Programme Budget Officer, NO-A, East Jerusalem, State of Palestine, Temporary Appointment

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built, we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, empowerment

UNICEF in the State of Palestine (SoP) works to uphold the rights of children to access services and protection, from early childhood through to adolescence. Our objective is to ensure that every child in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, irrespective of background or circumstance, has an equal chance to fulfil their potential.

In the past years, UNICEF in the State of Palestine has achieved a high reach and engagement through its communication channels. UNICEF-SoP would like to build on this and continue engaging with our audience, who are not only seek information but are willing to have important conversations on crucial issues concerning children’s wellbeing and rights. 

How can you make a difference?

Under the direct supervision of the supervisor, the Programme Budget Officer performs tasks in support of preparation, management and monitoring of contributions, involving all sources of funds across programmes and operations, as well as support to programme coordination. This position is part of the Budget section in East Jerusalem Office. The position will be reporting to the Programme Budget Officer in cooperation with the Deputy Representative.

Summary of your key functions and accountabilities:

Contribution management (budget planning allocation, monitoring)

– Ensure timely allocation of new grants to respective programmes in line with approved budget breakdown and donor conditions

– Work in collaboration with the Programme & Planning Specialist and Budget Owners to ensure the overall compliance with donor and grants conditions when allocating and re-phasing funds.

– Monitor grants expiry dates with the objective of ensuring that all funds are fully utilized prior to grant expiry dates.

– Monitor the utilization of regular Resources and Other Resources and produces regular updates for the Country Office Management.

– Support the capacity development of programme staff to improve the description of expenditures that appear in financial reports

– Retrieve information on costs of programme elements, such as staff and related costs from automated files and complies them in standardized and customized reports.

– Enable an institutional memory within the office through development and maintenance of record keeping of OR allocations forms and emails related to RR allocation; ensure the filing of and access to all the financial and budget related files on proposals, donor reports and all other financial documents.

Management of financial dashboard reports

– Monitor allocation and expenditures trends; generate, prepare and share with members of the management team the financial progress reports adapted from VISION and bring to the attention of the Programme & Planning Specialist any deviations or delays for corrective measures.

– Prepare and timely submit monthly Management Indicator reports to the meetings of management team, including analysis on key programme indicators

– Follow-up on agreed action during presentation of management reports

– Provide reports on budget utilization during reviews (Mid-year, annual and mid-term reviews).

Management of financial reports related to resource mobilization and donor reporting

VISION support to fund management

– Provide support to Programme staff on the appropriate VISION work processes, routine operation and utilization of the system and PIDB codes.

– Diagnose problems and locally resolve/respond to queries that users encounter or liaise with the NYHQ including the global helpdesk for solutions.

– Provide training to Programme and Operations staff in VISION transaction processing in the area of Programme Management, DCT Management (Z-HACT) and budget management and reporting.

– Process requests for grants extension ahead of expiring dates in VISION.

– Maintain updated VISION records for budget allotments, planning ceilings, donor contributions and related correspondence.

Cost distribution and payroll

– Prepare cost distribution for SOP Country Office and advises budget owners on standard cost and conditions of Grants utilization in payroll.

– Support staff payroll run by ensuring that adequate funds are allocated for staff salary and cost distribution uploaded for all staff on FT and TA.

– Maintain an updated tracker for CDs.

– Prepare monthly monitoring reports on fund utilization on CDs to ensure funds are utilized accurately and manage gaps.

Support to programme coordination

– In close cooperation with the Deputy Representative, support programme coordination, organize meetings and workshops, draft minutes, follow-up on action points, compile inputs; file key programme documents;

– As Secretary of the Partnership Review Committee, convene meetings, prepare minutes, file documents, track timeline to process Project Cooperation Agreements (PCAs), and undertake other follow-up actions;

– Contribute to the implementation of the Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) plan, in cooperation with colleagues;

– Perform other relevant duties.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education:

– University degree in Business Administration, Finance and Accounting, General administration, Development studies, Statistics, Demography and Social Sciences, or any other relevant field of discipline.

Experience:

– One year of relevant professional work experience in Programme management and budgeting.

– Work experience in international organization in the relevant area is an asset

– Work experience on EU financial reporting is considered an asset

– Experience in the usage of office software MS package and advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages.

– Experience in SAP is required.

Language Requirement:

– Fluency in English and Arabic is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people.

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

This position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate. 

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

This is required for all posts requiring a higher education degree. “UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

The VA is open to all (internal and external candidates)

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.