WFP encourages female candidates and people with disabilities to apply. WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis. We are committed to promoting diversity and the principle of equal employment opportunity for all our employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of religion or belief, ethnic or social background, gender, gender identity and disability.
JOB DETAILS
Job Title: Budget & Programming Associate Grade: GS6 Type of contract: Fixed Term Duration: 12 months extendable Duty Station: Thimphu Vacancy Number: 751470 Date of Publication: 06 April 2023 Deadline of Application: 19 April 2023 This vacancy announcement is for Nationals from Bhutan Only
BACKGROUND & JOB PURPOSE
WFP, through its Country Strategic Plan (2019-2023), focuses on a food system and resilience approach in its strategic partnerships with the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) supporting Bhutan in enhancing food security and nutrition, and a transformative food system that is carbon-neutral while also being economically viable. WFP is the interagency lead in agriculture and has built a partnership with RGoB, and UN and development partners to support the country in enhancing food and nutrition self-sufficiency, and agriculture sector transformation. WFP aims to raise rural household income, create additional jobs, increase value and volume of sales, increase the proportion of local produce in school meals, improve dietary diversity, increase production of nutritious crops, and link farm products to viable markets.
WFP partners with the Ministries of Health, Education, and Agriculture and Forests to create an enabling environment for healthier school nutrition and the improved nutritional status of Bhutanese school children. WFP supports the RGoB to reach all rural schools with school meals by connecting 9,000 farmers in five districts to provide diverse and nutritious foods for school meals. This also assures incomes for smallholder farmers, the majority of whom are women. WFP is assisting in the construction or refurbishment of school kitchens and stores, and to develop national standards for school kitchens, stores, and kitchen equipment. WFP is also collaborating with the Ministry of Education on the use of SMP PLUS, a user-friendly software that optimizes school menus to be more nutritious, cost-efficient, and locally sourced.
WFP Bhutan identifies enhancing resilience to natural disasters and climate change as a key focus area. WFP is the current UN lead on disaster risk reduction in the country and supports coordination between development partners through regular sector meetings and knowledge sharing platforms. To develop stronger national resilience to disasters and the climate crisis, WFP supports the RGoB’s DRR initiatives in the five areas of governance and coordination, data preparedness, logistics, emergency telecommunications, and food security. WFP worked closely with the Department for Disaster Management and government partners to support the overall COVID-19 coordination and response in the areas of food security and logistics. This included capacity support to frontline personnel, preparing for future pandemics, and supporting the National Food Security Reserve in securing sufficient food stocks for six months for the whole population.
WFP considers that strengthening nationally led supply chain coordination mechanisms with strong government leadership increases legitimacy and leads to robust supply chain capacity, both at national and sub-national levels, thus contributing to sustainable economic growth. WFP seeks to utilize its global network of partners and technical expertise to localize and strengthen national supply chain capacity in accordance with SDG 17 and its Country Strategic Plan (2019-2023).
JOB PURPOSE: To coordinate and provide budget, finance, and administration support services involving the recording and interpretation of financial and budgetary information to ensure the efficient functioning of the support services and inform WFP decision-making.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)
- Contribute towards the budget plan processes include collaboration with all key stakeholders at all levels, developing detailed country budget plans compliance with wider budget and programming policies and procedures and WFP standards, monitor project performance against budget, providing financial analysis and provide advice to optimize the resources.
- Support the management and oversee of fund utilization, and advance financing, loan and borrowing/repayment and fund allocation arrangements in the country; provide comprehensive financial analysis on fund and grant balances, alert country office team to approaching deadlines of funds, identifying surpluses and deficits, and suggest corrective measures, to support maximum fund utilization.
- Plan, monitor and manage the resource pipeline to maximize operational effectiveness, implementing and adhering to standards and processes, and providing recommendation on resource allocations based on severity of pipeline shortfalls using corporate pipeline tools monthly.
- Collate and analyze data and contribute to preparation of accurate and timely reports, to enable informed decision-making and to share with external stakeholders.
- Contribute to the improvement of internal processes, enhancement of corporate systems and design of tools, to facilitate the overall planning, expenditure forecasting, and budget management and monitoring of resource utilization.
- Contribute to the delivery of financial controls and insight into WFP performance, supporting periodic risk and internal control assessments to identify areas which may present potential audit, compliance or financial risks.
- Perform bank reconciliations, disbursements, clearance of receivables, overall cash management and monthly financial closures on a regular basis in accordance with corporate requirements.
- Contribute to preparedness actions, providing technical recommendations and guidance and periodically monitoring the management of financial risks and reporting on any actions taken.
- Monitor actions related to project closure and resource transfer and refer potential issues to the supervisors.
- Represent the unit at internal meetings/committees/working groups as required, to contribute to discussion of key issues from a budget and resource programming perspective
- Guide and supervise more junior staff, acting as a point of referral and supporting them with more complex analysis and queries.
- Support the capacity building of WFP staff in budgeting, fund management and operational planning through answering queries and contributing to updating training materials, manuals, and guidelines.
- Where necessary, deliver core administrative services, working with contractors and following standard processes to provide cost-effective, quality, and timely services to WFP staff.
OTHER POST REQUIREMENTS:
- Supervise and provide guidance to the Finance Assistant, and to the Business Support Assistant (HR/Admin), to ensure efficient performance of required financial and administrative tasks, respectively.
- Monitor and manage WFP resources in the areas of responsibility, i.e., WFP managed facilities, assets, travel management, light vehicle fleet, with assistance from the Business Support Assistant (HR/Admin); monitor requirements and contribute to the estimation of new requirements to facilitate efficiency and cost effectiveness of operations and services.
- Represent WFP in inter-agency common activities, as required.
- Any other related duties, as required.
STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
Education: Completion of secondary school education. A post-secondary certificate in a related functional area.
Experience:
- A minimum of six (6) years of progressively relevant work experience in the areas of resource management, budget and programming, finance, and administration, or relevant fields.
- Has supported the preparation, management, and monitoring of budgets/resource plans/pipelines/supply chain.
- Ability to carry out data analysis and independently address problems, particularly those requiring immediate attention.
Languages: Fluency in both oral and written English (level C) and Dzongkha is an asset.
All WFP employees are expected to demonstrate the competencies and standards of behavior aligned with our core values and defined in the WFP leadership framework, namely:
- Leading by example with integrity
- Driving results and delivering on commitment
- Fostering inclusive and collaborative teamwork
- Applying strategic thinking
- Building and maintaining sustainable partnerships
HOW TO APPLY
To be considered, interested candidates are invited to apply via (https://www.wfp.org/careers/job-openings). Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.
Request for Disability related Reasonable Accommodations: It is important to WFP to create an accessible and inclusive workplace for everyone. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the selection and hiring process, please direct your request and inquiries to the Diversity and Inclusion team on: [email protected] or [email protected] . A member of the reasonable accommodation team will contact you to confidentially discuss your needs.
This email is only to be used for any disability related accessibility requirements, and not for sending the application itself. Due to volume of applications, any applications or CVs sent through this email address will not be considered as a formal application and will not receive a reply from WFP.