Budget & Programming Officer
Career Opportunities: Budget & Programming Officer CST- Level I
Duty station: Monrovia
🚩 Vacancy Announcement n°: 726830
📢 Job Title: Budget & Programming Officer
📌Type of Contract: International Consultant/ Level 1
➡️ Unit / Division: Budgeting & Programming
📍 Duty Station: Monrovia
➡️ Duration: 11 months
⏰ Closing date: 14 April 2023, midnight (Liberia Time)
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.
To learn more about WFP, visit our website and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
Background and Purpose of the Assignment
Liberia is a least developed, low-income, and food-deficit country and one of two countries in the world where a nutrient-adequate diet is unaffordable for 86 percent of the population. The country continues to rebuild infrastructure and basic social services after more than 14 years of civil war (1989-2003), the Ebola outbreak (2014-2016) and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The impacts on the country are extensive with nearly 44 percent of the population living on less than US$1.90 per day and 25 percent living in severe multi-dimensional poverty. Despite an abundance of natural resources including conditions that are favorable to agriculture, poor infrastructure, low agricultural production and productivity, land ownership constraints, limited access to education and gender inequalities are among the factors contributing to the country’s chronic food insecurity and malnutrition. The March 2021 food security and post-harvest assessment found an estimated 2.4 million people moderately or severely food insecure (45 percent and 5 percent of the population, respectively), an increase of 50 percent since the last assessment in September 2020.
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 Liberia to deliver its key priorities, strategic objectives and achieve its zero hunger goals.
What will you do in this position?
Budget Planning and Management
- Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures for budget and programming activities through close monitoring, with the aim of achieving compliance with WFP and functional strategies
- Contribute towards the compilation, preparation, and revision of various budget plans in compliance with budget and programming procedures
- Monitor WFP’s corporate systems ensuring that all budget-supporting documents are accurate, well-developed, and in line with recommendations to enable accurate recording into internal systems and follow-up on budget approval actions
- Participate in CSPs/RBPs closure activities and work with spending units to highlight and close open commitments in a timely manner whilst bringing any potential issues to the supervisor’s attention.
Pipeline Management
- Collate 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.
- Prepare monthly pipeline reports and support the CO/RB team in monitoring the resource pipeline across all transfer modalities (Food, Cash Based Transfers, Capacity Strengthening and Service Delivery) including corporate stock replenishments to maximize operational effectiveness.
- Participate in and support preparations 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, recommending timely mitigation measures.
Funds, Performance Management, and Reporting
- Check accuracy and monitor timely programming and utilization of funds based on operational priorities, funding proposals, and donor conditions, proposing timely recommendations and possible corrective actions that enable reporting in collaboration with spending units.
- Perform and document fund sub-allotments as per available procedures and guidelines, to avail funds to spending units for timely commitment.
- Participate and support preparations for the CO/RB Resource Management Committee (RMC) as per agreed timelines. The RMC reviews and prioritizes resources against the Country Portfolio Budget (CPB).
Others
- Where needed, support 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.
- Support the capacity enhancement of junior staff in budgeting, funds management, operational planning and performance reporting, through the regular day-to-day interactions, delivering training using available materials, manuals and guidelines.
- Take active participation in training and learning opportunities, interactions with and accepting guidance from peers and senior colleagues.
- Collect inputs and draft accurate and timely reports, to enable informed decision-making and consistency of information presented to senior management and external stakeholders.
- Contribute towards the development and improvement of systems, techniques, tools, processes and procedures to better monitor, manage and report on WFP budgets and resources.
- Participate in 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.
Why work with us?
➡️ Meaningful and impactful careers:
Our day-to-day work makes a difference in the lives of the people we serve
➡️ Continuous learning and training:
We provide learning tools for our staff to continually develop their careers
➡️ Multicultural and stimulating work environment:
We encourage gender and cultural diversity to make our teams stronger
Join us to make a difference in Liberia!!
To join us in saving lives, changing lives, you will have for…
Education:
Advanced University degree in Business Administration, Statistics, Finance, Economics or relevant field. Additional professional training in Project Management, Statistical Analysis/ or Operational Planning and Management is desirable.
Experience & Knowledge:
- At least three years of a minimum relevant professional work experience in related roles; experience with WFP would be an asset.
- Experience performing basic analytics and presenting the information to meet various audience needs.
- Some experience in preparing, managing and reporting on operational budgets and performance and willingness to strengthen skills
- Experience working with large datasets, extracting information from them in an easy-to-interpret manner.
- Adequate analytical skills and resourcefulness, initiative, and have learned tact in devising solutions to current and potential operational issues.
- Good understanding of information and financial systems and how those support the implementation of operations.
- Good understanding of operational planning and business processes, rules, and procedures and applying them consistently in the implementation and support of programme interventions.
- Ability to meet tight deadlines.
- Ability to work patiently and tactfully in a team, with people of different backgrounds and expertise, to deliver as one toward common operational goals.
- Able to supervise and support more junior and/or less experienced team members.
Language: Fluency (level C) in English language.
Before you apply…
WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting an inclusive work environment in which diversity is valued and where no form of discrimination is tolerated. We aim to achieve parity in our teams in Liberia. Qualified female applicants and individuals with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply.
All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.
Liberian Nationals are not eligible to apply.
