Budget Specialist (Polio), Fixed Term, P-3 at UNICEF

For every child, hope.

Despite the encouraging progress made in Africa towards polio eradication where Africa continent was certified Polio Free in 2020, the ESA region continues to be affected by circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 and type 2 outbreaks, after Malawi and Mozambique have struggled to stop the wild polio virus in 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic which weakened the health system and made on hold vaccination activities including polio campaigns, the number of unimmunized children increased leading to a widespread of the derived polio virus. The introduction of the “novel Oral Polio Vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) in 2020 meant to stop the cVDPV2 circulation. Implementing these campaigns requires a strong financial support. 

How can you make a difference? 

Under the general guidance of the Regional Coordinator (Polio), the Budget Specialist will provide oversight and support to ESARO Country Offices (COs) in managing polio resources from donors including the development of donor proposals and reports, and effectively and efficiently developing, monitoring, and reporting on grant-specific budgets in line with program, UNICEF, and donor requirements. In collaboration with Outbreak Response & Preparedness Group (ORPG), he/she will facilitate the approval process of country budgets. She/He will provide supports for effective management of all Health grants and assists in the development of budgets and technical reports when necessary. The incumbent will be deployed to polio outbreak countries, as a member of the Regional Rapid Response team to provide required support according to Rapid Response Team (RRT) working plan and GPEI outbreak response SOPs as necessary.

Key functions, accountabilities, and related duties/tasks:

The Budget Specialist provides the following key functions: 

• Effective financial analysis, reviewing costs and polio programme data, analyzing, and interpreting financial information and preparing financial reports, including strategic reports in analyzing spending as required at regional and country offices level.
• Effective management of all Health grants, advisor to the health sections programs, to identify financial gaps and optimize the use of funds.
• Guide health programs including Polio to ensure optimal budget planning, management, monitoring and control of transactions (transfer, adjustments, reprogramming and liquidation) supporting documents to ensure the expenditure is broadly reasonable and in accordance with UNICEF policy and procedures.
• Actors capacitated on budget management through presential support to the RO colleagues and CO teams and / or by facilitating training, following the growth in the staffing structure and partners, providing one-on-one follow-up support and knowledge sharing.
• Other assigned duties and responsibilities related to Polio or health section budget / finance management are effectively performed.

Support to financial planning and management

• Provide support to the ESARO health section programs with focus on polio (RO & CO offices) in the collation of data and analysis of polio grant information and progress reports.
• Support to ESARO health section programs in maintaining the polio and other programs grants overview table with income and expenditure/disbursement, remaining balance, and time remaining.
• The incumbent is expected to be deployed to disease outbreak countries within 72 hours after the confirmation of the outbreak, as necessary.
• Provide guidance to programme sections, programme managers, and programme assistants/associates on any conditionalities and effective use of the resources, including ensuring that guidelines, policies, rules, and regulations are fully understood and correctly applied.
• Coordinate with the senior management, section chiefs, Output managers and programme assistants/associates to ensure timely utilization of funds; closely monitor due dates for any financial reports and deadlines for utilization of all contributions.
• Contribute to capacity building of the health section staff (RO and COs) in budget management and monitoring capacities. Serve as the focal point for country offices budgetary advice, changes in country programme ceilings, and liaison with HQ and RO on budgetary management and monitoring.
• Prepare monthly contribution management reports, financial reports and analytical reports as required. Ensure quality information management through regular maintenance of contribution-related information in VISION and collection of good practices in relation to contribution management in SharePoint.
• Conduct strategic analyses to inform the polio coordinator and chief of health.  Participate in the review of programme reports for management, budget reviews (Surge and Operational costs), programme analysis, and program annual report, amongst others.

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: An advanced university degree (master’s or higher) in one of the following fields is required: Business Administration or Finance/Accounts Management or Project Management, or similar.
• Work Experience: A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in programme and budget contribution management.

Skills:

• Good knowledge of UNICEF budget and accounting procedures, policies, rules and regulations is required.
• Good knowledge and experience in using budget and financial systems as well as UNICEF standard software packages, especially spreadsheets, Vision UNICEF financial and databases and the development of donor reports and proposals is essential.
•  Experience in Immunization / polio resources mobilization and management is an asset.
• Strong ability to work with others, balancing the oversight, advisory and support functions.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (French, Arabic) is an asset.

Desirables:

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.