Budget Specialist (Polio), P-3, Dakar, Senegal

Contract

This is a P-3 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 5 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 108,241 USD and 141,733 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, Fair chance

Background

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. Therefore, the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Job Organizational Context

Despite the encouraging progress made in the Africa region towards polio eradication where Africa region is certified Polio Free in 2020, the region continues to be affected by circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 and type 2 outbreaks, in addition, Malawi and Mozambique notified Wild Poliovirus type 1 exported from Pakistan respectively in 2021 and 2022. This is largely caused by the COVID-19 pandemic which weakened the health system and made on hold vaccination activities including polio campaigns. The introduction of the “novel Oral Polio Vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) in 2020 Out of 24 countries in West and Central Africa Region (WCAR), 11 countries were affected by cVDPVs in 2022 against 13 in 2021. DRC records a co-infection cVDPV1 and cVDPV2. the introduction of nOPV2 in 2020 is a big step to deal with cVDPV2. Note that the one of key Milestones of GPEI is to stop poliovirus transmission by the end of 2023 or at least mid-2024. As a key partner of the GPEI, UNICEF has the mandate of providing technical assistance to the countries to ensure fast and quality Polio outbreak response. As stated in the GPEI’s current Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs), part of the RRT mandate, the GPEI Rapid Response Team (RRT) will assist polio outbreak countries to have effective budget and finance management support to Polio outbreak response planning, implementation and monitoring. Effective budgets planning and finance management is essential to improve the results of supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) and any other outbreak response.

Strategic office context:

The recruited staff will work under supervision of Chief of health section and under the general technical guidance of the Health Specialist (Polio Eradication coordinator), WCARO, in close collaboration with the AFRO Rapid Response Team Coordinator in Brazzaville. The position is based in the regional office in Dakar, Senegal with a high degree of travel and will be subject to deployment to outbreak response countries on short notice.

How can you make a difference?

Purpose for the position

The Budget Specialist as part of RRT support Country Offices (COs) in managing polio resources from donors including the development of donor proposals and reports, and effectively and efficiently developing, monitoring and reporting on grant-specific budgets in line with program, UNICEF and donor requirements. In collaboration with Outbreak Response & Preparedness Group (ORPG), he/she will facilitate the approval process of country budgets. She/He supports effective management of all Health grants and assists in the development of budgets and technical reports when necessary. The incumbent will be deployed to polio outbreak countries, as a member of Team A, according to RRT working plan and GPEI outbreak response SOPs as necessary.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

1. Support to financial planning and management
   • Provide support to the RRT and WCARO in the collation of data and analysis of polio grant information and progress reports.
   • Support to the RRT and WCARO in maintaining the polio grants overview table with income and expenditure/disbursement, remaining balance and time remaining.
   • The incumbent is expected to be deployed to disease outbreak countries within 72 hours after the confirmation of the outbreak, as necessary.
2. Support to financial monitoring and reporting
   • Ensure preparation of accurate, complete and timely financial reports (including reconciliations); co-ordinate the internal financial reporting deadlines and requirements for the programme. This will include planning deadlines, formats for information and consolidation of financial data to ensure that donors receive reports on a timely basis and to a high level of quality.
   • Ensure compliance of project financial arrangements and reporting in line with UNICEF's and relevant donor regulations.
   • Monitor programme/project budgets versus actual expenditure; ensure that expenditure recorded meets donor requirements for eligible expenditure items and that the level of documentation meets their specified requirements and advice on budget performance and, if applicable, suggest budget revisions.
   • Review the polio donor reports to ensure the accurate and timely submission of high-quality reports.
   • Ensure that all polio grants income and expenditure budgets and supporting documents for each project component are kept up to date.
   • Ensure compliance with closure of projects, including final financial reporting, external audit and updating UNICEF financial accounts.
3. Control of accounts
   • Examine transactions (transfer, adjustments, reprogramming and liquidation) supporting documents to ensure the expenditure is broadly reasonable and in accordance with policy.
   • Review on a monthly basis items of expenditure charged to the WCARO polio grants ensuring coding is correct and that any discrepancies are investigated and resolved.
   • Verify and quality control the reprogramming, extension and pull back cash requests submitted by teams and COs through UNICEF WCARO.
   • Plan and monitor disbursements and control the appropriate use of polio grants (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity and ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
4. Capacity building
   • Periodically visit UNICEF COs to provide on-site face-to-face support to the teams and the finance department where required.
   • Facilitate efficient communication and coordination between the COs, Regional Office and HQ finance teams.
   • Contribute to capacity building of CO staff and partners, particularly in budget management by facilitating training, following the growth in the staffing structure and partners, providing one-on-one follow-up support and knowledge sharing.
5. Supports effective management of all Health grants and assists in the development of budgets and technical reports when necessary.
6. Other assigned duties and responsibilities are effectively performed.

Impact of Results

The functions of the position are aligned with UNICEF procedures and the RRT needs to implement effective, efficient and financing processes to optimize the use of capital. Consequently, cash transfer and financial management issues are the key areas that the Budget Specialist will be engaged in, including closer monitoring of the funds and grants, more timely financial reporting and return of unused funds. This position will provide key contributions to these areas of improvements

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

An advanced university degree (master’s or higher) in Business Administration or Finance/Accounts Management.

A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in Finance and Budget Management and the development of donor reports and proposals.

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is required.
• Experience in polio budget and grant reporting would be an asset.
• Knowledge of polio donors’ procedures (Rotary, CDC, BMGF, NPT) would be an asset
• Fluency in French and English is required

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:

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.

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