Consultancy: Grant Manager - Nutrition Section, PD - NYHQ, Requisition# 504580

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s Office of Food for Peace (FFP) has been instrumental in supporting UNICEF's work on the scale-up of the management of SAM since 2012. USAID-FFP support has rapidly expanded from 4 countries in 2012 to 22 countries in 2016. As a result of this rapid growth, the administrative management of the USAID-FFP annual awards and the provision of adequate technical backstopping to countries is now requiring dedicated staff time to support UNICEF's Programme Division (PD) and Public Partnership Division (PPD) in the management and coordination of the grant, and ensure efficient utilization of resources and adequate implementation of projects.

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

BACKGROUND & RATIONALE

One of the critical goals of UNICEF for child survival and development is to improve child nutrition and prevent associated mortality. The management of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is critical for child survival and a key cost-effective component of the scaling up nutrition framework for addressing undernutrition. Globally, 50 million children under 5 years old are wasted and of these, 16 million are severely wasted. Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is common in rapid onset and chronic emergencies as well as in non-emergency situations. In 2015, the number of SAM admissions increased to 3.5 million in 82 countries from 2.91 million children in 67 countries in 2013. Although significant progress has been made, the overall rate of admissions lags far behind the global SAM burden and more needs to be done.

PURPOSE
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s Office of Food for Peace (FFP) has been instrumental in supporting UNICEF's work on the scale-up of the management of SAM since 2012. USAID-FFP support has rapidly expanded from 4 countries in 2012 to 22 countries in 2016. As a result of this rapid growth, the administrative management of the USAID-FFP annual awards and the provision of adequate technical backstopping to countries is now requiring dedicated staff time to support UNICEF's Programme Division (PD) and Public Partnership Division (PPD) in the management and coordination of the grant, and ensure efficient utilization of resources and adequate implementation of projects.

Key Responsibilities and Activities

1. Coordinate and monitor the development and submission of concept notes/proposals and responses to USAID-FFP's feedback on these (25%)

Facilitate the preparation of concept notes/proposals from Headquarters, Supply Division, (SD) Country Offices and Regional Offices (COs and ROs), ensuring compliance with the UNICEF/USAID-FFP format/template (narrative and budget).
Coordinate the timely submission of concept notes to USAID-FFP (including uploading on an online portal, and/or by email, in collaboration with PPD).
Coordinate responses to USAID-FFP feedback/questions on concept notes, ensuring that Headquarters, Supply Division, COs and ROs provide responses within a reasonable time limit (e.g. 1-2 weeks), either in person (meetings at the local level) or in writing (by email).
Ensure the final version of each concept note on SharePoint.
Support the completion and submission of Contribution in Kind (CIK) processing forms to Supply Division.

2. Assess and provide feedback on contribution agreements, and support grant creation in VISION (15%)

Support PPD in finalising template contribution agreements with USAID-FFP for the two different award modalities (Title II and IDA).
Check draft agreements, modifications and budgets shared by USAID-FFP, and provide feedback on compliance with the concept note/proposal budget and template agreements.
Support PPD in drafting VISION grant creation request emails to send to (Department of Finance and Administrative Management (DFAM), including accurate budget/grant breakdown.

3. Maintain contribution agreement compliance, and monitor the overall partnership (20%)

Monitoring:
Create and maintain a spreadsheet/tracking system to track concept note submission, CIK processing form completion, agreement receipt and details, budget breakdowns, VISION grant numbers etc. for each annual contribution. Share this with Headquarters (HQ), RO and CO colleagues through SharePoint, updating on a daily/weekly basis, and flag any bottlenecks/delays to UNICEF staff and USAID-FFP.
Track implementation progress toward programme outcomes and goals.
Track progress towards expenditures and monitor compliance with concept note/proposal budgets.
Monitor the USAID-FFP reporting schedules and requirements in VISION, highlight any discrepancies to PPD and ensuring that HQ, ROs and COs provide quality inputs within deadlines.
Field visits: Organize field visits to COs jointly with HQ and ROs to further support programme monitoring. This will include both internal (UNICEF) field visits, and joint field visits with USAID-FFP.

Modifications:
Review, edit and monitor HQ/RO/CO reprogramming requests.
Review, edit and monitor HQ/RO/CO no-cost extension requests.

Reports:
Narrative reports (progress and final):
Support the drafting and finalisation of HQ/RO narrative reports, including all necessary supporting materials and documents including donor statements (budget reports), outcome measurements, success stories, etc.
Review CO narrative reports.
Financial reports:
Follow up on requests from USAID-FFP for copies of financial reports submitted by DFAM.

4. Maintain effective coordination mechanisms between UNICEF and USAID-FFP, including with COs and ROs (20%)

Participate in all HQ-managed or coordinated processes that involve USAID-FFP. These include but are not limited to internal meetings with PD, SD and PPD.
Develop global networks and foster partnerships between COs and ROs and USAID-FFP country and regional focal points.
Organize and support the facilitation of annual face-to-face meeting/consultation between UNICEF and USAID-FFP, and finalise the Note for the Record (NFR) including action points, sharing this with USAID-FFP and ensuring agreement. Monitor the implementation of action points.
Organize and support the facilitation of regular conference calls and/or webinars between USAID-FFP and UNICEF, including with ROs and COs, on both technical and award issues.
Strengthen existing tools and systems for internal tracking, monitoring and reporting.

5. Conduct an internal evaluation of the USAID-FFP contribution, in collaboration with ROs, to assess UNICEF performance in delivering against the planned outcomes.

Develop the terms of reference for an internal evaluation of the UNICEF-USAID-FFP partnership.
Coordinate the implementation of this evaluation with ROs.
Develop the necessary tools to support the implementation at CO level.
Analyse the evaluation information and write the evaluation report.

EXPECTED RESULTS: (MEASURABLE RESULTS)

1. Concept notes/proposals are submitted in a timely manner and as per agreed standards.
2. Feedback is provided on contribution agreements and modifications in a timely manner, to minimise errors and expedite agreement issuance by USAID-FFP.
3. Program monitoring and compliance with reporting, implementation and expenditures are strengthened
4. Strengthened coordination and partnerships
5. Internal evaluation report finalized.

DUTY STATION
This is an office-based position in New York HQ. Some travel may be required for meetings with Country Office and Regional Office colleagues. The position will be under the overall supervision of the Chief of the Nutrition Section.

TIMEFRAME

Start date: 1 June 2017
End date: 14 May 2018

KEY COMPETENCES, TECHNICAL BACKGROUND, AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED DEADLINE

This position requires strong writing, data analysis, program budgeting, project management skills, with an emphasis on grant compliance and outcome measurement.

a) Bachelor’s degree or 5 years work experience with nonprofit administration, grant writing, or fundraising
b) 2-4 years’ experience in fundraising, grant writing or grants management preferred
c) Experience in coordinating and/or facilitating multi-country grant
d) Demonstrated analytical and persuasive writing skills experience as well as editing skills, including ability to convey complex information in a clear manner to a diverse audience
e) Administrative skills and self-motivated with the ability to set priorities and manage multiple tasks under minimal supervision in effective and efficient manner
f) Ability to work under pressure and respond to deadlines without sacrificing quality
g) Technical knowledge of quantitative and qualitative analysis of various set of data and information.
h) Languages – Excellent writing and communication skills in English
i) Software – Good knowledge of MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint

ADDITIONAL SKILLS DESIRED:
j) Knowledge of UNICEF programs in the field of child survival and development.
k) Writing and communication skills in French.
l) Proven skills in communication and facilitation.
m) Computer skills, including internet navigation, and various office applications.
n) Experience in program / project evaluation

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable).  Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.