Jobs at the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

Job No: 553610
Location: Abuja
Contract type: Temporary Appointment
Duration: One year
Level: P-3
Categories: Research, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
Supervisor: Chief, Management for Result

How Can you Make a Difference?

• UNICEF Nigeria has over 100 donor-funded grants to manage each year, with varying requirements and conditionalities.
• Under the supervision of the Chief, Management for Results and general guidance from the Deputy Representative, the Programme Specialist (Budget) will provide the guidance and quality assurance that is necessary for the Country Office budget to comply with results-based budgeting principles and standards and that grants are reported on and used in line with donor commitments.
• The Programme Specialist (Budget) will be responsible for setting up systems and procedures related to improved funds monitoring and utilization at the country level and support the planning and allocation of programme and cross-sectoral budgets.
• S/he will provide quality assurance of budget development, utilization, and reporting (RWP and donor-funded) and monitor the pipeline and funds analysis for resource mobilization.
• Furthermore, the Programme Specialist (Budget) will provide capacity development, technical advice, and support to the Budget Officer (NOB).

Main Responsibilities and Tasks
Strategic planning and implementation (budget and finances):

• Contributes to strengthening programme planning with a focus on financial and budgeting aspects.
• Collaborates with the Donor Relations Specialist for a global overview of financial figures and donors, to support analyses on the pipeline and funding situation of the office.
• Participates in annual reviews, previews and assessment discussions. Focal point for budget and financial data and analysis including affordability analysis.

Budget & financial monitoring:

• Responsible for the financial planning, allocations to other business areas, monitoring and reporting of the grants.
• Manages the tracking of cross sectoral needs and allocation for resourcing and effective utilization.
• Maintains and improves upon dashboard to present immediate summary of the financial data.
• Safeguards financial resources by advising on and managing financial assets, financial planning, and regular reporting.
• Support the funds move to the new country programme and closely monitor current country programme commitments and dropped balances.
• Provide quality assurance for the monthly payroll process
• Monitors programme/project budgets versus actual expenditure; ensures that expenditure recorded meets donor requirements for eligible expenditure items and that the level of documentation meets their specified requirements and advice on budget performance and, if applicable, suggests budget revisions.
• Ensures all finance and budget-related bottlenecks are resolved for the efficient use of financial resources.
• Provides internal operations/ administrative functions including salary forecasting and cost distribution, verification and quality control of reprogramming, extension and pull back cash requests, etc.
• Supports with efforts to ensure compliance in closure of grants, including final financial reporting, external audit and updating UNICEF financial accounts.

Partnerships & reporting (budgets and financials):

• Supports effective partnerships and collaboration by coordinating and providing timely required information and reports with a focus on budgets and finance.
• Supports development and refinement of budgets and preparation of funding proposals.
• Facilitates partnerships and collaboration with external and internal counterparts in order to improve exchange of data on programme and project implementation, particularly budget and financial elements.
• Participates in teleconferences, meetings and periodic face-to-face meetings with partners as needed.
• Works closely with the Donor Relations Specialist and relevant section colleagues on financial/budget component of donor reporting.
• Participate in coordination meetings with partners and contributes by presenting financial reporting updates and insights.

Grants management:

• Provides accurate and timely monitoring of financial utilization and programme implementation of UNICEF Nigeria grants.
• Provides timely updated information on financial utilization and programme implementation to relevant programme managers and Senior Management.

Capacity building:

• Facilitates efficient communication and coordination between the different sections and field offices.
• Builds the capacity of Programme Assistants for financial monitoring.
• Provides on-the-job training and capacity building to the Budget Officer (NOB) to provide budgetary oversight to the country office.
• In collaboration with the Donor Relations Specialist, provides guidance on donor proposal and report preparation as per donor specifications.
• Develop standardization of proposals and reports on immunization programme for countries as appropriate.
• Provides remote and in-person support to field offices financial monitoring and budget, e.g. setting up automated grant monitoring and financial utilization systems.

Minimum Qualifications and Competencies
Education:

• An Advanced University Degree in Social Sciences, Statistics, Engineering, Business Administration, Finance / Accounts Management or related area of study.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of five years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: programme finance and budget management, operations, monitoring and reporting, public affairs, programme management, resource mobilization, external relations, or other relevant area.
• Experience in managing donors and partnerships and multi-year grants is required, and experience working with UN agencies is an asset.

The competencies required for this post are:
Core Values:

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability

Core Competencies:

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (1)
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
• Works Collaboratively with others (2)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2).

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Job No: 553602
Location: Sokoto
Contract Type: Fixed Term Appointment
Level: NO-2
Categories: Education

For Every Child, Education

• In Nigeria, UNICEF works in a complex humanitarian and development setting to fulfill and protect children's rights in partnership with government, civil society, children and families. UNICEF Nigeria is one of the largest UNICEF Country Offices globally.

How Can you Make a Difference? 

• Under the guidance and general supervision of the Education Manager, the Education Officer supports the development and preparation of the Education programmes and is responsible for contributing to the management, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the progress of education programmes/projects within the country programme.
• Particularly, the Officer provides technical support on all aspects of capacity development of formal and non-formal education to facilitate the administration and achievement of results on education programmes/projects towards the improvement of learning outcomes for all boys and girls and youth, through alternative learning, Islamic Education and its integration into formal education initiatives, including boys and girls affected by community level degenerating safety, who are marginalized, disadvantaged, and excluded in society.
• The Officer contributes to achievement of results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM), as well as UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance, and accountability framework.

Summary of Key Functions / Accountabilities
Support to Programme Development and Planning:

• Contribute to the preparation and updating of the situation analysis for the development, design and management of education related programmes/projects. Research and report on development trends (economic, social, health etc.) and data for use in programme development, management, monitoring, evaluation and delivery of results.
• Contribute to the development and establishment of sectoral programme goals, objectives and strategies and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis and reporting of education and other related information for development planning and goal setting.
• Provide technical and administrative support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical programme transactions, preparing materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results-based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluation of results.
• Support the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis for the education programmes with a focus on non-formal education to ensure that current and comprehensive data on access to alternative learning and on education issues is available to guide UNICEF’s strategic policy, advocacy, intervention and development efforts on education programmes.
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal colleagues and external partners to discuss strategies and methodologies, and to determine national priorities to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes and to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programmes/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

Programme Management, Monitoring and Delivery of Results

• Work closely and collaboratively with internal colleagues and partners to collect, analyze and share information on implementation issues to support learning outcome through the improvement of delivery in schools and non-formal learning centers and support learning assessment related interventions, training and materials development for non-formal, integrated Qur’anic education (IQE) and accelerated education
• Suggest solutions on routine learning outcome and capacity development-related programme implementation and submit reports to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decisions. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts and prepare minutes/reports on results for follow up action by higher management and other stakeholders.
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocation, organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management/stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
• Prepare draft inputs particularly those related to sector capacity development and learning outcomes for programme/donor reporting.

Technical and Operational Support to Programme Implementation:

• Undertake field visits and surveys and share information with stakeholders to assess progress and refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices on education related issues to support programme implementation, operations and delivery of results.
• In collaboration with the relevant specialists, provide technical leadership for training development, including revision of existing training resources for teachers and facilitators on learning programmes, delivered through the formal or non-formal education systems and settings, as well as learning outcome assessment.
• Participate in education programme meetings including programme development and contingency planning to provide technical and operational information and analysis, advice and support.
• Contribute to draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use.

Networking and Partnership Building:

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on education programmes.
• Draft communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships and alliances, and support fund raising for education programmes.
• Participate in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) meetings and events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of education programmes/projects and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with the UNDAF development and planning process.
• Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.
• Contribute to the preparation and conduct of stakeholder discussions around learning outcomes, Formal and Non-Formal Education policy design and implementation, curriculum, materials and assessment.

Innovation, Knowledge Management and Capacity Building:

• Contribute to identifying, capturing, synthesizing, and sharing lessons learned for knowledge development and capacity development of stakeholders.
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practice to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
• Research and report on best and cutting-edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
• Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.

Qualifications
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:

• Education: A University Degree in one of the following fields is required: Education, Psychology, Sociology or another relevant technical field.
• Experience: A minimum of two years of professional experience in programme planning, management, and/or research in education is required.
• Experience working in a relevant role in the NW of Nigeria is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English and local language of the duty station is required.  Knowledge of another official UN language is considered as an asset.

UNICEF competencies required for this post are:

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1).