Budget & Programming Assistant Full-Time

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

In March and April 2019, Mozambique was hit by two consecutive tropical cyclones.The occurrence of the disasters before the main harvest season left households that relied on subsistence farming deprived of their livelihood. It is expected that about 2,000,000 people will be in need of food assistance until the next harvest in April 2020. This has led to a significant rise both of the WFP emergency assistance and the funds managed under the activity 3. Similarly, thanks to fund raising efforts, the level of funding under the activity 2 has grown and is expected to further increase thanks to forecasted multi-year contributions. Consequently the management of the various funding pots, budget lines and contributions, some being grant relevant, under the activities 2 and 3 requires additional work and time. The activity 2 and 3 managers would require the support of a budget and programming assistant to assist them in this task.

1. Contribute to the review of budget plans, monitoring and analysis of project financial performance and make recommendations in compliance with WFP financial policies and procedures and best practices to support financial analysis and optimisation of resources;
2. Provide basic analysis on fund and grant balances and refer to the supervisor discrepancies, to support maximum fund utilization and decision-making process;
3. Contribute to pipeline management facilitating efficient monitoring to prevent and address pipeline breaks and maximise operational effectiveness;
4. Enter accurate data in the corporate systems within the established deadlines, to enable easy access to information and support planning and decision-making;
5. Compile data and provide basic analysis, maintain accurate records and files and prepare periodic and ad hoc reports for further reviews, to support accuracy and efficiency of information presented to internal and external stakeholders;
6. Maintain communication with a number of individuals regarding project funds management matters and related processes to clarify any discrepancies and optimise use of funds;
7. Provide guidance and on-the-job training to other staff in budget planning, fund management and operational planning, to support continued development and consistency in services delivered;
8. Follow standard emergency preparedness practices, to ensure WFP is able to quickly respond and deploy needed resources to affected areas at the onset of the crisis;
9. Develop financial planning and monitoring tools and processes for the effective fund management by programme staff across activities, tailored to their specific needs.

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Coaches team in the most effective ways to communicate WFP’s Strategic Objectives to WFP team and partners in the field.
•  Be a force for positive change: Implements new methods or tools to improve team’s work processes and productivity.
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Maps team’s activities and tasks to specific successes in beneficiary communities to showcase positive impact.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Explains to teammates how each unit contributes to the overall WFP mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Identifies skill development opportunities such as training modules or on-the-job experiences for self, colleagues and direct reports.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Facilitates team building activities to build rapport in own unit.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Facilitates the pairing of junior colleagues with coaches within own team.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Proactively anticipates potential challenges and develops mitigation plans to ensure that team meets goals and targets.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Identifies opportunities to be creative in own work and to help team be more innovative and accurate in their respective tasks and areas of work.
•  Focus on getting results: Monitors team’s deliverables and provides feedback to ensure outcomes are delivered consistently and accurately.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Provides accurate guidance to team on expected responsibilities and tasks, whilst also upholding own commitment to the team.
•  Be Decisive: Sets an example and provides guidance to junior team members on when to escalate issues when faced with challenging issues in the workplace or in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Facilitates partnerships with other WFP units to accomplish missions in the field.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Sets an example and provides guidance to team on how to build relationships with external partners.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Articulates to colleagues or direct reports the value of contributing to other WFP teams and agency partnerships in fulfilling WFP’s goals and objectives.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Organizes, monitors, and prioritizes own and team’s efforts to ensure that they will fulfill the needs of internal and external partners.

Education:

University degree or equivalent qualification in the related functional area

Experience:

• Has assisted with the preparation of complex financial documents;
• Has supported the performance of budget analyses;
• Enjoys at least 5 years experience in related fields.

Language:

Fluency in Portuguese language is essential. Working knowledge of English (oral and written)

Knowledge & Skills:

• Internal Controls & Compliance;
• Demonstrates basic knowledge of internal controls, risk management, and monitoring mechanisms and their applicability to WFP’s critical activities.

Performance Budgeting, Analysis & Reporting – Analyzes budgets and forecasts to support the development of recommendations for senior leadership on financial and business planning matters in accordance with Value for Money principles

Resource Management – Monitors trends in staffing and resource usage to anticipate and escalate potential issues to programme leaders

Teamwork – Strong interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity

• Planning and organizing – Ability to manage, organize, plan and execute tasks in setting priorities and work under pressure to meet frequent and tight deadlines
• Communication – Strong skills in oral and written communication
• Analysis – Demonstrates ability to analyse and consolidate quantitative and qualitative information from different sources to inform transfer modality selection and programme development

Duration of assignment: 1 year renewable contract

• Net monthly salary range: USD 1,305-00 to 2,029-00 (Salary is determined by qualifications, skills, experience & current earnings)
• Benefits: Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Medical Insurance and Social Security