Chief, Grants Management Unit, P-5, Division of Finance & Administrative Management, New York HQ #102987 (Relocation to Brussels, Belgium before December 2024)

Contract

This is a P-5 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 10 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 208,877 USD and 261,770 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..

Under the guidance of the Deputy Director, Financial Reporting and Grants Management, the incumbent will lead in coordinating the improvements in the end-to-end grant management process, whilst providing oversight to the Global Shared Service Center (GSSC) and UNICEF field offices in this area; and oversees the UNICEF donor reporting function. The incumbent will provide support to strategic innovative grant arrangements in line with the organization’s strategic plan and the DFAM planned results. In addition, they will provide technical and strategic support in donor related issues to key stakeholders such as the UNICEF field offices, Programme and Partnership divisions, Global Shared Services Center, other DFAM sections and the Legal office in line with the stipulations in UNICEF Financial Regulations and Rules, policies and procedures. The incumbent is responsible for the periodic review of the grant workflow and providing recommendations of innovative, risk informed grant management and donor reporting mechanisms.

How can you make a difference?

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Grant Management

• Is responsible for the substantial management and oversight of the grant management life cycle through development of relevant policies, procedures, training and tools focused on the financial aspects of Other Resources (OR) grants to ensure they are compliant with agreement terms.
• Ensures the integrity of grant level financial information and records in UNICEF corporate systems including VISION (grants management module, FI and FM modules) and ECM. Investigate and resolve issues, in liaison with ICTD, GSSC, and country offices.
• Manages the Grants Management Unit including completion of key deliverables, performance management, preparation of work plans in consultation with Unit staff, monitoring progress and implementing opportunities for efficiency improvements.
• Periodically reviews policies/procedures and propose revisions, where necessary, for the attention of the Deputy Director and the Comptroller.

Donor Reporting and Relation

• Provide advice on complex issues and participate directly in negotiations with the goal of identifying creative solutions to meet donor requirements while at the same time ensuring compliance with UNICEF policy and in support of UNICEF’s mandate.
• Contributes towards meeting donors’ expectations in management of financial resources in an effort to reduce financial management and reputational risk for the organization. This includes providing expert level input to donor reviews (e.g. verifications, due diligence assessments, “Value for Money” studies) to demonstrate that UNICEF is a prudent manager of financial resources.
• Provides ongoing quality assurance of certified donor reports before issuance, supports UNICEF offices on donor reporting and ensures timely submission.
• Provides ongoing quality assurance of grant level financial information made available to the general public via IATI and via the UNICEF transparency site.

Oversight and Monitoring Function

• Supports UNICEF country offices and works closely with Legal Office as well as Programme and Partnership divisions, in the negotiation of grants and framework agreements, particularly clauses that require compliance with fiduciary duties.
• Closely supports country offices on assessing and providing recommendations on the impact of foreign exchange rate fluctuations on grant budgets in close collaboration with DFAM, Treasury.
• Leads in the process of monitoring of contributions receivables; unspent balances (with oversight to GSSC); and provides recommendations on management actions.
• Provides leadership in the guidance to GSSC and Programme and Partnership Division colleagues with regards the processing of contributions, special accounts, and other funding arrangements in adherence with UNICEF Financial Regulations and Rules, policies, and directives.
• Identify areas of potential risk to UNICEF, such as significant over or underspends of Other Resources contributions) and, where appropriate, document issues for the attention of the Deputy Director and the Comptroller.

Innovative grant arrangements

• Key contributor to the development and operationalization of innovative grant arrangements with donors such as Performance Based Financing as well as the development of hybrid arrangements that incorporate elements of Other Resources and Procurement services components.

Strategic Partnerships

• Development and building-up of strategic partnership and maintenance of good relations with Programme and Partnership divisions, Global Shared Services Center, Legal office and Donor counterparts.

Represents UNICEF in various task teams that concern UN system pooled funding type arrangements and donor agreements.

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

• Advanced university degree (Master's or higher) in accounting, business administration, financial management, economics or related field. Membership of recognized professional accountancy body desirable.
• A minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible professional work experience in the areas of finance and administrative management, preferably with an international organization in both headquarters and field office setting.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of French is highly desirable. Knowledge of another UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish) is desirable.

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 (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people.

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:

The incumbent will initially be based in New York Headquarters (NYHQ), and will have to relocate to Brussels before Dec 2024

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children.

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

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

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.