Budget & Programming Officer NOB (12 Months Fixed Term contract renewable), Johannesburg

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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.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to end global hunger. 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.

In emergencies, WFP gets food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After an emergency, WFP uses food to help communities rebuild their shattered lives. Present in nearly 80 countries, the organization has the global footprint, deep field presence and local knowledge and relationships necessary to provide access to nutritious food and contribute to the lasting solutions, especially in many of the world’s most remote and fragile areas. We manage an operating budget of approximately $5.9 billion each year, distributing 12.6 billion rations to those most in need. We reach an average of 80 million people with food assistance in around 80 countries each year. The World Food Programme office in Johannesburg is a Regional Office coordinating and supporting the delivery of humanitarian assistance to 12 Southern Africa countries including, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Malawi, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazaville and Angola.

For more on WFP and what we do, please go to Ending hunger | World Food Programme (wfp.org)

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

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. The position will report to a senior Budget and Programming Officer in the Budget & Programming Unit (BPU) and is required to operate with minimal supervision and to provide analysis and advice on complex resource planning and management issues.

JOB PURPOSE

To deliver budget and resource analysis and programming activities and/or provide support in HQ/RBs, partnering with managers to apply best practice approaches that support the efficient, effective and compliant utilisation of funds.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Budget Planning and Management

• 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.
• 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.
• Review Country and Regional Portfolio Budgets 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.
• Support the preparation of funding proposals through donor trend analysis against operational shortfalls, proposing fund prioritisation options by activity and modality as necessary.
• Analyze project closure activities, ensuring actions are taken for the receiving of resources transfers and the timely start and closures of activities.

Pipeline Management

• Review and analyze commodity pipeline requirements in collaboration with relevant stakeholders at RBJ & CO levels to ensure timely shortfall coverage and efficient utilization of contributions.
• Review monthly pipelines submitted by country offices, participate in meetings and provide feedback to the CO and RB teams on resource allocations and corporate stock replenishments to maximise operational effectiveness, escalating issues based on severity of pipeline shortfalls and using relevant pipeline management tools.
• Coordinate and consolidate the information for the monthly cross-functional Integrated Resource Management Committee (IRMC) meeting, that proactively discusses resource availability and upcoming shortfalls, while recommending timely mitigation measures.
• Participate in meetings with internal stakeholders in RBJ & COs to discuss the optimal utilization of available and forecasted contributions and support the process of developing funding proposals.

Funds and Performance Management, and Reporting

• Analyze and advise COs 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.
• Coordinate and consolidate inputs for the RB Resource Management Committee (RMC) which reviews and prioritizes resources against the Country Portfolio Budget (CPB) implementation plans, as per agreed timelines.
• Undertake regular analysis of the resource availability and utilization status (surplus/deficits) and flag issues on resource management to country offices on timely manner to avoid loss of funds.

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

• 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.
• Implement proposed developments and improvements of systems, techniques, tools, processes and procedures to better monitor, manage and report on WFP budgets and resources.
• Represent the unit at internal meetings/committees/working groups as required, in order to obtain and provide information from a budget and resource programming perspective.
• Follow standard emergency preparedness practices and contribute to monitoring the management of financial risks.
• Perform other relevant duties as required.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Has experience in performing complex analytics and presenting the information to meet various audience needs.
• Has experience in preparing, managing and reporting on operational budgets.
• Has experience in working with large datasets, extracting information from them in an easy to interpretable manner.
• Has thorough understanding of operational planning and business processes, rules and procedures and apply them consistently in the implementation and support of programme interventions.
• Has experience in 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.
• Able to demonstrate in depth 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.
• Able to demonstrate adequate understanding of information, financial systems and how those support the implementation of operations.
• Able to consolidate and share resource management information in a way that supports decision making and emphasizes accuracy and consistency in numbers across teams.
• Able to coach, train and mentor a team of staff to deliver at expected levels.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: An advanced university degree in Business Administration, Statistics, Finance, Economics or other relevant field. Additional professional trainings in project management, statistical analysis and/or operational planning and management is desirable.

Language: Fluency (level C) in English language. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese (WFP working language).

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

WFP offers equal opportunities to all WFP is committed to promoting a work culture in which every employee understands and is able to carry out their work responsibilities and maintain the dignity of their co-workers. WFP offers career opportunities for its employees and supports them in their professional development with training and continuous learning actions. WFP is also committed to creating and maintaining a harmonious climate in the workplace, based on mutual respect and understanding, free of discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment and abuse of authority and respectful of diversity. WFP is committed to diversity and inclusion in its workforce and encourages qualified women and men from all religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. WFP has a zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate based on the status of HIV / AIDS. Finally, WFP seeks to promote gender equality and women's empowerment and is confident that its mission to fight global hunger can only be achieved if women, men, girls and boys equal opportunity for access to resources and services and participation in decision-making roles

• Contract type/grade: Fixed Term/NOB
• Contract Duration: 1 year (Renewable)
• Remuneration: A competitive compensation and benefits package is offered.
• Eligibility: This VA is open ONLY to South African Nationals. WFP is an equal opportunity employer. Female candidates meeting the above qualifications are encouraged to apply

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

The vacancy announcement will close on 21 November 2022, 23:59 South African time.

Qualified female applicants are especially encouraged to apply.

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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.

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