipeline tools.

8. Ensure correct budget and project documentation is created and ensure relevant resource data is recorded in internal systems for reference, in line with WFP standards and procedures.

9. Coordinate the preparation of accurate reports, to provide consistent information for stakeholders, and to identify trends/issues and propose solutions that support decision-making by senior management at a strategic level.

10. Analyze data and propose well-researched ideas to senior officers for improvement to systems, techniques, tools, processes and procedures to better monitor and manage budgets and funds.

11. Represent the unit at internal meetings/committees/working groups as required, in order to contribute to discussion of key issues from a budget and resource programming perspective.

12. Manage junior officers/staff to ensure appropriate development and enable high performance.

13. Contribute to preparedness actions, providing technical recommendations and guidance and monitoring the management of financial risks.

15. Proactive approach and active engagement with other units on every-day basis.

15. Other as required.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Advanced University degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics or other relevant field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses.

Experience: At least 5 years progressive work experience in the following areas:

• Translating operational requirements into financial information.

• Preparing budgets and reports for management.

• Consolidating pipeline information, budgets, supply chain and operational plans.

• Reviewing plans and budgets

Language: Fluency (level C) in English language. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or WFP’s working language, Portuguese.

Knowledge and Skills: Preparation and management of budgets, monitoring of budgets/resource plans/pipelines/supply chains, budget/allotment related issues. Strong analytical, written and oral communication and interpersonal skills, ability to plan and organize work with minimum supervision. General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures is desirable.

JOB PURPOSE

To support the delivery of budget and resource analysis and programming activities and/or provide support in HQ/RBs, partnering with managers to apply best practice approaches that support the efficient, effective and compliant utilisation of funds.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Understands WFP’s Strategic Objectives and the link to own work objectives.
• Be a force for positive change: Flexibly adapts individual contributions to accommodate changes in direction from supervisors and internal/external changes (such as evolving needs of beneficiaries, new requirements of partners).
• Make the mission inspiring to our team: Recognizes and shares with team members the ways in which individual contributions relate to WFP’s mission.
• Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Sets own goals in alignment with WFP’s overall operations, and is able to communicate this link to others.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Assesses own strengths and weaknesses to increase self-awareness, and includes these in conversations on own developmental needs.
• Create an inclusive culture: Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinion of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment.
• Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence, and develop and improve individual skills.
• Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Shows willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work.
• Focus on getting results: Consistently delivers results within individual scope of work on time, on budget and without errors.
• Make commitments and make good on commitments: Commits to upholding individual accountabilities and responsibilities in the face of ever-changing country or functional priorities.
• Be Decisive: Makes rational decisions about individual activities when faced with uncertain circumstances, including in times of ambiguity regarding information or manager direction.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Seeks to understand and adapt to internal or cross-unit teams’ priorities and preferred working styles.
• Build strong external partnerships: Demonstrates ability to understand and appropriately respond to and/or escalate needs of external partners.
• Be politically agile & adaptable: Portrays an informed and professional demeanor toward internal and external partners and stakeholders.
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Provides operational support on analyses and assessments that quantifies and demonstrates WFP’s unique value as a partner.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

Capability Name Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level Internal Controls & Risk Management Utilizes understanding of risk management approaches and internal controls to monitor projects and programmes to confirm regulatory compliance and ensure data integrity. Performance Budgeting, Analysis and Reporting Analyzes budgets and forecasts to support the development of recommendations for senior leadership on financial and business planning matters in accordance with Value for Money principles. Resource Management Monitors trends in staffing and resource usage to anticipate and escalate potential issues to programme leaders. Performance Management Applies knowledge of WFP’s performance management system to manage resources and relationships to undertake monitoring actions or deliver straightforward evaluations of operations, programmes, or processes to WFP monitoring and/or evaluation quality standards. Programme Knowledge Applies knowledge of WFP programme and supply chain principles to develop and/or review project budget plans.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Contract Duration: 11 months

Applications must be submitted online through WFP e-Recruitment System.

Internal WFP staff can access the VA through the internal WFP CAREER page via the link: http://newgo.wfp.org/services/e-recruitment

Make sure that you answer all mandatory questions accurately and to upload your updated CV in English.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

The successful candidate will have to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 to be able to perform his/her duties. The UN strongly recommends UN personnel, and their dependents receive a COVID-19 vaccine that has been approved by WHO.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Interested candidates are invited to submit their application not later than Wednesday, 16 February 2022.

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All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.

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Potential interview questions

Added 4 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: wfp.org