Career Opportunities: Budget & Programming Officer- Fixed Term-NOB, based in Addis Ababa (826882)

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WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

CONTRACTUAL INFORMATION

JOB TITLE: Budget & Programming Officer
TYPE OF CONTRACT: Fixed Term-NOB
UNIT/DIVISION: Resource Management Unit
DUTY STATION (City, Country): Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
REPORTING LINE: Head of Resource Management Unit or the designate

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

BACKGROUND & PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The Budget and Programming mission is to support and enable operations by safeguarding resources and efficient management of WFP resources, risk-informed end-to-end planning, budgeting and reporting that enables WFP to deliver its key priorities, strategic objectives and achieve its zero hunger goals. Job holders are required to operate with minimal supervision to provide analysis and advice on resource planning and management issues. They are likely to be coaching a small team and working under the supervision of a more experienced staff member, receiving guidance and regular feedback on work performed To deliver budget and resource analysis and programming activities, typically with a lower level of complexity, and/or provide support to HQ/RBx , partnering with and supporting managers in the application of best practice approaches for the efficient, effective and compliant utilisation of funds.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Budget Planning and Management

1. Contribute to the implementation of plans and policies by setting clear goals; coordinate processes for budget and programming activities in compliance with WFP and functional strategies.

2. Review budgets for accuracy, appropriateness, cost containment/effectiveness and completeness in line with available guidelines, flagging any shortcomings and providing comprehensive feedback to the main stakeholders as needed.

3. Review and release budgets in WFP’s corporate systems ensuring that all budget-supporting documents are available, and address received comments and recommendations before relevant resource data is recorded in internal systems for reference.

4. Support the preparation of funding proposals through donor trend analysis against operational shortfalls, proposing fund prioritisation options by activity and modality as necessary.

5. Analyze CSPs/RBPs closure activities, ensuring actions are taken for the receiving of resources transfers and the timely start and closures of activities.

Pipeline Management

6. Review and analyze commodity pipeline requirements including Advance Financing requests in collaboration with stakeholders at the operational level to ensure timely shortfall coverage and efficient utilization of contributions.

7. Review monthly pipelines, participate in meetings and provide feedback to the CO/RB teams on resource allocations and corporate stock replenishments to maximise operational effectiveness, escalating based on severity of pipeline shortfalls and using relevant pipeline management tools.

8. Coordinate and consolidate information for the monthly, cross-functional, pipeline working group, (across Area Offices, Sub Offices and Field Offices as needed), that proactively discusses resource availability and upcoming shortfalls, while recommending timely mitigation measures.

9. Participate in meetings with internal stakeholders to discuss the utilization of foreseen contributions and support the process of developing funding proposals.

Funds and Performance Management, and Reporting

10. Advise spending units on the timely and appropriate programming and utilization of funds, to align with funding proposals and donor conditions, proposing timely recommendations and possible corrective actions that enable reporting in close collaboration with the Partnerships teams.

11. Monitor fund sub allotments as per available procedures and guidelines, to avail funds to spending units for timely commitment.

12. Coordinate and consolidate inputs for the CO/RB Resource Management Committee (RMC) which reviews and prioritizes resources against the Country Portfolio Budget (CPB) implementation plans, as per agreed timelines.

13. Contribute to the preparation of interim, progress and final reports as stipulated in various contribution agreements between WFP and specific donors, particularly for those locally negotiated contributions, in close collaboration with CO, RB and HQ counterparts as required.

Other

14. Where needed, contribute to the activation/deactivation and management of Global Commodity Management Facility (GCMF) supply lines, participate in knowledge transfer activities in support of the facility and facilitate decision-making for the allocation of corporate stocks.

15. Supervise, guide a small-sized team, coaching and providing/delivering training to build capacity and increase expected level of operational support, acting as a first escalation point on more complex analysis and queries.

16. Collate and analyse data and contribute to preparation of accurate and timely reports, to enable informed decision-making and consistency of information presented to senior management and external stakeholders.

17. Perform other relevant duties as required.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Education: Advanced University degree in Business Administration, Statistics, Finance, Economics, or Bachelor's Degree in the relevant fields with additional years of experience.

Experience: At least three years of postgraduate professional experience in leading the preparation, monitoring of project budget plans and providing financial analysis and technical advice.
•    Proven ability to take initiative, develop and execute demanding work plans.
•    Ability to analyze and identify opportunities and challenges and develop and propose solutions to budget challenges.
•    Proven ability to establish and maintain excellent working relations with colleagues and external partners and deal tactfully and patiently with different people.
•    Experience in managing diverse interests and perspectives and build consensus.

Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Experience performing analytics of medium complexity and presenting the information to meet various audience needs.

• Experience preparing, managing and reporting on operational budgets.

• Experience in working with large datasets, extracting information from them in an easy to interpret manner.

• A demonstrated and adequate understanding of information and financial systems and how those support the implementation of operations.

• Thorough understanding of operational planning and business processes, rules and procedures and applying them consistently in the implementation and support of programme interventions.

• Adequate knowledge of programme operational requirements and how these translate into resource management requirements, enabling the proposition of recommendations for improvement in a proactive rather than reactive manner.

• Experience coordinating operational planning and fostering discussions around resource projections and implications on a programme-wide level, integrating trend analyses and ongoing discussions to drive the way forward.

• Ability to consolidate and share resource management information in a way that supports decision making and emphasizes accuracy and consistency in numbers across teams.

• Ability to coach, train and mentor a team of staff to deliver at expected levels.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

18 May 2023 

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WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment

WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.