Audit Recommendations & Effectiveness Specialist (Home based with regular travel to the Pacific region, part-time 50%)

Pacific Islands countries (PICs) boast “big ocean” economies, with young and mobile populations and highly resilient and adaptative societies. Past and recent investments have however fallen short of developing diverse economies offering inclusive services and opportunities, resilient to external shocks and the increasing pace of climate disasters. While the scale of Pacific economies does not allow them to respond to all these challenges alone, public investment and revenues would gain from empowered officials accountable to keep basic service delivery and development priorities in mind while driving fiscal decisions. 

For this reason, the “Accountable Public Finances to serve Pacific people – Vaka Pasifika” project (hereafter Vaka Pasifika project) builds on the results of the “Strengthening Public Finance Management and Governance in the Pacific” (PFM) project implemented between 2018 and 2022 thanks to the support of the European Union. The proposed overarching goal of this project is to strengthen the governance mechanisms enabling Pacific countries to deliver public services that are better calibrated to meet specific needs of the people. Its specific focus will be to ensure scarce Pacific resources are better managed and the resource base available for achieving national development goals will be increased. To achieve this goal, PIC economies require stable and reliable institutions implementing the right mix of creativity and rigor informed by ground reality. The Project will contribute to this vision by (a) supporting oversight institutions and decision makers to define and implement their priorities through leadership and institutional capacity strengthening and (b) enhancing responsiveness of service delivery and public finance management by developing institutional mechanisms for engagement and openness and strengthening civil society capacity.

The Vaka Pasifika project is implemented through a team based in Suva, Fiji in the UNDP Pacific Office. As part of the Effective Governance unit, the team is responsible for implementation of the project, its various activities and corresponding institutional processes and requirements.

The Audit Recommendations and Effectiveness Specialist will be responsible for the delivery and coordination of all technical advisory activities falling under activity 1.4. and generally, coordination and strategy of the engagement with SAIs and PFM oversight institutions including quality assurance and technical support on other activities as requested especially in link with technical advisory to SAIs and delivery of fellowship activities. Activity 1.4. relates to ensuring the quality, tracking and impact of audit recommendations specifically, in the view to increase audit effectiveness and impact overall in the Pacific. The project has developed a tool and is working to enhance functionalities with artificial intelligence to tracking and follow-up on recommendations. In parallel, activities are set-up to nurture relationships between oversight institutions and enable coordinated follow-up action. More details on the activities and the definition of the challenges can be found on the project page and project document as well as published blogs.

The successful candidate will directly report to the Vaka Pasifika Project Manager and will closely cooperate and support the other project team members, consultants, and project stakeholders.

The Vaka Pasifika project team is situated in the Effective Governance Team of the UNDP Pacific Office in Suva.
 

• Take responsibility for all technical advisory services and for quality assurance of all technical outputs of the project related to activity 1.4.  and audit impact and effectiveness overall (strategic planning and consultations, workplan, communication with partners, reporting, drafting of ad-hoc consultancy tors and coordination of technical resources, design and coordinate events’ content and speakers, knowledge products, communication products …);
• Support the engagement and act as quality assurance on SAI advisory activities – contribute and take the lead where appropriate to design of strategies, engagement, event, reports, quality assurance.
• Explore digital and non-digital solutions and ensure that world-class advisory services are delivered to SAIs, parliaments and oversight institutions on audit recommendations, effectiveness and impact creating tools, guidelines, tailored advisories as required but most importantly following the guidance and requests from Pacific partners and delivering hands-on support with opportunities for on-the-job learning for partners’ staff.
• Coordinate with Project Management team to ensure smooth delivery of all activities under 1.4. and provide leadership to ensure quality and satisfaction of partners. Where not the lead implementer, support and ensure that the design of the activities, outputs and consultancy services throughout the project benefit from technical quality assurance especially when relating to SAI technical support and audit impact.
• Conduct missions to Pacific Islands States to deliver tailored technical advisory, provide training and support implementation of activities as agreed with national partners and in line with project’s overall approach.
• Organises event, contribute to training and e-learning platforms and events keeping the best interest of national and regional partners in mind and tailoring support, tools and advisory to requests

Design and implement community of practice, publications and knowledge products.

• Ensure thought leadership and positioning of UNDP on audit recommendation tracking for sustainable development by ensuring visibility of results including submission of solutions designed for international prizes, collaboration with international and regional partners and visibility of regional and national partners at events.
• Publish on average (2) technical knowledge products per year summarizing lessons learnt and documenting the progress and learning on audit tracking and impact in the Pacific. Ensure specific products are dedicated to gendered impact of recommendations and impact as well as cross-cutting thematic issues.
• Design and lead exchange between partners engaged in the activities in a Community of Practice and provide regular updates and food for thoughts on technical matters and potential for improvements. Engage in the broader Community of Practice for Vaka Pasifika project.
• Build over the years a network of local consultant and conduct capacity strengthening and community management to ensure the project is always in a position to deliver tailored and relevant technical services in that area of work.

Facilitate digital innovation and learnings. 

• Develop further and explore partnerships and innovative digital tool based on pilots by the project and ensure that tools produced by the project are always reviewed and enhanced based on partners feedback and latest technological developments.
• Contribute to the continuous learning of the project by participating and convening reflection and learning sessions internally and with external partners.
• Draft, review and advise on publications, knowledge products, communications products and reports (internal, donors, others) to ensure the project contributes to the wider narrative and debate on PFM globally and in the Pacific.
• Actively engage in the design and implementation of the project’s fellowship if required. 

Build Strategic Partnerships

• Cultivate and maintain strong relations with key stakeholders including outsourced service providers,
• beneficiaries, government, private sector and other development actors;
• Expand the network of the project regularly and ensure due space is given to marginalised and fringe actors.
• Ensure the project networks include stakeholders who can make a significant contribution on gender, climate and cross-cutting issues.
• Support the Project Manager in liaising and reporting to development partners and donors when appropriate.
• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization
   

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact 
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems 
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands 
• Act with Determination:  LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:  

Business Management   

• Partnership management: Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies

Governance       

• Core Government Functions       

Finance 

• Technology and data in Finance: Ability to understand developments, opportunities and challenges in technology relating to public finance. 

Business Development  

• Knowledge Generation: Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for content, or responsive to a stated need

Business Management   

• Project Management: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals

Business Direction and Strategy  

• System Thinking : Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system
   

Education:          

• Advanced University Degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Public Finance Management, Audit, Accounting, Public Sector and Administration, Political Science, Social Science or related field is required. OR 
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the above- mentioned fields of study, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:        

• Minimum of 7 years (with master’s degree) or 9 years (with bachelor’s degree) of experience in public finance management and/or public sector oversight (parliament, Supreme Audit Institution, Civil Society, related) within government institution, political institutions, civil society organisation as a technical advisor.
• Experience delivering technical advisory services in the audit sector specifically and in accountability, audit or public finance sector generally.
• Experience working in the international development sector notably in Small Islands States or the Pacific
• Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and web-based management systems, and advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages.
• Experience in developing, working with or providing feedback on digital tool for oversight and auditing is an advantage.
• Experience designing and delivering trainings and building networks for a Pacific audience is an advantage.

Required Language:

• Fluency in English