Deputy Representative Operations

Job Specification:

Education:

An Advanced University Degree (Master’s and above) in one of the following areas is required: Business management; Financial management; Accounting; Public Finance; and related operations function (Supply Chain, Human Resources, Information Technology, International Business, Project management, etc.) or a full professional accounting designation (CA, ACA, ACCA, CPA, CIMA, CPFA, Expert Comptable) from an internationally recognized institute/body of accountancy with valid membership in good standing is required.

Work Experience:

A minimum of 8 years of professional experience, at the national and international level, is required, specifically in implementing strategic organizational initiatives in one or more operations management area including budget; financial management and reporting; facilities management; administration; supply and logistics management; information and communication technology; human resources.

Prior experience in the development sector or UN system/ international NGOs would be an asset.

Additional experience in four or more of the following areas, would be desired:

• Operational support through Service Level Agreement to UNICEF Regional Office in same duty station
• UN Operations Management Team coordination including BOS roll-out.
• Oversight and leading coordination of operations in different field office locations
• Audit and investigations
• Safety and security
• Grant Management
• Enterprise Risk Management

For country offices with a significant private sector fundraising operation, prior experience working with or in the private sector, and supporting private sector fundraising, is desirable

Experience in a UN system agency, large private or public company, or experience working in a developing country and/or humanitarian/ emergency context is an asset.

Experience in working with corporate ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning) and IPSAS (International Public Sector Accounting Standards) is highly desirable.

Experience in Results Based Management is a requirement.

Experience in supporting successful client-oriented work units is an asset.

Previous hands-on experience in strategic operations is a strong asset.

Familiarity with Microsoft Office applications is required.

Skills:

• Emotional Intelligence
• Managing complexity and change

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is required.

The following desirables:

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.
• Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Job Responsibilities :

1. Valuing People: Lead, manage and develop people resources to promote technical competence and foster career progression and retention of a “fit for purpose”/ agile workforce

• Promote an environment of management excellence, staff well-being and accessibility and inclusion through implementation of strategies, policies, procedures.
• Provide proactive solutions and expert advice to senior management on people management and office culture.
• Foster operations behaviors that focus on delivering results for children, whilst balancing risk informed decisions, policy compliance and flexibility through which partners’ needs are reliably addressed, to create an avenue for the greatest results.
• Coordinate the human resource development and resourcing strategies to bring about changes in knowledge, skills, abilities and mind sets for Operations staff.
• Keep abreast of industry standards in management and finance. Institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned with regional/national colleagues to contribute to organizational development initiatives to strengthen management and operations.
• Promote and support Excellence in Operations by refining the evolving profession in UNICEF derived from the five strategic pillars.

2. Valuing Money: Champion strategic resources to achieve organizational goals and ensure Value for Money (VfM)

• Optimize identification and use of resources in various concrete Value for Money (VfM) areas, including eco-efficiency and inclusivity, common premises, costing, results-based budgeting financial monitoring etc.
• Support Business Units on options to generate greater VfM with the goal of strategically expanding its use to UNICEF Country Office functions.
• Lead the financial oversight management, monitoring and reporting of all the country programme budget – and where applicable private sector fundraising budgets; make analysis and recommendations for Representative’s and Deputy Representative’s to take risk informed decisions.
• Advise various modalities of valuing resources through financing modalities such as budgeting and pre-financing modalities for supplies, cash-based transfer etc. along with key government counterparts
• Oversee Supply outcome results related to Supply and Logistics Management and stay abreast of and promote the regional strategies and their implementation.

3. Valuing Risk Management: Enhance Risk Management to increase organizational performance and strengthen internal control

• Ensure the office is equipped with the right skills and tools and up-to-date information to make operational and programmatic risk informed decisions and improve performance, with the support of the enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance (eGRC) platform.
• Maintain UNICEF organizational resilience and enhance staff safety and security by ensuring operational disaster risks address threats through well-formulated and tested business continuity plans and Emergency Preparedness and Response to humanitarian situations.
• Review internal controls and policies/guidance included in the Regulatory Framework, provide oversight of appropriate implementation of policies and procedures and provide feedback on policy and internal controls as appropriate.
• Implement mandatory anti-fraud systems, processes and actions, and share anti-fraud achievements within the country offices.
• Facilitate mitigation of risks of engagement with external partners via appropriate, risk-informed due diligence.

4. Valuing Systems and Structures: Ensure further operational centralization and optimization for maximized efficiency gains

• Review key Operations processes to minimize cost, simplify and reduce duplication of work and maximize efficiencies while creating an environment of smarter controls to render the organization agile, resilient and ready to respond to programme needs.
• Facilitate compliance with systems by building awareness and capacity of users, explore new ways of working – including in the context of SG Reform – and continuously improve IT-enabled business processes to increase productivity and collaboration, better knowledge management, and ensure effective use of UNICEF assets.
• Provide key contribution to CPMP and review operational structures in collaboration with Regional Chiefs of Operations and the Strategic Business Support unit in DFAM.

5. Valuing Partners: Strengthening internal and external-facing partnerships and leveraging UNICEF’s oversight and understanding of financial management across all areas of the office.

• Provide technical expertise and recommendations on HACT implementation, including, advice approach to undertaking spot checks, follow-up actions required on result of financial assurance activities; the use and collaboration with the Supreme Audit Institution; and use of micro-assessment results including the appropriate level of capacity building in financial management.
• Partner with Programme by providing advice and recommendations on programme budgeting through contribution to programme document and support the financial impact analysis and determination of refund and amounts owing to the CSO.
• Support UNICEF Office resource mobilization partners from donor negotiation and formulation of partnership agreements and contracts through written financial reporting, resolve discrepancies and ensure donor accountability and transparency.
• Foster a positive and enabling operations environment that supports private sector fundraising and solution-focused engagement (where applicable).
• Engage as effective stakeholders in the UN Reform, supporting Business Operating Services (BOS) and proactively paving the way for a potential “one back office” in country offices.
• Engage and effectively support the Regional Office in operations functions being performed by the NCO, which include HR, Security, Finance, supply and Administrative functions.
• Actively collaborate with other UN agencies in the UN OMT, in the roll out of the BOS.
• Effectively, provide leadership and guidance to the 4 field offices on operational functions.

How to apply for this post ?

To apply for this job please visit jobs.unicef.org.