Programme Officer HACT, NOA, Kiev, Ukraine (Open to nationals of Ukraine only)

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 60 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.

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 60 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.

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

Under the direct supervision of Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, the NOA Programme Officer (HACT) performs tasks in support of the preparation, monitoring, and control of the budgets, involving all sources of funds across programmes and operations. The incumbent also provides professional financial, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process by preparing, managing and/or executing a variety of technical and administrative tasks to facilitate the effective implementation of HACT in line with the UNICEF HACT Policy and UNICEF HACT Procedure.

SUMMARY OF KEY FUNCTIONS/ACCOUNTABILITIES

1. Management of Funds
2. Management of Reports
3. VISION Support
4. Cost distribution and payroll
5. Support to HACT planning during the programming process
6. Support to implementation of assurance activities
7. Review and use of HACT reports
8. Networking and inter-agency partnership
9. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

1. Management of Funds

• Monitors the utilization of regular Resources and Other Resources and produces regular updates for the Country Office Management.
• Ensures timely allocation to respective programmes of new grants. Works in collaboration with the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist and Budget Owners to ensure the overall compliance with donor and grants conditions when allocating and re-phasing funds.
• Monitors grants expiry dates with the objective of ensuring that all funds are fully utilized prior to grant expiry dates.
• Provides quality assurance of financial information indicated in outgoing documents including donor reports, proposals and rolling work plans; checks the accuracy of the budget calculations of project proposals before their finalization.
• Supports the capacity development of programme staff to improve the description of expenditures that appear in financial reports; ensures that donor reports receive timely budget/financial information.
• Acts as focal point for relevant financial information for the development and implementation of the fundraising strategy.
• Retrieves information on costs of programme elements, such as staff and related costs from automated files and complies them in standardized and customized reports.
• Enables an institutional memory within the office through development and maintenance of record keeping of OR allocations forms and emails related to RR allocation; ensures the filing of and access to all the financial and budget related files on proposals, donor reports and all other financial documents

2. Management of Reports

• Monitors allocation and expenditures trends; generates, prepares and shares with members of the management team the financial progress reports adapted from VISION and brings to the attention of the Deputy Representative, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist and Chiefs of Sections any deviations of delays for corrective measures.
• Prepares and timely submits monthly Management Indicator reports to the meetings of management team, including analysis on key programme indicators.
• Provides reports on budget utilization during reviews (Mid-year, annual and mid-term reviews)
• Monitors donor reports schedules, in close cooperation with the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist.
• Follows up on agreed action during presentation of management reports.

3. VISION Support  

• Provides on-going support to programme staff on the appropriate VISION work process, routine operation and utilization of the system.
• Processes requests for grants extension ahead of expiring dates in VISION.

• Performs other relevant duties.

4. Cost distribution and payroll 

• Prepares cost distribution for Ukraine Country Office and advises section chiefs on standard cost and conditions of Grants utilization in payroll.
• Supports staff payroll run by ensuring that adequate funds are allocated for staff salary and cost distribution uploaded for all staff on FT and TA.

• Performs other relevant duties.

5. Support to the HACT planning during the programming process

• Participate in HACT planning and discussions and support the development and completion of HACT plans through research, collection, analysis and reporting of related information/data to facilitate planning and priority setting for HACT activities.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout the process by executing/administering technical, operational and administrative transactions and preparing related materials/documentations to ensure the incorporation of HACT into the country programme.
• Prepare CO-wide micro assessment and assurance plans in collaboration will other programme staff and relevant operations colleagues

• Prepare information on shared implementing partners to facilitate joint planning and execution of micro assessments and audits in line with the UNICEF HACT Procedure.

6. Support to implementation of HACT activities  

• Serve as reference person on HACT implementation in the office.
• Facilitate the execution of HACT activities undertaken by external service providers through scheduling, arranging briefings and related administrative needs to ensure service providers have appropriate and comprehensive information for effective and efficient completion of assignments.
• Conduct and/or coordinate spot checks of implementing partners in collaboration with other CO staff.

• Support the preparation of HACT implementation status report in InSight through collation of implementation information from relevant CO colleagues.
• Contribute to development and monitoring of implementation of CO HACT related SOPs and internal procedures, including for escalation of issues identified through assurance activities

7. Review and use of HACT reports 

• Support the recording and updating of risk ratings of implementing partners in VISION through review of the Vendor Master and provision of relevant information to appropriate colleagues in the CO.

• Establish a central repository for HACT decisions, documentation and reports to provide timely and current information to facilitate implementation of HACT in the CO.
• Review assessments and programme assurance reports to identify areas of weaknesses related to the implementation of HACT and keep supervisor/partners informed of findings for timely action and/or intervention.

8. Networking and inter-agency partnership  

• Provide technical information and operational support to implementing partners, UN system partners and other stakeholders in the CO on the implementation of HACT to reinforce UN/CO harmonization and coordination.
• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of HACT information and knowledge to facilitate/build their capacity for implementing HACT.

• Participate in appropriate inter-agency meetings/events to facilitate and promote sharing of information, knowledge, experiences and best practice and enhance coordination of activities in line with the UNICEF HACT Procedure.
• Interact regularly with other country offices and the Regional Office on HACT.

9. Knowledge management and capacity building

• Identify, synthesize and share lessons learned from HACT and its implementation for integration into broader knowledge development planning and management efforts.
• Identify, synthesize and share lessons learned and best practice in the implementation of HACT.

• Contribute to design and implementation of capacity development strategy/initiatives for implementing partners which can be supported by UNICEF through identification of common weaknesses in financial and procurement management from review of micro assessment and assurance activity reports of high and significant risk partners.
• Contribute to design and implementation of capacity development strategy/initiatives for CO staff to ensure that staff has knowledge and skills to fulfill their responsibilities under HACT.

QUALIFICATION AND COMPETENCIES

1. Education

A University Degree in Finance/Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, and Auditing or other relevant field is required.

2. Work Experience

A minimum of 2 years of professional experience in programme/project development and management or financial planning, management and oversight or related field at the international and/or in a developing country is required. Relevant experience in program/project financial monitoring and evaluation in a UN system agency or organization is a distinct asset. Experience in the usage of office software MS packages and advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web based management systems and ERP financial, preferably SAP. Experience of IPSAS and/or IFRS is required for external candidates.

3. Language Proficiency

Fluency in English and Ukrainian is required. Knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.

4. Competency Profile

(For details, please refer to UNICEF Professional Competency Profiles.)

Core Values

• Commitment
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Integrity

Core Competencies

• Communication [ I ]
• Working with People[ I ]
• Drive for Result  [ II ]

Functional Competencies

• Analyzing (I)
• Deciding and Initiating Action (I)
• Planning and Organizing (II)
• Following Instructions and Procedures (II)
• Applying technical expertise (II)

While creating your account and filling in your application form, please read the instructions carefully and provide all requested information and supporting documents in order your application is considered for the recruitment case.

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 organization.