Monitoring Officer – Budget and Finance Unicef

Unicef works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Equality

The Unicef Programme of Cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) is designed to address and mitigate the threat of poverty the country’s children face, while responding to the needs with interventions addressing the multiple causative factors.

To find out more about Unicef’s work in Zambia, please visit https://Unicef.sharepoint.com/sites/ZMB/SitePages/About-us(1).aspx

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Nutrition Section Chief, the incumbent will ensure that the Monitoring Officer Budget and Finance – SUN II (TA) will provide oversight for the budget and financial utilization process for the SUN II programme and support the production and timely dissemination of high-quality programme documents and communications – including but not limited to correspondence, progress notes, and records of meetings, workshop reports, donor updates, donor financial and narrative reports and case studies. The materials the Specialist will produce are destined for a varied audience the majority of whom will be technical.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Budgetary and Financial Utilization Overview and Support
Assist in dissemination of Unicef Standard Operating Procedures for financial disbursements and liquidations to SUN II implementing partners working closely with the Programme Assistant.
Receive and quality assure financial reports from districts and other implementing partners and liaise with Management and the Programme Assistant to facilitate disbursement of funds.
Monitor disbursement and utilization of programme funds by SUN II implementing partners with support from Programme Assistant and prepare updates on utilization rates as required.
Collate financial utilization reports from SUN II implementing partners and liaise closely with the Operations Section in ensuring the correctness of entries (for reference/reporting/auditing purposes).
Liaise with Unicef HQ for quality assurance of financial and general reporting documents before submission to the donors based on the specific requirements by each of the four donors.
Support any audit requirements for the SUN II programme by engaging effectively on such process in troubleshooting and problem solving as necessary and alerting Senior Management to problems in a timely manner.
Support follow up of cash transfers to partners and government in line with Unicef procedures.
Provide financial monitoring and reporting technical support to partners and government as appropriate.
Analyze and share periodic status of utilization of funds per expenditure category in line with Unicef guidelines as well as the specific donor guidelines.
Reporting:
Manage the process of submission of donor financial reports, ensuring that the Unicef and donor report submission guidelines and procedures for quality and timeliness are respected and implemented.
Provide quality control and editorial support, including editing and rewriting of financial documents as needed and ensuring all content is factual and grammatically correct.
Prepare financial and narrative updates and document sets for internal and external SUN II/MCDP related meetings.
Prepare financial reports for submission to the donor, Unicef and government as per contribution agreement.
SUN II Programme Monitoring and Internal Coordination Support:
Support day-to-day tracking and documentation of progress updates collected from internal Unicef communications, and UN agency a, government communication on the programme, with support from Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer as well as from Unicef Finance team, NFNC and other UN sister agencies; Coordinate with the Programme assistant for monitoring and archiving of all financial and administrative documents linked to the SUN II programme electronically and in hard copies.
Create, maintain and update SUN II programme knowledge bank on Zambia Country Office (ZCO) shared drive.
Detailed Job Description can be viewed here: Download File TOR Monitoring Officer – Budget and Finance (SUNII extension) – Signed.pdf

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

Bachelor’s degree in one of the following areas: Social Sciences, Economics, International Development or related field;
At least two years of professional work experience in international organizations on complex programs with focus on grant management, budgeting, donor reporting and editing required.
High level of fluency in written and spoken English.
Advanced user level competency of MS Office suite required.
Outstanding skills in Excel, including data analysis and development of charts and graphs, required.
Demonstrated experience in working in international development with government partners, international organizations and donors.
Proven documentation and knowledge management for multi donor funded projects required.
Ability to research, analyze, evaluate and synthesize information.
Proven ability to express ideas and concepts in written and oral form clearly and concisely; excellent skills in report writing and editing.
Knowledge of EU contractual procedures for development funding desirable.
Prior experience of working in Africa would be an asset.
Excellent teamwork skills.