Current Opportunities at UNICEF

How can you make a difference?

• Under the general supervision of the Deputy Representative Operations, the Operations Manager manages the administrative, financial, and accounting functions of the country office which includes USSC. As the manager and functional expert of administration, finance and accounts in a large country office, the incumbent is accountable for provision of managerial leadership and policy guidance for achievement of effective financial and administrative management and staff capacity development ensuring that the office's administrative operations and services as well as management of funds and accounts are in compliance with the organization's policies, procedures, rules and regulations. 

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

• Responsible for timely and cost-effective provision of basic office services including space management (offices and guesthouses), USSC in Nairobi, equipment, communications, travel and transport, conference, document reproduction, mail and delivery, local procurement and bill payments of utilities and admin services. Negotiates and oversees matters relating to office premises, utilities and services with vendors and agencies. Ensures continuous improvement in administrative support and office services for enhanced quality, efficiency, and cost effectiveness.
• Responsible for appropriate, accurate and timely processing and recording of expenditures and disbursements (e.g., MIP, rental payments, trips, pension fund, insurance, direct cash transfers etc), in the VISION system, in accordance with established rules and regulations. Also ensures adequate monitoring and recovery of advances and accounts receivable, and timely clearing of GL accounts as necessary.
• Oversees administrative and financial management support and services to Zone offices and sub-offices including management of guesthouses and guesthouse budget.
• Monitors and evaluates systems, procedures and compliance with rules and regulations at the CO and in Zone offices and sub-offices and makes appropriate recommendations.
• Advises and updates staff on administrative policies, procedures, rules, and regulations, providing authoritative advice and administrative support.  Decides on the appropriate application and interpretation of administrative rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.  Ensures arriving and departing staff are briefed on administrative procedures and requirements.
• Reviews internal controls for compliance with UNICEF policies, systems, and procedures, ensuring accuracy, promptness, and appropriateness of information. Responsible to ensure that table of authority is updated regularly and there are no conflicts in segregation of duties.
• Briefs/Trains the staff on the application and interpretation of UN/UNICEF accounting and financial policies, regulations, procedures, and delegation of authority.
• Manages the operations budget in close coordination with the Chief of Operations to ensure that objectives are realized for smooth operations of the Country Office/sub-office, where applicable. Prepares estimates on office premises, guesthouse expenses, admin supplies and equipment requirements and coordinates operations budget preparation purposes ensuring adequate support to zone offices. Monitors and controls the administrative budget.
• Manages bank accounts in accordance with UN/UNICEF financial rules and regulations and local banking practices. Forecasts liquidity and monitors the cash position. Supervises reconciliation of bank statements, keeps abreast of all procedures and regulations regarding the maintenance of bank accounts, exchange and interest rates, etc. Responsible for the safekeeping of cash and cheques.
• Develops and maintains effective working relations with other agencies, local authorities and implementing partners relating to administrative and financial matters for enhancement of information exchange, collaboration, and harmonization.
• Supports the Inter-Agency Operations Management Team's approaches for enhancing UN common services to attain efficiencies and effectiveness. And represents UNICEF in the inter-agency Common Services Management Team and Inter-agency Budget Management Committee.
• Develops training programmes to enhance effective performance and efficiency in areas of admin and financial services.  Organizes innovative staff learning and development programme activities for staff capacity building. Provides coaching and counselling to the staff on performance enhancement/ development. 
• Coordinates with the Regional Office and HQ Divisions to support policy reform in the functional areas and makes substantive recommendations on the improvement of systems and internal controls, planning, restructuring, and resolution of sensitive issue.
• Manages and controls Assets (non-expendable properties), its utilization and disposal in accordance with IPSAS rules. Ensures the safekeeping, annual physical inventory, including cost analysis and recommends replacement/disposal of administrative equipment and supplies. Ensures appropriate follow-up and timely action on PSB decisions.
• Provides oversight and operational management to the USSC office in Nairobi, Kenya.

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Advanced university degree in Business Administration or a related field with solid academic background in Accounting and Finance.
• Work Experience: Eight years of progressively responsible professional work experience in finance management and office administration, some of which should be at the international level.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required/Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Desirables:

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

Deadline: 20 Jun 2024

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• The Operations Associate (Quality Assurance) will provide transaction processing support for users (Programme and Operations sections) in Nairobi and Zonal Offices, ensuring that all VISION-related transactions are acted upon, reports generated as may be necessary, effective and efficient solutions are provided and incidents and queries on the system appropriately addressed. Under the general supervision of Operations Officer (Quality Assurance), incumbent performs a variety of data information gathering, input and manipulation, report generation and dissemination using VISION. S/he is responsible for user support in first line functions: provides business support for country and zone offices; communicates with user sections.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

VISION transactions

• Scrutinize and review VISION transaction requests ensuring all supporting documentation and relevant information is in compliance with rules and procedures
• Process transactions in VISION using the correct t-codes and related work processes accurately and timely
• Retrieve monitoring reports, in accordance with established timelines and procedures
• Support project roll outs and implementation of new processes, including testing, debugging, and implementation of new application and systems
• Analyze problems, identifies alternatives, test and recommend solutions
• Respond to requests/queries in relation to transactions handled by the Hub, track and monitor the incident throughout its life cycle, including verification and closure
• Maintain a permanent link between both Programme and Operations sections for Vision transactions and liaise with Finance to ensure the finalization of transactions made
• Files/archives, when needed, all relevant documents for audit purposes.

Training and orientation on VISION and HACT

• Provide detailed metrics on Hub transactions, analyze and define training need
• Facilitate training for staff and implementing partners in the area of VISION and HACT
• Conduct orientation on VISIION for newcomers
• Compiles Frequently Asked Questions and maintains knowledge databases for eventual distribution among VISION users

Perform additional assignments as requested by the supervisor.

Impact of Results:

• The work of the Operations Associate (Data Processing) is critical to the achievement of office indicators as the Hub manages transactions processing and support smooth programme implementation. Delay or failure to carry out timely processing could adversely affect achievement of results for children and non-adherence to the policies and procedures will attract audit observations. Overall, the Hub functions support efficiency and effectiveness as well as standardization of transaction processing. The functions listed have a direct impact on the performance scorecard for the office and achievement of results across sector

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

Minimum requirements:

Education: 

• Completion of secondary education, preferably supplemented by technical or university courses in a field related to the work of the organization. Computer literacy and ability to effectively use standard office software, tools and technologies.

Work Experience: 

• Six years of progressively responsible clerical or administrative work, of which at least one year is closely related to support of programme activities. Preference will be given to those who have working experience with SAP or similar systems.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and knowledge of local language

Desirables:

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

Deadline: 16 Jun 2024

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How can you make a difference?

• In alignment with UNICEF’s Gender Action Plan and UNICEF’s new Adolescent Girls’ Programme Strategy, UNICEF’s Gender Equality section is seeking an Adolescent Girls’ Programme Specialist, with supervision from the Senior Advisor, Gender Equality, focused on adolescent girls. The role is primarily technical and programmatic, with the policy, advocacy and coordination roles serving a secondary function. The team currently oversees or supports a live portfolio of 46 country programmes working to promote adolescent girls’ wellbeing, empowerment and leadership through multisectoral models, particularly on skills, protection and health. Whilst some of these programmes are well-established under UNICEF’s Skills4Girls programme, many of the programmes have just started in 2023, offering a fantastic opportunity in this role to get to grips with and support a new and growing portfolio and make a real difference in girls’ lives. Advocacy, learning and building the evidence base for this agenda are also key components of the strategy described above. This role will play a critical role in supporting the delivery of this agenda, with the programme management portfolio focused on leading programme management on Skills4Girls and active support to the HPV+ portfolio.

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

High quality programme management of a large portfolio of programmes to progress adolescent girls’ rights, wellbeing and leadership.

• Support for the development, implementation, and monitoring of high-quality programming, including leading programme management of the global Skills4Girls programme and support to the POWER4Girls programme, including responsibility for excellent and detail-oriented monitoring of budget and results, and regular reports for different audiences. This requires close attention to detail, excellent organisational skills and ability to deliver at pace, as well as strong writing skills; 
• Support and work with programme colleagues and management so that gender results are effectively defined, measured, and reported, and high-quality assessment, research, evidence generation and evaluation on gender programming is undertaken and utilized;
• Support for cross-sectional collaboration and coordination on key programmatic results on gender, ensuring coherence, maximization of synergies and efficiency in utilization of resources and delivery of results

Advisory services and technical support on adolescent girls

• Technical guidance/operational support throughout all stages of programming to facilitate the management and delivery of results contributing to gender equality in alignment with the Gender Action Plan. This includes:
• Actively participate in or support others in efforts to provide technical support as demanded by country offices, including triaging support demands proactively, or researching and responding to requests depending on thematic area;
• As requested, provide gender analysis and review of programme proposals so that technical components are designed to (as a minimum) respond to girls’ and women’s needs, and ideally address the root causes of gender inequality, and so that the overall programme is aligned with the strategic shifts outlined in the Adolescent Girls’ Programme Strategy
• Work with sectoral counterparts and senior management to incorporate sound gender indicators and measures in programme/project and policy initiatives, proposals, and advocacy efforts and assist in developing gender-sensitive theories of change models for sector and cross-sectoral programming – aligned with the Strategy’s overall M&E Framework and Theory of Change.

Support policy efforts to further adolescent girls’ rights, wellbeing and leadership, with a special focus on the HPV+ initaitve

• Support programme and sector colleagues in health and immunization to advance the HPV+ agenda with support from the Senior Gender Adviser, with a focus on holistic adolescent girls’ health services (including for example guidance, learning and policy work to address teenage pregnancy, HIV and advance sexual and reproductive health rights), to be further defined depending on the successful candidate’s background.
• Provide briefing for key advocacy and communications moments for adolescent girls. This includes:
• Support documentation and sharing of the country-level experience in gender programming and lessons learned, which will be shared with internal network and external partners
• Bring best practices in gender programming and measurement to the attention of senior management and sectoral colleagues, as well as Regional Gender Advisor and gender section staff at HQ
• Provide briefing for senior staff based on the programme portfolio and priority GAP area the Programme Specialist is engaged on.

Advocacy, networking and partnership building

• Support implementation of a policy and advocacy strategy with key messages on working with and for adolescent girls, building from existing work
• Support building and maintenance of internal and external partnerships and networks as relevant for the portfolio of programmes
• Support building and maintenance of strategic alliances for gender equality with various partners, including institutional links with UN agency teams focused on adolescent girls, and other relevant entities.
• Support mapping of potential new partnerships and input into programme proposals to accelerate GAP implementation with and for adolescent girls globally as required
• Provide support to the Global Girl Leaders Advisory Group, supporting this group to execute their vision and meaningfully participate in shaping UNICEF’s programmes with and for adolescent girls.

The following minimum requirements:

• Advanced university degree (Masters or higher) in the social sciences (i.e. sociology, demography, psychology, political science, social policy or economics), public health, public policy, public administration, international development, or in an area relevant to UNICEF’s sectoral work (e.g. Health, Nutrition, WASH, Education, Child Protection, Social Protection, Inclusion, HIV/AIDs, etc.) is required.
• Academic credentials in gender are a strong asset.
• Minimum five years of progressively responsible professional experience and demonstrated track record of having undertaken and led substantive programming on gender and development in key issue areas that are the focus of UNICEF’s Gender Action Plan is required.
• Experience in managing programmes/projects is essential, including budget and knowledge management
• Excellent written communication skills are essential
• Experience  at country/field level is an asset..
• Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of another UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) is considered an asset.