Humanitarian Affairs Officer / Humanitarian Financing Unit (HFU) Manager at United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - UNOCHA

Job ID: OCHA-160254-J- (X)
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Job Code Title: Humanitarian Affairs Officer
Department / Office: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Staffing Exercise: N/A
Job Opening Number: 21-Humanitarian Affairs

Organizational Setting and Reporting

• The position is located in the Offices for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Maiduguri, Nigeria, and Juba, South Sudan. OCHA is the part of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies.
• OCHA's mission is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors in order to alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies; advocate the rights of people in need; promote preparedness and prevention and facilitate sustainable solutions.
• The Humanitarian Affairs Officer / Pooled Fund Manager will be responsible for the OCHA Humanitarian Financing Unit, providing support to the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) in overseeing and managing the respective Humanitarian Fund (HF).
• The Humanitarian Affairs Officer / Pooled Fund Manager reports to the Deputy Head of OCHA Nigeria or South Sudan Office respectively.

Responsibilities
Within the delegated authority, the Humanitarian Affairs Officer / Pooled Fund Manager and will be responsible for the following duties:

Fund Management and Coordination:

• Under the supervision of the Deputy HoO, advise the HC on the management of the respective Humanitarian Fund (HF) and CERF allocations;
• Manage the OCHA Humanitarian Financing Unit (HFU) where the HF is located;
• Manage and oversee fund allocation processes ensuring necessary coordination with relevant counterparts in line with the Terms of Reference and/or allocation guidelines (i.e. Review Committees, Advisory Boards, sector leads; humanitarian organizations; and OCHA);
• Manage the overall administration of the Fund and liaise as necessary with relevant OCHA HQ sections (i.e. OCHA Operations and Advocacy Division (OAD), OCHA Country-based Pooled Fund Section (CBPFS) and OCHA Administrative Services Branch (ASB), OCHA External Relations and Partnerships Section (ERPS).
• Monitor the implementation of Fund allocation strategies as endorsed by the HC, in consultation with OCHA Deputy HoO and HoO, promoting coherence between humanitarian needs and response;
• Lead in policy development, including the review and analysis of humanitarian financing and programming issues at the country level, ensuring proper coordination with the CBPFS;
• Ensure implementation and compliance with policies and standard guidelines in accordance with HC decisions and HQ guidance;
• Ensure proper communication and support during the allocation and other relevant processes to all stakeholders;
• Support fund recipient organisations throughout project life-cycle, promoting compliance with applicable rules in the Fund's Operational Manual and other relevant governance documents;
• Liaise with contributing donors in and outside the country as necessary;
• Ensure coordination and information exchange with donors to promote coordinated and complementary use of funds (including CERF when appropriate);
• Represent the Fund to stakeholders (NGOs, UN Agencies, donors) and other external actors as required;

Financial Management:

• Under the supervision and in support of the Deputy Head of Office, advises on financial management related to the Fund;
• Oversee recipient organizations' compliance with applicable financial rules;
• Ensure that verification activities of fund recipients' financial oversight are taking place according to the provision stated in the Operational Manual of the Fund;
• Oversee the yearly audits of NGOs and analysis of their results, to ensure compliance with financial rules and regulations and disseminate lessons learned;

Compliance and Risk Management:

• Advise the HC and the HoO and DHoO on risk management and risk mitigation;
• Oversee the development, update and implementation of the fund’s risk management framework;
• Ensure that grant agreements and supporting documents are accurate, consistent and in compliance with OCHA's guidelines and the Fund's Operating Manual;
• Ensure implementation and compliance with policies and standard guidelines in accordance with HC decisions and HQ guidance;
• Support fund recipient organizations throughout project life-cycle promoting compliance with applicable rules stated;
• Support the audit of the Fund by the Board of Auditors ensuring due consultation with relevant HQ sections;
• Activate, when needed, OCHA's Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on Suspected Fraud and Misuse of Funds;
• Activate, when needed, OCHA's Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on Response to Concerns of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse involving Implementing Partners of Country- based Pooled Funds.

Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation:

• Oversee the monitoring of the funded projects to promote the knowledge and appropriate use of the Fund in line with its Terms of Reference; field visits should focus engagement with key actors (e.g. OCHA field staff, fund recipient organizations, local officials, community representatives).
• Ensure compliance with monitoring and reporting requirements in place for the Fund;
• Ensure narrative and financial reporting compliance from the start to the closure of each project in line with the risk management framework;
• Oversee and ensure timely project reporting cycle, including the annual report of the Fund;
• Systematically provide information on project status to the HC, the HoO, donors and relevant governing bodies of the Fund;
• Support the preparation of evaluations, reviews and studies as requested by the HC and governing bodies ensuring due consultation with relevant HQ sections (CBPFS, CERF, APMB);
• Ensure timely upload of all relevant information and data in the Grant Management System (GMS) by the HFU staff, realizing the full potential of the digital Information Management system developed by OCHA pooled funds.

Analysis, Communications and Public Information:

• Oversee the development and update periodic analyses of humanitarian financing information, funding trends and requirements, gathering data from all relevant sources;
• Liaise with stakeholders aiming at the largest dissemination of information about the scope, the access and the allocation process of the Fund;
• In collaboration with relevant OCHA Office and OCHA HQ sections ensure appropriate dissemination of information about the Fund through different communication products (i.e. bulletins, feature stories, photographs/videos, websites, CBPF Annual Report etc.);
• Perform other duties as assigned by the OCHA Head of Office.

Donors Relations:

• Strengthen relationship with current donors to ensure a consistent flow of information and timely reporting on OCHA's activities and programme requirements;
• Develop key strategic partnerships with new donors to achieve a broader donor base for Country-Based Pooled Fund, the Humanitarian Response Plan and OCHA;
• Conduct and update periodic analyses of humanitarian financing information, funding trends and requirements, gathering data from all relevant sources;
• Support policy development, including the review and analysis of humanitarian issues at the country level, ensuring proper coordination with the Humanitarian Financing and Resource Mobilization Division;
• Ensure coordination and information exchange with other donors aiming to promote coordinated and complementary use of funds (including CERF when appropriate);

Competencies
Professionalism:

• Sound knowledge of and exposure to a range of humanitarian assistance, emergency relief and related humanitarian issues, to include approaches and techniques to address difficult problems;
• Conceptual and strategic analytical capacity and in particular the ability to analyze and articulate the humanitarian and protection dimension of issues which require a coordinated UN response
• Ability to identify issues and to use sound judgment in applying technical expertise to resolve a wide range of problems; ability to evaluate and integrate information from a variety of sources and assess impact on the humanitarian rights and protection situation in assigned country/area; ability to work under extreme pressure, on occasion in a highly stressful environment (e.g. civil strife, natural disasters and human misery)
• Ability to provide guidance to new / junior staff.
• Take responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work. Proven drafting skills.
• Knowledge of institutional mandates, policies and guidelines pertaining humanitarian assistance.
• Knowledge of the UN common system and NGOs, and commonly used computer applications including MS Word and Excel.
• Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.

Client Orientation:

• Considers all those to whom services are provided to be "clients" and seeks to see things from clients' point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect
• Identifies clients' needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients' environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.

Teamwork:

• Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others' ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

Requirements
Education:

• An Advanced University Degree (Master's Degree or equivalent) in Humanitarian or Development Affairs, Social Sciences, Public Administration, International Studies, Economics or a related field, is required. A First-level University Degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in humanitarian affairs, emergency preparedness, crisis/emergency relief management, rehabilitation, development, project management, budget management, or related area is required.
• Experience in humanitarian emergencies in the field is required.
• Experience in areas of direct and remote project management, project monitoring and evaluation is required.
• Experience in grants management and in the design of logical frameworks, including remote monitoring of humanitarian assistance is desirable.
• Experience in risk management and compliance is desirable.
• Experience working with capacity strengthening initiatives is desirable.
• Experience with the UN common system or equivalent international organization is desirable.
• Experience in the Africa continent is desirable.

Languages:

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post,fluency in English is required.

Assessment:

• Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by a competency-based interview.