Job Number: 496657 | Vacancy Link
Location: Programme Division, UNICEF NYHQ
Work Type : Fixed Term Staff
If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you.
For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
Job Organizational Context
The Global Partnership and Fund to End Violence Against Children is an exciting new initiative bringing together a range of partners – public sector and private sector – to make a difference in the lives of children. A means of implementation for the new Sustainable Development Goals and targets focused on violence, exploitation, abuse, neglect, torture trafficking and the like, this new Partnership is a test case of the universality of the new agenda. UNICEF is housing the Secretariat for this Partnership, which has an associated multi-donor trust fund. That fund will help achieves the goals of the Partnership of which there are three: building political will; accelerating action; and strengthening collaboration. The fund will focus particularly on the acceleration of national and sub-national action in three context: in the on-line lives of children; in their everyday lives at home, school and in their communities; and in contexts where children are escaping conflict and crisis.
The Resource Mobilization Specialist will work under the direct supervision of the Chief of the Fund Unit and in close coordination with other members of the Fund Unit. This Unit will work within the overall Partnership Secretariat, under the guidance of the Director. A Steering Committee for the fund has been established to determine the grant making process and make grant decisions on behalf of funders.
Purpose of the Position
The purpose of the post is to ensure prompt and accurate processing of contributions, special accounts and other funding agreements in accordance with specified regulations & rules, policies and directives. Analyze agreements, revenue and receivables for designated partners and ensure correct application of receipts. The incumbent will: assist the Chief in the review of work processes with a view to increasing efficiencies; review complex agreements; draft policies and procedures applicable to the area of contributions, financial resources, guidelines and training material.
Key Accountabilities and Duties & Tasks
External Relations and Resource Mobilization
- Under the guidance of the Chief contribute to the development of new alliances or engagements and manage, coordinate, maximize and monitor existing relationships as they relate to the fund. Proactively engage in mobilizing more quality resources.
- Take a proactive role in contributing to a relevant and up to date resource mobilization strategy that draws on a wide funding base and in ensuring it is integrated into the overall work plan of the Partnership Secretariat. Recommend fund-raising opportunities and approaches.
- Contribute to monitoring of donor interest in the fund recommend potential funding opportunities and approaches. Maintain up-to-date information on partner and income trends for assigned partners, analyse development assistance policies and keep resource partner profiles updated.
- Assist the Chief in ensuring coordinated interaction with stakeholders, Partners, UN and other Government and private sector actors as it relates to the Fund. Initiate and manage contact with assigned partners and ensure that partner queries are responded to in a timely manner.
- Participate in and summarize results from internal and external meetings with assigned donors.
- Proactively identify communication and advocacy needs of the Fund and make recommendations toward a strategic promotion of the Fund.
- Prepare comprehensive, analytical and substantive briefs, reports, statistics and other documentation to support engagement with partners at various levels. Regularly share information with Fund partners about the Fund and the partnership.
Administrative, Financial, and Operational Activities for the Fund
- Provide input into drafting of policies and procedures applicable to the area of financial resource management, guidelines, training material, work processes and procedures. Assist in process analysis and system/procedural and reporting improvements. Support the development of framework and template agreements.
- Contribute to the strategic planning, development of policy recommendations and corporate reporting in relation to the Fund, taking initiative in improving and implementing operations management systems.
- Review in consultation with the Chief complex grant and funding agreements and ensure adherence to rules, regulations, policies and directors. Initiate grant process upon signing of agreement.
- Anticipate and draw to the attention of the Chief major policy and operational issues and identify opportunities that require may active and direct intervention of the Director and/or members of the Steering Committee.
- Provide support to the Chief in managing the operations of the fund. This includes: calls for proposals and evaluation of those received against criteria established by the Fund Steering Committee; marshalling proposals through an assessment of programmatic merits and financial controls to final submission to the Fund Steering Committee, as well as the maintenance of a roster of experts to independently review proposals.
- Be responsible for all contribution management tasks for contributions from assigned donors. Ensure release of instalments by donors on multi-year contributions. Negotiate project extensions with partners where needed. Ensure submission of certified financial statements to partners. Take appropriate action for unspent balances or outstanding receivables.
- Provide support to the Chief in conveying Fund Steering Committee’s decisions on disbursements from the Fund, preparing and distributing to entities that have successfully sought financial support from the Fund for implementation of programmes. Support the administration and marshalling of grant confirmation letters and grantee reports.
- Prepare analysis of the status of complex grant and funding agreements for review and action by the Chief.
- Contribute to an up-to-date a public-access internet site at which all documentation related to the Fund will be publicly available including the documents relating to the Fund Steering Committee, the Grantees, disbursement of funds and implementation of programmes supported by the fund, and other matters as may be determined from time to time by the Fund Steering Committee.
- Assist the Chief in ad-hoc requests for analysis related to grant and funding agreements from other Divisions and/or public partners
Management and Support Functions
- Contribute recommendations to the Chief to facilitate the discussions and smooth decision-making of the Fund Steering Committee.
- Support the Chief in providing secretariat services to the Fund Steering Committee, including maintaining a regular meeting schedule. Ensure that meetings are well prepared with relevant background materials and agendas and participation as well as appropriate documentation and tracking of decisions and action points. Ensure minutes are recorded, agreed and published.
- Support the Chief in actively engaging with the members of the Steering Committee through regular outreach, sharing of relevant materials, including from the broader partnership secretariat and individual follow up as needed.
- Contribute to the development of the unit annual workplan and budget for review and approval by the Fund Steering Committee and to the monitoring of performance against agreed results. Promote and contribute to integration with the broader planning of the partnership.
- Proactively contribute recommendations to the Chief on the full range of matters under his/her purview, and relevant to the smooth functioning and management of the Fund. This includes contribution to production of interim and final reports and the production and dissemination of Fund to End Violence Against Children, yearly report.
- Draft or prepare inputs to the Director’s correspondence (with high ranking state officials and senior staff of UN and other international bodies), policy memoranda, management guidance, and other sensitive communications as it relates to the fund.
- Support the Chief in ensuring effective team management of the Fund Unit and engagement with the vision, mandate, operations and work plan of the wider Partnership Secretariat team.
Qualifications of Successful Candidate
- An advanced university degree (Master’s) in financial management/accounting/business administration (with major in finance/accounting). A first level university degree (Bachelor’s) in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree
- A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience that in the area of grant management in a large international, corporate organization, and/or NGO, including in the United Nation system and its organizations. Experience working with diverse stakeholder groups or multi-stakeholder partnerships is highly desirable.
- Fluency in English (written & verbal) is required. Knowledge of an additional UN Language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish) is considered an asset.
Competencies of Successful Candidate
Core Values
- Commitment
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Integrity
Core competencies
- Working with people – Level III
- Drive for results – Level II
- Communication – Level II
Functional Competencies
- Leading and Supervising – Level II
- Relating and Networking – Level II
- Persuading and Influencing – Level II
- Formulating Strategies & Concepts – Level II
- Entrepreneurial Thinking – Level II
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