Job Description

United Nations Development Programme

Background

The Bureau for Management Services (BMS) supports management for development results. It provides operational solutions, strengthens the ability of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to achieve programme and development results, keeps pace with the evolving needs and expectations of development partners and at the same time safeguards the organization's accountability vis-à-vis United Nations member states. BMS provides advisory and transactional services and support to UNDP and UN agencies in its core functional areas. BMS develops management policies, Regulations and Rules prescriptive content, management networks, other management and strategic leadership. BMS oversees policy adherence, safeguarding UNDP and Administrator accountability. It manages cross-cutting functions linked to change management and acts as the operations unit of Headquarters, providing operational services for implementation of UN Reform initiatives.

BMS' Office of Financial Management (BMS/OFM) supports UNDP in the implementation of the 2030 agenda and UNDP's Strategic Plan. It achieves this by developing and making fully operational a dynamic and harmonized integrated resource management framework based on comprehensive analysis that enhances UNDP's financial and administrative performance, as well as facilitates UN reform and coherence. To these ends, the framework addresses strategically critical financial, budgetary and administrative resource planning and management issues, including: institutional results based budgeting; the implementation and enhancements to the Integrated Resources Plan and the Integrated Budget within the context of the integrated budget from 2014 onwards; enhanced cost classification and cost recovery; capital budgeting; adherence to IPSAS; foreign exchange and investment activities; organizational assets; budgetary and financial management and other performance management initiatives; and support to UN harmonization. The primary role of BMS/ OFM is to maintain the financial integrity of UNDP through providing functional leadership, supporting the efficient and effective management of its financial resources, promoting financial sustainability and responsible resource allocation. This is accomplished by the development and implementation of sound financial policies and practices, oversight of corporate financial management performance, and flexible scalable support to resource allocation. BMS/OFM serves as a business partner to Bureaux and Country Offices, providing sound financial management, advisory and analytical services, with a view to continuously improve the financial management performance of business units and support Bureaux in the exercising of their oversight functions. BMS/OFM is a key source of information for the Executive Board, General Assembly, to UNDP stakeholders, and wider civil society. It supports transparency through the provision of quality statutory and other financial reports, that comply with international standards and regulatory guidelines.

The Budget team in BMS/OFM seeks to enable UNDP's Strategic Plan and help achieve the measures set out in the Integrated Results and Resources Framework (IRRF) by integrating evolving priorities and resource management trends into UNDP's Integrated Resources Plan and Integrated Budget (IRP/IB) and its Institutional Budget, with robust connections between results and resources across all categories of activities underpinned by all sources of funds. BMS/OFM/Budget leads the UNDP Institutional Budget formulation process and supports UNDP with addressing strategically critical resource planning and management priorities, including results-based budgeting, integration of programmatic budget and the institutional budget, enhanced cost classification and support to UN harmonization, corporate decision support and other performance management initiatives. The Budget team works closely with other teams in BMS/OFM, other BMS offices and all regional and central bureaux to help ensure integrated strategic resources planning and management.

This post is part of the Budget team, and performs the critical functions described below. Reporting to the Team Lead – Budget team, and under the overall leadership of the Chief of Budget, the incumbent plays an integral part in strategic resource planning, corporate budget formulation process, budgetary analysis and reporting, and continuous improvement in UNDP resource planning and management. The Budget Specialist is expected to work in a team environment and provide corporate budget formulation support and value-added advisory services, leveraging opportunities provided by Quantum (UNDP's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system) and the Quantum Budget Solution, and will assume responsibility for specific areas outlined in this job description.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

This Budget Specialist will work closely with relevant team members as well as strategic planning colleagues from HQ Bureaux and country offices, ExO, senior managers/staff of various central and regional Bureaux, other UN entities, and external stakeholders (Executive Board, Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), UN Board of Auditors, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU), etc.) as required. This includes close coordination on UNDP's resource policy frameworks such as the IRP/IB, advice on interagency cost recovery harmonization, coordination on oversight matters, as well as other corporate strategic initiatives.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. This is a recognition of interconnected nature of development risks & crises that the world is facing and that call for assembling of multidisciplinary teams for an integrated & systemic response. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across issues, units, functions, teams and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

 

1. Contribute to the preparation of strategic resource planning and management related Operational Performance Group (OPG) and Executive Group (EG) papers as well as Executive Board documents

• Contribute to the preparation of reports, collection and analysis of information for the preparation of position papers, budget related documents and Executive Board documents on corporate matters assigned to BMS/OFM.
• Contribute to related activities on the integrated financial resource planning and monitoring framework and alignment of relevant mechanisms.
• Provide relevant key data and analysis thereof.
• Identify key trends and insights for strategic planning and corporate budgeting, ensuring meaningful contributions to high-level discussions.
• Support UNDP's engagement with external stakeholders, including the Executive Board, ACABQ, UN Board of Auditors, JIU, etc.
• Prepare planning models and scenarios to facilitate decision making by senior management.
• Support the negotiation of the IRP/IB and institutional results framework.

 

2. Contribute to the Corporate Budget Planning and Formulation

• Support the formulation and periodic review of UNDP's annual Institutional Budget (IB), along with associated guidance and presentations. 
• Support decision-making through comprehensive forecasting, trend and variance analysis, covering both quantitative and qualitative budgetary matters across funding sources, enabling data-driven organizational strategy. 
• Contribute to optimize systems and tools related to institutional budget formulation. Identifies and integrates additional relevant data sets for specific analyses. Support the development and iterative enhancement of UNDP corporate dashboards and resource management reports on budgetary matters, in collaboration with BMS/ITM and other teams in BMS/OFM.
• Manage stakeholder relationships to facilitate seamless budget planning and approval processes. Provide consultative services to clients on budget and resource planning.
• Craft and disseminate financial analyses through management reports, Operational Performance Group (OPG) and Executive Group (EG) papers, including talking points and briefs.
• Serve as the BMS/OFM budgetary point of contact for a portfolio of UNDP business units and corporate cost centers, providing advisory support on budget formulation matters. 
  
   

3. Ensure effective support for organization-wide and inter-agency collaboration

• Contribute to interagency knowledge sharing and cooperation in the areas of planning and performance assessment, results-based management (RBM) and results-based budgeting. 
• Conduct trainings; provide guidance to RBx, HQ units and COs on the corporate resource planning related performance and management. 
  
   

4. Ensure integration and alignment of resource planning frameworks with the corporate planning framework 

• Working closely with organization-wide planning focal points, contribute to the integration of the financial and substantive planning, monitoring and performance assessment within UNDP.
• In the context of the new Strategic Plan and IRP/IB, support the design of the results framework in collaboration with the relevant organizational units, i.e. refinement of relevant results, indicators, targets and baselines, including the reporting framework.
• Design training materials to facilitate the implementation of the integrated financial resources framework across the entire organization. 
• Ensure appropriate tools are designed and available for the different parts of the organization to implement the integrated financial resources framework and multi-year budgeting.
• Support clients in promoting integrated financial resources planning and multi-year budgeting.
• Provide costing and analysis to aid in the formulation of UNDP's institutional budget, coordinating with other teams in BMS/OFM as required. 
  
   

5. Participate in other strategic initiatives within BMS/OFM and support budget-related knowledge management

• Involvement with advancing strategic initiatives within BMS/OFM.
• Responds to ad hoc queries and takes an active role in special projects and supplementary duties when assigned. 
• Synthesize lessons learned and best practices in budget management. 
• Provide sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.
  
   

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: None

 

 

Competencies

Core Competencies  - UNDP Core Competencies can be found here.

• Achieve Results - LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
• Think Innovatively - LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems
• Learn Continuously - LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences 
• Adapt with Agility - LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
• Act with Determination - LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results 
• Engage and Partner - LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration 
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion - LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity 
  
   

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:

Business Management - Communication:

• Communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience. 
• Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels.

Business Direction & Strategy - Strategic Thinking:

• Develop effective strategies and prioritised plans in line with UNDP's mission and objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, opportunities and potential risks; link the general vision to reality on the ground to create tangible targeted solutions; learn from a variety of sources to anticipate and effectively respond to both current and future trends; demonstrate foresight. 

Business Management - Results-based Management:

•  Ability to manage the implementation of strategies, programmes, and projects with a focus at improved performance and demonstrable results. Knowledge and understanding of relevant theories, concepts, methodologies, instruments, and tools

Finance - Budget Management:

•  Ability to support budgetary aspects of work planning process, drawing and management of team budgets

Finance - Financial planning and Budgeting:

• Ability to create and manage processes to achieve UNDP's long and short-term financial goals, including through planning, budgeting, forecasting, analyzing and reporting.

Finance - Financial reporting and analysis:

• Understands changes in regulatory, legal and ethical frameworks and standards for financial reporting in the public sector. Ability to extract, evaluate financial data, derive relevant findings and present them in a meaningful and coherent manner to facilitate effective decision making and performance monitoring.
• Understands the benefits of integrated reporting, including non-financial resources such as human, social and intellectual capital, and environmental and governance performance
  
   

Information Management & Technology - Data management and analytics:

• Knowledge in data management, data sciences, ability to structure data, develop dashboard and visualization. Design data warehouses, data lakes or data platforms concepts. Familiarity with machine leaning, natural language processing or generation and the use of artificial intelligence to support predictive analytics.
  
   

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced University Degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Business/Public Administration, Finance/Accounting or a relevant discipline is required. OR 
• First level university degree (bachelor's degree) in the fields of study mentioned above, in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of a master's degree.
• Those with professional accounting qualification certificate from an internationally recognized institute of accountancy will have a distinct advantage. 
  
   

Experience:

• A minimum seven (7) years (with master's degree) or nine (9) years (with bachelor's degree) of progressively responsible professional experience in strategic resource planning or budget formulation and management at the national and/or international levels within organizations in a multi-cultural setting.
• At least 4 years work experience in strategic resource planning, corporate budget formulation and/or management reporting and analysis, internal to UNDP/UN system or in a large multinational organization is required.
• Proven track record of knowledge of UNDP's Financial Rules and Regulations (FRRs), funding/resource architecture, the Integrated Resources Plan/Integrated Budget (IRP/IB) and Internal Control Framework (ICF) preferred.
• Proven track record of highly refined analytical capacity and drafting skills, capability to synthesize and communicate complex issues is desired. 
• Proven track record of excellent management and leadership skills are desired.
• Work experience in assignments with the UN system desirable.
• Demonstrated experience in business modeling and practical application of the RBM principles is desired.
• Experience in strong coordination, client-oriented solutions and stakeholder management is desired. 

 

Language:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Working knowledge of another UN language preferred.
  
   

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination. 

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles. 

Probation

For all new UNDP fixed term appointments (FTA), including for staff members being transferred or seconded to UNDP under the Inter-Organization Agreement concerning Transfer, Secondment or Loan of Staff, on an appointment of more than one year, continuation of the appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Scam alert

UNDP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process. For further information, please see

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sector: Nonprofit/Community/Social Services/International Cooperation

Role: Other

Working hours (%): 80-100% / 100%

Job type: Staff (Permanent and Fixed Term)

Job Tags

Permanent employment, Temporary work, Fixed term contract, Work experience placement, Immediate start, Trial period, Flexible hours,

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