Global Programme Analyst (Finance and Accounting) NPSA-8, UNCDF [Open to Tier 1 & 2 applicants]

Tiered Approach

In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:

• Tier 1: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
• Tier 2: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
• Tier 3 or no tier indicated: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates

Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.

Background

General Assembly Resolution 2186 (XXI) decided to “bring into operations the United Nations Capital Development Fund as an organ of the General Assembly which shall function as an autonomous organization of the United Nations.

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) assists developing countries, especially least developing countries, in the development of their economies by supplementing existing sources of capital assistance by means of grants, loans, and guarantees. UNCDF’s vision is to help mobilize and catalyze an increase of capital flows for SDG impactful investments to Member States to address the most pressing development challenges facing vulnerable communities in these countries and thereby contribute to sustainable economic growth and equitable prosperity.

UNCDF utilizes its unique capability in the UN system to deploy grants, loans and guarantees to crowd-in finance for the scaling of development impact. UNCDF focuses on where the needs are greatest, a deliberate focus and capability rooted in UNCDF’s unique investment mandate to support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the realization of the Doha Programme of Action for the least developed countries, 2022–2031.

As per its Strategic Framework, UNCDF works to deploy its functions as a hybrid development organization and development finance institution. UNCDF responds to Member States requests for assistance by providing targeted technical and financial advisory services on investments for development outcomes, designing bespoke financial structuring solutions, undertaking financial derisking of investments, and enhancing investment readiness of SDG aligned projects in partnership with private sector, UNOs, International and Local Finance Institutions, Development Finance Institutions as well as Foundations and Philanthropy, among others. UNCDF works to develop local financial systems, new markets and mobilize and crowd in capital from public and private sources. UNCDF is driven by a partnership mindset which enables it to deploy its different capital capabilities in highly tailored and responsive ways in order to mobilize investments flows from other sources, in particular from the private sector. By structuring transactions which are highly impactful, but also recognize the need for multiplying the impact of its own capital, UNCDF seeks to position itself as a preferred partner for different stakeholders. UNCDF’s work is focused on three priority areas, including:

• SME Finance
• Sub-National Finance
• Digital Finance

UNCDF’s organizational set up includes an Investment and Implementation Division (IID), Investment and Finance Oversight Division (IFOD), Operations and Oversight Division (OOD) and a Directorate of the Executive Office. UNCDF staff and personnel are located in regional hubs based in Dakar (Senegal), Nairobi (Kenya) and Bangkok (Thailand) with sub-regional presence in a number of locations in the Caribbean and Pacific Regions. UNCDF is led by an Executive Secretary based out of New York, USA. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 2321(XXII, para 1.a), the Administrator of the UNDP performs the function of the Managing Director of UNCDF. UNCDF is overseen by an Executive Board comprised of UN Member States.

The Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) of the UN Capital Development Fund provides a country-based mechanism to increase awareness and response to climate change at the local level, integrate climate change adaptation into local governments’ planning and budgeting systems in a participatory and gender-sensitive manner, and increase the amount of finance available to local governments for climate change adaptation. Launched in 2011, LoCAL combines performance-based climate resilience grants (PBCRGs) with technical and capacity-building support. These grants ensure climate change expenditures at the local level and incentivize performance improvements for enhanced resilience. LoCAL also aims to trigger additional funding for locally led adaptation through national fiscal transfers and global climate finance. LoCAL's approach adheres to global standards (ISO14093:2022) and supports countries in establishing and using PBCRGs to effectively utilize various sources of climate finance. This contributes to achieving the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly poverty eradication (SDG 1) and climate action (SDG 13).

LoCAL typically operates through three phases, although this may differ from country to country.
Phase I – Piloting consists of initial scoping, followed by testing in two to four local governments.
Phase II – Learning takes place in 5–10 local governments in a country. It involves collecting lessons and demonstrating the LoCAL mechanism’s effectiveness at a larger scale.
Phase III – Scaling-up is a full national roll-out of LoCAL based on the results of the previous phases and lessons learned. During this phase, LoCAL is gradually extended to all local governments

https://www.uncdf.org/local/homepage

Scope of Work 

UNCDF is seeking a Global Programme Analyst (Finance and Accounting) to provide effective support to the management of LoCAL countries across the Asia-Pacific, Africa, MENA and the Caribbean, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Ensures administration and implementation of operational and financial management strategies, adapts processes and procedures for LoCAL portfolio.
• Manages project budget and provision of project finance support for projects under LoCAL portfolio.
• Functions as Global Helpdesk for financial management support focusing on National implementation (NIM) advances, and liquidations.
• Manages HACT Planning and Micro-Assessment Execution for LoCAL projects including Reporting and Dashboard maintenance.
• Proper control of Global office Accounts and Knowledge Management.

1. Ensures administration and implementation of operational and financial management strategies, adapts processes and procedures for LoCAL portfolio:

• Ensure full compliance of financial activities, financial recording/reporting system and audit follow up with UN/UNDP/UNCDF rules, regulations, policies and strategies; implementation of effective internal control, proper design and functioning of the financial resources management system.
• Act as a conduit for the necessary synergies between UNDP administrative units and UNCDF for better field office compliance and performance.
• Lead project and award creation and management in the ERP system (Quantum), prepare budget revisions, revision of project award and project status, determine unutilized funds, support the operational and financial closure of projects.
• Oversee financial analysis and all resources managed by LoCAL Project Team and provision of high-quality professional service to the COs project financial and operations management.
• Support implementation of Mid Term and Final Project evaluation.

2. Manage Project Budget and Provision of project finance support for projects in LoCAL:

• Draft annual work plans and budgets for projects within the Programme Office.
• Provide regular updates on the disbursement status to project management and review of the Financial Reports and regular monitoring of financial performance.
• Track and control programme and/or project expenditure rate against commitments to ensure the conformity with approved annual workplans and budget, determine gaps between budgets and expenditures, committed and actual allocated funds to advise programme officers for taking actions.
• Support programme officers in periodic review of project work-plans from financial perspectives and advise programme officers and implementing partners on the progress and work-plan’s conformity to agreed results and outputs for finalization.
• Ensure maintenance of the internal expenditures control system which ensures that vouchers processed are matched and completed, transactions are correctly recorded and posted in Quantum; take timely corrective actions and unposted vouchers, including vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions and unapproved vouchers.
• Develop periodical Project Financial Reports (quarterly and annually) and monitor project financial performance by providing information on project progress, operational issues and disbursement including donor reporting.
• Prepare all payment requests, financial record-keeping, and financial reports required in line with both the National Implementation and Direct Implementation of financial rules and procedures.

3. Provide Global Helpdesk Function for NIM Advance Liquidations and Financial Support:

• Act as the global helpdesk focal point for LoCAL country teams on NIM advance, FACE Form submission, liquidations and related financial processes.
• Provide real-time support and guidance to regional and national project teams on queries related to accounting and advance liquidations, using correct coding, etc.
• Be available to support country teams to ensure accuracy of expenditure data, consistency with approved budgets, and compliance with liquidation requirements (when requested, provide quantum advance liquidation report to the project team to ensure accurate liquidations, correct entry on the FACE form).
• Maintain and update a LoCAL global tracker of pending and cleared FACE form liquidations, flagging issues and delays to relevant regional or HQ teams. This includes support global programme colleagues to follow aging advance liquidation on the monthly basis.
• Collaborate with the LoCAL Risk/HACT focal point, UNCDF Corporate Finance and Operations teams to align country-level liquidation practices with corporate assurance frameworks (HACT, FACE, SPOT checks).
• Document and escalate systemic issues or policy ambiguities to HQ or Regional Operations for resolution and policy refinement.
• Contribute lessons learned and help inform updates to UNCDF’s internal guidance on NIM modalities and operational risk management.

4. Manage HACT Planning and Micro-Assessment Execution for LoCAL projects including Reporting and Dashboard maintenance:

• Provide inputs to the auditing of NIM projects, supporting programme officers and implementing partners in follows-up on timely implementation of audit recommendation.
• Map implementing and responsible partners (IP/RPs) and update micro-assessment schedules for LoCAL portfolio (60+ RPs).
• Provision and presentation of information for regular audit and spot checks, ensuring proper control of supporting documents of funds and activities, supporting implementation of audit and spot check recommendations and follow up actions.
• Maintain logs of completed assessments and upload in Quantum.
• Update global HACT and risk dashboard (Excel or Power BI) reflecting activity status, risk levels, and SESP compliance.
• Draft Terms of References (ToRs) using HACT standard templates; enter PAR requests and support PO issuance.
• Submit quarterly updates and maintain documentation folders for internal and audit review.
• Support programme officers and implementing partners in follows-up on timely implementation of audit recommendation.

5. Proper control of Global office accounts and knowledge management:

• Elaborate the internal expenditures’ control system which ensures that vouchers processed are matched and completed, transactions are correctly recorded and posted in quantum; payrolls are duly prepared; MPOs, travel claims and other entitlements are duly processed, receipting of goods and services and establishment of accruals are properly done in compliance with IPSAS and UNDP policies and procedures.
• Develop and maintain the project filing system.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional Arrangement

The Programme Aanalyst (Finance and Accounting) will have a direct reporting line to Global LoCAL Programme Operations Analyst, LoCAL with secondary reporting to the Corporate Finance Advisor. The incumbent will work in close collaboration with the operations, programme and project staff in the UNCDF’s country offices in the regions, the UNCDF Regional Offices and HQ offices to exchange information and ensure excellent and consistent service delivery and reporting.

Competencies

Core

• Achieve Results: Level 1 – Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline.
• Think Innovatively: Level 1 – Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements.
• Learn Continuously: Level 1 – Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback.
• Adapt with Agility: Level 1 – Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible.
• Act with Determination: Level 1 – Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident.
• Engage and Partner: Level 1 – Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships.
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: Level 1 – Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination.

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:

• Business Management – Operations Management: Ability to effectively plan, organize, and oversee the organization’s business processes in order to convert its assets into the best results in the most efficient manner. Knowledge of relevant concepts and mechanisms
• Business Management – Customer Satisfaction/Client Management: Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs.  Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients' immediate requests.  Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns.  
• Finance – Financial planning and budgeting: Ability to support budgetary aspects of work planning process, drawing and management of team budgets.
  Ability to create and manage processes to achieve UNDP's long and short-term financial goals, including through planning, budgeting, forecasting, analysing and reporting.
• Finance – Audit risk management: Ability to address audit issues raised in the course of an audit and propose solutions in order to ensure a true and fair audit opinion is achieved.
• Procurement – Procure-to-Pay: Knowledge of purchase-to-pay cycles, concepts, principles and policies, and ability to apply this to strategic and/or practical situations 
• Procurement – Contract management: Knowledge of contract management concepts, principles and methods, and ability to apply this to strategic and/or practical situations.
• Administration – Documents and records management: Overall document (hard or electronic) management; registry and retention policy including storing and archiving 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• An advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Finance, Accounting, or relevant related field is required. Or
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Professional qualifications:

• Candidates with no professional accountancy qualifications, but with degrees that major in accountancy and/or finance must complete the Finance Training and Certification Programme (FTCP), if recruited.
• Candidates satisfying the two above criteria are exempted from undertaking the UNDP Advanced Accountancy and Finance Test (AAFT).
• Candidates with MBA or masters in finance with no accountancy qualification but with relevant experience must successfully undertake the UNDP Advanced Accountancy and Finance Test (AAFT) to be eligible for shortlisting.

Experience:

• Applicants with Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field of study are not required to have professional work experience. 
• Applicants with a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) are required to have a minimum of two (2) years of relevant professional experience at the national or international level in financial management, and programme operations and administration.

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section

• Demonstrated knowledge on budget formulation, analysis, and financial reporting.
• Demonstrated knowledge of office software and web-based financial management systems, including strong skills in Excel and spreadsheet/database tools for financial analysis, tracking, and reporting.
• Experience in financial management and resource planning, including quality assurance oversight and close monitoring of project expenditures to ensure compliance with organizational policies and donor requirements.
• Demonstrated experience in budget formulation, analysis, and financial reporting and ability to interpret financial data and provide insights to support project planning and decision-making.
• Experience in managing and analyzing budgets and expenditures for donor-funded development projects at the global or multi-country level, including financial monitoring and reporting.
• Previous experience in coordinating with donors on financial reporting requirements and supporting financial oversight and compliance of donor-funded projects.
• Familiarity with UN and international development financial frameworks, policies, and procedures, including practical experience with UNCDF/UNDP financial and accounting systems (e.g. Quantum).
• Experience in NIM/NEX financial modalities, including management of advances, FACE forms, financial reporting, and reconciliation processes, is highly desirable.
• Experience supporting internal and external audit processes, financial assurance, or quality reviews for donor-funded development projects is an asset.

Required Language(s):

• Fluency in English and national language is required