CONSULTANCY: Budget forecasting for risk management

DUTY STATION

Home-based, Remote

COMMENCEMENT OF DUTY

1 April 2025
or as soon as possible thereafterNATURE OF APPOINTMENT

Variable (depending on needs of Department/Division)
10-15 days over a period of one year

 

Organizational Unit

WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS) Branch
Infrastructure Department

WMO is committed to achieving diversity and a balanced workforce. Applications are welcome from qualified women and men, including those with disabilities. The statutory retirement age after 1 January 2014 is 65. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete the term of appointment will normally be considered.DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the supervision of the Director of the WIGOS Branch, a consultant is to be engaged to prepare standardized and regular financial projections and estimates of future financial risk of OceanOPS.

OceanOPS is a joint centre for ocean metadata management of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, with an overall budget of approximately 1 million CHF per year, based in Brest, France. The role of OceanOPS is technical, working with ocean observing networks, tracking data flow using metadata, and it has a range of income, sources, ranging from the WMO, IOC, European projects and national bodies (via the WMO or IOC), with irregular patterns, and come with differing expenditure rules. The WMO is seeking a professional accountant or similar to structure the accounts, budgetary planning, and cash flow capacities of OceanOPS to support the management process.

OceanOPS is funded in greatest part by voluntary extrabudgetary contributions in different currencies and of varying natures: Memoranda of Understanding with contractual financial flows, longstanding voluntary contributions, and European Commission and other projects with fixed lifetimes. More than 80% of its costs are for staff on fixed-term contracts, separated into a core staff with long-term employment expectations and project staff.

Beyond the statement of accounts and actuals provided by the WMO financial system, the Management Board of OceanOPS needs standardized and regular financial projections and estimates of future financial risk to help it manage the staff and finances of OceanOPS. The Management board consists of representatives of WMO, IOC, and an operational team – the Observations Coordination Group.

The consultant is expected to perform the following activities:

Phase 1
(a) Analyze the past few years of income and expenditures of OceanOPS;
(b) Develop a cash flow forecasting tool (in Excel or equivalent). This tool should be able to:
a. Take inputs on expected income based upon contributions in multiple currencies;
b. Estimate staff and activity costs, with staff costs primarily in CHF (linked to a French/EUR post adjustment) and other expenditures in either USD or EUR;
c. Create standard reports useful to manage risk (variable income levels, exchange rate fluctuations, potential for staff level fluctuations) to enable informed decision-making about staffing and activities;
d. Allow for some level of scenario planning over a 2-to-3-year time horizon.
(c) Identify a target amount of cash reserve needed to mitigate risk given the uncertainties and staff obligations inherent in the OceanOPS environment;
(d) Provide some analysis on actions that could create a more stable income flow;
(e) Present a report on the tool and first outputs to the OceanOPS Management Board;

Phase 2
(f) Present three further quarterly reports of the ouputs of the tool to the Management Board, making improvements to the tool and reporting based on feedback from the Board.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education University degree in finance, accounting, economics or a related field.

Experience At least five years of experience including at least one in an international context, concerning with: – Accounting and cash flow forecasting; – Budget planning and management; – Financial reporting for management purposes; – Financial risk analysis of voluntary contributions and staff costs; – Fluency in English.

Other requirements Familiarity with UN system employment contracts and project management, multi-donor funds, are a plus.

Languages Excellent knowledge of English (both oral and written). Knowledge of other official languages of the Organization would be an advantage. (Note: The official languages of the Organization are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.)

Additional Information:

Fee depending upon experience, knowledge and skills.

Focal point email for additional information : Albert Fischer ([email protected])Date of issue of vacancy notice: