Finance Officer (Cooperating Partner Management,) NOB, RBDakar

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

🚩 Vacancy Announcement n°: 826579

📢 Job Title: Finance Officer – Cooperating Partner (CP) Management

✨ Contract type and Grade: Fixed Term NOB

📧 Duration: 12 months (Renewable subject to performance)

✅ Unit / Division: Finance Unit

📍 Duty Station: Regional Bureau Dakar, Senegal

⏰ Closing date: 11 May 2023

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.

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 diversity and gender balance. Female Candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), a highly prestigious, reputable & world’s largest humanitarian organization, operates in more than 120 countries and territories, bringing life-saving assistance in emergencies, building pathways to peace, stability, and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change and supporting sustainable and resilient livelihoods for a world with zero hunger. At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do, and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high-performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: UN World Food Programme (WFP), and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.

JOB PURPOSE

To support the stewardship of WFP’s resources, monitoring budgets, forecasting, analysing, reporting and providing core administrative support to enable effective management of funds, and ensure assistance to beneficiaries is undertaken in the most efficient and effective way possible.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the direct supervision of the Senior Regional Finance Officer, the incumbent will have the following responsibilities:

1. Support corporate finance and resource management strategies and major ongoing programmatic initiatives, participating where appropriate using finance and resource management expertise.
2. Contribute towards the development of country-specific plans and processes, aligned with Regional and wider WFP strategy, policies and processes to meet the food assistance needs of beneficiaries within the Country.
3. Develop technical skills of Country Office (CO) Finance Officers to review Cooperating Partners’ (CP) financial proposals and budgets in line with their technical proposals.

• Guide CO Finance Officers regarding their role in the Cooperating Partner Committees (CPC) for the selection of Cooperating Partners.
• Guide CO Finance Officers on the financial monitoring of FLA. This includes raising timely commitments against FLA, timely clearance of advances, and recording of expenses in the appropriate period.
• Provide training(s) to CO Finance Officers on how to conduct spot checks of cooperating partners covering key Programmatic areas, internal controls, and financial management systems.
• Provide training/webinars/information sessions to CO staff as required and equip them to be able to deliver training to CPs.

1. Analyse and report on key data for financial status and outcomes of projects in accordance with corporate governance requirements, ensuring accuracy, deadlines, and accounting processes are complied with.
2. Monitor and analyse budgets for new and ongoing projects according to established corporate procedures and requirements such as:

• Guiding COs in drafting SOPs on the financial management of FLAs.
• Support COs with the development of key documentation such as SoPs, Cooperating Partner Committee ToRs, checklists, etc. that support an effective CP mgmt. function.
• Guide COs on how to conduct the variance analysis of CP budget, monitor COMET, and follow-up on outstanding invoices of CPs
• Leading the rollout of new tools and processes to COs, ensuring timing, participation, and process changes are coordinated with each CO to optimize impact and adoption.

1. Collate and analyse data for the preparation of accurate and timely reporting, in order to provide management with financial, accounting and budgetary information to enable them to make informed decisions.
2. Track and analyse data to identify opportunities for improvements to policies, systems and procedures in order to minimise financial risks, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations, and ensure services are aligned with business objectives like:

• Developing financial tools to prioritize and conduct CP spot checks/micro assessments and share with CO Finance Officers.
• Developing and sharing health and spot check reporting template with CO Finance Officers.
• Developing a checklist for Finance Officers to be used for virtual and onsite financial monitoring of CP budgets to ensure funds are utilized for the intended purpose and following the work plan/FLA.

1. Deliver financial controls and insight into WFP performance, undertaking periodic risk and internal control assessments to identify areas which may present potential audit, compliance or financial risks by:

• Conducting oversight, internal control financial assessment of CPs in the region with CO Finance Officers.
• Providing hands-on training to CO Finance Officers to conduct such exercises independently.

1. Guide and supervise more junior staff, acting as a point of referral and supporting them with more complex analysis and queries.
2. Represent unit/CO at internal meetings, external meetings and events with other UN agencies, banks and other financial institutions, or other partners and entities as required.
3. Follow standard emergency preparedness practices to ensure WFP is able to quickly respond and deploy food and needed resources to affected areas at the onset of the crisis.
4. Other as required

STANDARD MINIMUM ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Education:

You have

Advanced University degree (Master's degree equivalent, BAC+4/5), in Finance, Business Administration, Accounting or related fields, or First University degree (Bachelor's degree equivalent, BAC +3) recognized by https://www.whed.net/home.php in the same subject(s) with additional years of related work experience plus membership in an international recognized professional accountancy body such as Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Institute of Certified Public Accounts (ICPA) or equivalent.

Experience:

You have:

At least five (5) years of progressively responsible professional post graduate experience related to implementing accounting and internal control processes or reviewing and analyzing financial statements.

Desirable Knowledge and Skills

• Proven track record working with over 3 years in UN agencies or other international organizations or multinational companies is considered as an asset.
• Relevant background on the linkages between policy issues and operations desirable.
• Experience working with technical experts and integrating inputs from multiple stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills and proven ability to work in a collaborative setting and/or partnership building and managing.
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in a multicultural environment that involve many stakeholders.
• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Ability to juggle multiple projects and integrate diverse information.
• Knowledge of common business principles and processes and the ability to quickly assimilate UN/WFP specific processes and systems.

Languages:

Fluency (level C in reading, writing and speaking) in English and French.

Key outputs/deliverables

• CO Finance community is trained on the Financial management of the FLAs
• Finance guidance and tools are developed to conduct the micro assessment, health/spot checks, virtual/onsite financial monitoring of CPs’ financial systems
• Collaboration with UNDP, UNICEF, and UNFPA is done to establish a centralized medium to share CPs assessments, health, and spot check reports.
• Reporting template is developed for findings of health and spot checks, micro assessments, and financial assessments.
• Procedure is established and defined to verify the time-bound cost of CPs.
• Orientation is provided on the use of the HACT micro assessment checklist to conduct the micro assessment.
• Review of COs CP management SoP to include updated policies and procedures.
• Improvement plans for COs to address audit observations and oversight recommendations related to cooperating partners.
• Regional contextualization of corporate templates, training material, and checklists for use by COs.

Deadline for application: 11 May 2023

WFP Value Proposition

• 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 working environment – We encourage gender and cultural diversity to make our teams stronger.

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU APPLY

• All employment decisions are made based on organisational 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, Join 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.
• Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply. WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.
• Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance
• 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.
• 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.

Special Notice on WFP RBD office relocation:

WFP and other UN Agencies will be moving to the new United Nations House, presently under construction in Diamniadio, 30 kilometres from downtown Dakar. The name of the duty station for this position will remain Dakar, Senegal.

Special recommendation:

Before you apply, please confirm that both (i) your on-line profile and CV are accurate and up to date, (ii) your CV should include your employment history, academic qualifications, and language skills.

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