Planning Manager, P-4, End Violence Against Children (EVAC), Hosted Funds, Brussels, Belgium, Req

Contract

This is a P-4 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 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 90,970 USD and 117,287 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, Care.

The Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children (EVAC) and its associated Fund were launched in 2016 by the UN Secretary-General to accelerate progress towards ending all forms of violence, abuse and neglect of children as part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Every year, at least 1 billion children experience physical, sexual or psychological violence. Violence in childhood undermines all other investments in children: in their health, education and development, often with negative lifelong consequences and intergenerational impact.The Partnership brings together multiple stakeholders – governments, UN and international organizations, civil society, faith groups, private sector, academia and children themselves – in a unique public-private collaboration focused solely on ending all violence against children.

About Safe Online: Safe Online is a priority initiative of EVAC, focusing on how digital technologies and connectivity facilitate child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) and other forms of violence against children online. Since 2017, Safe Online has invested $86 million in projects to prevent and eliminate online CSEA with impact in over 80 countries. Investments include programmes in country, research projects (e.g. Disrupting Harm), and designing and scaling up technology-based solutions. Beyond investing in solutions, Safe Online has built a strong network of partners to share knowledge, learnings and solutions and maximize collective results for child victims and those at risk of online CSEA. Safe Online also contributes to global policy discussions on child online safety with governments, tech industry, regulators and others, ensuring that children’s safety is at the heart of intersections between connectivity and safety, privacy and protection, and technology and human rights.

How can you make a difference?

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

The Planning Manager (Fund and Grant Management) will oversee the funding and grant management cycle at the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children (EVAC), including the preparation and launch of calls for proposals, technical review of applications, project revisions, and programmatic and financial management of grant agreements, in line with applicable results frameworks, strategies and business plans. The incumbent will be responsible to facilitate disbursements and oversee recipient grant implementation and reporting. The incumbent will liaise closely with UNICEF and other relevant bodies to ensure effective vetting of potential EVAC fund recipients to identify and propose capacity development needs. The incumbent will be primarily responsible for:

• Managing and overseeing accurate, timely, efficient and transparent process for the entire grant lifecycle, from the pre-grant and proposal stages to implementation, closure and post-grant management processes;
• Monitoring and coordinating budget and financial processes, including timely payments, in cooperation with EVAC Operations team and UNICEF DFAM;
• Managing and overseeing quality assurance of grants, including safeguarding and risk management, in line with applicable policies and procedures;
• Consolidating relevant documentation and reports for different audiences, including donors and governance bodies.

Specific tasks and responsibilities:

Grant management, monitoring, and quality control of results:

• Manage and oversee all aspects of grant application processes and investment cycles for the Partnership, with inputs from the EVAC team and support from Communications team to communicate the investment rounds and the results of proposals externally;
• Oversee the benchmarks and performance indicators to assess grants and the overall performance of Safe Online against EVAC objectives;
• Oversee the process for technically reviewing applications including facilitation and operationalization of an experts roster or review panels;
• With DFAM, oversee the accuracy of required documentation for programme review and approval;
• Liaise with DFAM in the preparation of grant agreements, project revisions, and timely disbursement of funds;
• Working with the EVAC team, oversee and continuously adapt reporting parameters for EVAC grant recipients that allow foraggregation of results where feasible;
• With DFAM, oversee all aspects of grant reporting, including advising on cases where funds may need to be withheld, reprogrammed or investigated;
• Maintain oversight of the EVAC grant portfolio; contribute to the development of EVAC reporting requirements, including data collection, assurance and analysis;
• Coordinate the preparation and submission of progress reports and decision papers to the EVAC governance bodies and donors, including the preparation of materials for all Safe Online Working Group meetings;
• Coordinate and oversee selected monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with grantees and partners to assess progress;
• Lead the development of alternative Fund modalities, such as funding for private sector companies, in collaboration with DFAM, Supply and Legal;
• Coordinate the design, development and rollout of new grants management systems and tools to streamline grantmaking processes and practices as needed;
• Coordinate the development of communication and knowledge products for different audiences and purposes, portraying the results obtained by grantees on the ground.

Technical support to grant recipients:

• Coordinate preparation of grant applications and related documentation and to ensure alignment of activities with the overall EVAC mission and strategic plan;
• Collaborate with grant recipients throughout all stages of programming to provide support for programme preparation, implementation and monitoring for results;
• Coordinate the provision of technical support, guidance and tools for all grantees as needed;
• Coordinate and support the organization of online and in-person capacity building initiatives for grantees and other relevant stakeholders.

Knowledge management and capacity building:

• Coordinate the development of knowledge exchange and capacity building activities and/or recommend technical policy/papers,strategies and tools to support grant recipients or grantmaking processes;
• Lead evaluations, particularly within the Safe Online portfolio, of investments as appropriate, including the management of the procurement process and the uptake of the evaluation results to inform future investment strategies for the Fund via a dissemination plan;
• Coordinate/ensure the availability of technical experts to ensure timely support throughout all stages of application, implementation and reporting;
• Contribute to policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and consideration and manage the systematization of processes for effective management of the Fund, particularly the Safe Online investment portfolio;
• Coordinate the information and documents submission for audits and evaluations;
• Manage the development and implementation of Information Management Systems.

Financial and operational management:

• Coordinate procurement and logistic processes for the development of programmatic activities;
• Oversee and manage required support services so that they are effectively provided for enhanced quality of service delivery, efficiency, productivity and cost-effectiveness;
• Ensure that all financial and administrative transactions and arrangements of contracts satisfy the requirements as stipulated and are in compliance with the applicable policies, procedures, rules and regulations;
• Apply and interpret administrative policies and procedures in a timely and consistent manner;
• Manage the financial closure of grants, including the return of unspent funds
• Monitor, track, advise and report on finances – including budgets, funds received and disbursed – in line with EVAC workplans and UNICEF regulations, and compliant with donor and governance obligations;
• For personnel under their supervision, establish clear individual performance objectives, goals and timelines; and provide timely guidance to enable the team to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently;
• Oversee and certify services delivered by personnel and external experts.

Risk management and safeguarding:

• Manage the implementation of risk identification and escalation procedures, related to grants implementation and Safe Online programmatic activities, in coordination with the designated EVAC representatives and relevant governance bodies;
• Manage the implementation of actions in response to audit and evaluation observations and evaluations related to grant management issues;
• Serve as EVAC focal point for grantee safeguarding issues, in coordination with the designated EVAC and UNICEF representatives and any other relevant safeguarding support provided to the organization.

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

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in education, finance, economics, statistics, social sciences, public administration, or other relevant field
• A minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience in progressively responsible professional experience in grant management and programme portfolio oversight
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset
• Fluency in English (excellent writing ability) is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) preferably French or Spanish is an asset

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Programme planning, management or monitoring and evaluation experience with international organizations
• Familiarity with issues related to violence against children and online child sexual exploitation and abuse is preferred
• Strong data analysis and organizational skills, including ability to work to tight timelines
• Ability to coordinate and manage across a diverse set of stakeholders

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:

The appointment for this position is limited to END VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN (EVAC), a UNICEF-hosted fund. While UN staff regulations and rules, as well as UNICEF policies and procedures, apply to you during your appointment, certain provisions therein may apply to you differently due to the limited scope of your appointment. In particular, you will not be subject to rotation exercise as per the Executive Directive on Staff mobility and rotation (CF/EXD/2015-002) or any revision thereof. In addition, during your appointment in EVAC, you will not be considered eligible for conversion to a Continuing Appointment as per UNICEF Administrative Instruction on Continuing Appointment (CF/AI/2017-002) or any revision thereof. In the event that your post is abolished, the priority granted, and other support provided to staff on abolished posts in staff selection processes will only be extended to posts within EVAC and not to other posts in UNICEF

UNICEF candidates: To return to a UNICEF appointment outside EVAC, you will need to be selected in a competitive recruitment exercise. Upon selection for a UNICEF post outside of UNICEF-hosted funds, the period you have served with the UNICEF-hosted fund will count towards the calculation of the tour of duty in your duty station and eligibility for a continuing appointment

External Candidates: To secure a UNICEF appointment outside EVAC, you will need to be selected in a competitive recruitment exercise. Upon selection for a UNICEF post outside of UNICEF hosted funds, the period you have served with the UNICEF hosted fund will count towards the calculation of the tour of duty in your duty station and eligibility for a continuing appointment

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background are encouraged to apply

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