Organization: UNICEF – United Nations Children’s Fund
Location: Addis Ababa
Grade: Mid level – P-3, International Professional – Internationally recruited position
Occupational Groups:
Operations and Administrations
International Relations
External Relations, Partnerships and Resource mobilization
Closing Date: 2025-01-06

Description

UNICEF Ethiopia is looking for a highly experienced Budget and Donor Relations Specialist to support the office with capacity building and leadership on various EU and ECHO financial and contractual issues in close coordination with concerned stakeholders within the Programme and Operation teams.

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.

Background:

The holder of the position has two main functions:

1. Ethiopia Country Office Budget Specialist (Reporting to Chief PMU)

The Specialist is: (i) a financial analyst, reviewing cost and programme data, analyzing and interpreting financial information and preparing reports; (ii) a liaison, coordinating and giving advice to programme managers and partners to ensure effective budget preparation, an effective and efficient management of financial resources during budget implementation and the consistent application of financial rules, regulations, policies and procedures; and (iii) a team member, working together and supporting the work of other staff of the country office and implementing improvements in the country office’s processes with the use of new technology and best practices where necessary.

• Serve as the focal person for contribution management in all matters relating to the multiple number of contributions received by the country office.
• Serve as the focal person for country offices’ management performance indicators; ensure all reporting requirements are fully met for the office; prepare weekly and monthly contribution management reports, taking into consideration the increased demand of complex, analytical reports in country office. Ensure quality information management through regular maintenance of contribution related information in VISION and e-filing on the office shared drive. Ensure compliance to donor conditions during implementation
• Reduce loss of funds due to grants expiring with remaining balances
• Plan grant expenditure and other timeliness to increase efficiency

1. Donor relationship manager for the European Union and ECHO (dotted line to Chief Donor Relations)

The European Union and ECHO are extremely important donor partners to the UNICEF Ethiopia Country Office. This position will act as the focal person for donor relations management stewardship, ensuring that all requests are responded to in a timely, coordinated and high-quality manner, and in line with UNICEF policies.

The position holder will also provide capacity building to the Country Office to strengthen alignment to donor conditions in line with the Framework Agreement such as adherence to donor visibility, donor reporting, eligible expenditures etc.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Ethiopia Country Office Budget Specialist

1.  Quality review of all non-standard donor financial reporting.
2. Quality review of all proposal and concept note budgets for alignment with Country Office and global guidelines.

1. Provide quarterly inputs to the donor humanitarian Financial Tracking System.
2. Provide financial analysis and updates related to the donor funding pipeline for the monthly salary analysis, and mail poll and mid-term review PBRs as requested.
3. Provide budget expenditure analysis as per donor partner requests.
4. Monitor office wide and grant specific progress and compliance of grants
5. Analyze and document business processes in respect to the contribution management and implementation, in order to contribute to their streamlining and simplification.
6. Conduct ad hoc complex analyses to inform management decision making and carry out any special studies and analysis requested by management with respect to the increased programme, budget, and partnerships and make appropriate recommendations on the application of the results.
7. Participates in the preparation of all programme reports for management, budget reviews, programme analysis, and annual reports as required.
8. Contribute to capacity building of Country Office staff and partners and build budget management capacity of operations and programme staff by facilitating training, following changes in the staffing structure and partners, providing one on one follow up support and knowledge sharing.
9. Elaborate and/or implement internal standard operating procedures in a complex emergency context and control of the financial workflows in the programme.
10. Perform other duties and back-up functions to other staff in the unit during their absence, as required.

Donor relationship manager for the European Union and ECHO

1. Strengthen/Maintain excellent relations with the EU and ECHO through donor relations management and stewardship.

• Ensure timely responses to all EU/ECHO communications.
• Internal multi-sectoral coordination of EU/ECHO requests and deliverables to ensure that ECO staff have clear guidance on expectations, to reduce transaction costs where possible, and to manage timeliness and quality of submissions to the donor.
• Organize/Coordinate donor meetings, preparation/quality assurance of presentations, capture action points/minutes.
• Flag any potential issues to the Chief Donor Relations to manage risks, policy adherence, reputation and relationship management.
• Internal tracker inputs are kept up to date related to the donor portfolio. (pipeline, contact lists, modifications etc.)

1. Capacity building to ECO staff on all aspects of EU and ECHO implementation in line with the Framework Agreement.

• Coordinate training sessions for Ethiopia-based staff with input from the PPD Brussels to increase the skills and knowledge of EU and ECHO narrative and budget reporting in line with the Framework Agreement and donor conditions.
• In collaboration with PPD, identify past errors and build capacity of staff through one-on-one and group training sessions.

Work closely with staff and build capacity to regularly review transactions to ensure alignment with donor conditions and to avoid ineligible expenditures.

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

Minimum requirements:

Education:

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Project Management, Finance, International Development, Marketing, Business Administration, Commerce, External Relations, or related field).
  *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant professional experience in audit, accounting, compliance, finance, risk management, business administration, management/operations or related fields.

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:

• Knowledge of the United Nations system, its key actors and coordination mechanisms. Knowledge of UN/UNICEF corporate governance and organizational structure. Understanding of UN/UNICEF rules, regulations, policies, and procedures. In-depth knowledge of internal controls and proper accounting procedures and systems.
• Highly desirable: Knowledge of EU’s financial and contractual requirements, familiarity with EU’s control instruments.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

Builds and maintains partnerships (1)

Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (1)

Drive to achieve results for impact (1)

Innovates and embraces change (1)

Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

Thinks and acts strategically (1)

Works collaboratively with others (1)

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

How to apply

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