Programme Specialist HACT, NOC, FT, (UNICEF Somalia Support Center at UNICEF

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy, and operations. UNICEF has adopted the Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) as an approach for obtaining assurance that results have been achieved in line with resource utilization. It aims at managing risk related to cash transfers made to implementing partners in support of programme implementation, reducing partner transaction costs, and allowing progressive use of national systems for management and accountability of results and resources.

How can you make a difference?

KEY FUNCTION, ACCOUNTABILITIES, AND RELATED DUTIES/TASKS

Support the HACT planning during the programming process

• Participate in HACT planning and discussions and support the development and completion of HACT plans through research, collection, analysis, and reporting of related information/data to facilitate planning and priority setting for HACT activities.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout the process by executing/administering technical, operational, and administrative transactions and preparing related materials/documentation to ensure the incorporation of HACT into the country programme
• Prepare CO-wide micro assessment and assurance plans in collaboration with other programme staff and relevant operations colleagues
• Prepare information on shared implementing partners to facilitate joint planning and execution of micro assessments and audits in line with the UNICEF HACT procedure.

Support to implementation of HACT activities

• Serve as the reference person on HACT implementation in the office.
• Facilitate the execution of HACT activities undertaken by external service providers through scheduling, arranging briefings and related administrative needs to ensure service providers have appropriate and comprehensive information for effective and efficient completion of assignments.
• Conduct and/or coordinate spot checks of implementing partners in collaboration with other CO staff.
• Support in tracking to ensure that management response to the findings and recommendations of both financial and programmatic monitoring is completed, recorded, and followed up for implementation.  
• Support the preparation of HACT implementation status report in InSight through collation of implementation information from relevant CO colleagues.
• Contribute to the development and monitoring of implementation of CO HACT related SOPs and internal procedures, including for escalation of issues identified through assurance activities.
• Align the financial findings highlighted by financial assurance activities and/or financial reporting by the partner with the programmatic monitoring data collected either by programmatic visits and/or TPM’s in order to inform the risk strategy.
• Detect irregularities highlighted by triangulation of financial and programmatic analysis and escalate to the attention of the Implementing Partners Management Specialist (P4) for further action.

Review and use of HACT Reports

• Support  the recording and updating of risk ratings of implementing partners in VISION through review of the Vendor Master and provision of relevant information to appropriate colleagues in the CO.
• Under the leadership of the P4, support the establishment of a central repository for HACT decisions, documentation and reports to provide timely and current information to facilitate implementation of HACT in the CO.
• Review financial assessments and programme assurance reports to identify areas of weaknesses related to the implementation of HACT and keep supervisor/partners informed of findings for timely action and/or intervention.

Networking and inter-agency partnership

• Support Programme and Financial HACT Officers to provide technical information and operational support to implementing partners, UN system partners and other stakeholders in the CO on the implementation of HACT to reinforce UN/CO harmonization and coordination.
• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of HACT information and knowledge to facilitate/build their capacity for implementing HACT.
• Participate in appropriate inter-agency meetings/events to facilitate and promote sharing of information, knowledge, experiences, and best practices.
• Interact regularly with other country offices and the regional office on HACT when deemed necessary by the Implementing Partnership Management Specialist.
• Innovation, knowledge management, and capacity building
• Identify, synthesize and share lessons learned from HACT and its implementation for integration into broader knowledge development planning and management efforts.
• Identify, synthesize and share lessons learned and best practice in the implementation of HACT.
• Under the leadership of the P4, support the  the design and implementation of capacity development strategy/initiatives for implementing partners which can be supported by UNICEF through identification of common weaknesses in financial and procurement management from review of micro assessment and assurance activity reports of high and significant risk partners.
• Under the guidance of the P4, support the design and implementation of capacity development strategy/initiatives for CO staff to ensure that staff has the knowledge and skills to fulfill their responsibilities under the HACT framework.

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

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: Development studies, International Development, Business Administration, Financial Management, Economics, Auditing, Project/Programme Management, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of five years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: programme development/management, financial planning, and management, or another related area.
• Demonstrated experience implementing and monitoring HACT or other grant management oversight approaches.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Financial and Programme monitoring experience in development agencies or an international organization is highly desirable.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset