Zambia: MDGi Programme Budget Monitoring and Reporting Consultant

TitleMDGi Programme Budget Monitoring and Reporting ConsultantPurpose Assist the Chief of Health and Nutrition Section and the International Programme Manager in the management of the budget, and monitoring and documentation of progress in the implementation of activities and tasks related to the MDGi programme.Location Lusaka, with occasional field travelLevel Equivalent to P-3Duration 6 months with possibility of renewalStart Date As soon as possibleReporting to Chief, Health and Nutrition until International Programme Manager is recruited.

Background:

The Government of Zambia through the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health (MCDMCH), and the Ministry of Health (MoH), and UNICEF Zambia, with funding from the European Union (EU), is supporting the implementation of a Millennium Development Goal Initiative (MDGi) programme in 11 selected districts of two provinces (Lusaka and Copperbelt), This project will cover a period of 48 months and aims at improving availability and quality of health and nutrition services in the selected districts . The action focuses on strengthening health systems for efficient service delivery through building of institutional capacity at national provincial and district levels for proper situation analysis, planning, implementation and monitoring of results for action. Supply side interventions for improving the availability of services will be complemented by demand side measures at the level of communities and households. The MDGi programme will build on experiences and innovations which have been piloted in Zambia, and aims at combining already existing strategies and capacities for specific health problems into a comprehensive package of care at district level.

Justification:

The EU is a key partner and donor to UNICEF and the government of Zambia. The reporting for the MDGi programme has already proven to be an intense and complex process. The MDGi programme represents a very important portion of funding for UNICEF Zambia. Due to the scale of the MDGi, the size of its budget, the complexity and rigour needed for reporting during all stages of the initiative and the number of internal and external interactions to be documented, a full-time MDGi programme budget, monitoring and reporting officer is needed to support the UNICEF Zambia Chief of Health and Nutrition and the soon-to-be-recruited International Programme Manager to monitor and prepare the relevant financial and implementation updates for use and sharing with the different stack holders ( EUD , UNICEF Management government and the members of the Technical working group and steering committee.

Objectives/Target:

The consultancy will provide oversight for the budget and financial utilization process for the MDGi 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 consultant will produce is destined for a varied audience the majority of whom will be technical.

Specific Tasks

The consultant will be required to complete the following tasks, grouped according to theme.

1. Budgetary and Financial Utilization Overview and Support

· Assist in dissemination of UNICEF Standard Operating Procedures for financial disbursements and liquidations to MDGi implementing partners with support from 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 MDGi implementing partners with support from Programme Assistant, and prepare updates on utilization rates as required;

· Collate financial utilization reports from MDGi implementing partners and liaise closely with the Operations Section in ensuring the correctness of entries (for reference/reporting/auditing purposes);

· Liaise with UNICEF Brussels for quality assurance of financial and general reporting documents before submission to the EU;

· Liaise with firm contracted to audit MDGi implementing partners, engaging in troubleshooting and problem solving as necessary and alerting Senior Management to problems in a timely manner.

1. Reporting:

· Manage process of submission of donor narrative and financial reports, ensuring that the UNICEF and EU submission guidelines and procedures for quality and timeliness are respected and implemented;

· Provide quality control and editorial support, including editing and rewriting documents as needed and ensuring all content is factual and grammatically correct;

· Assist UNICEF Chief of Health and Nutrition in drafting and finalization of high quality analytical and summary reports documents, briefing notes and other MDGi related materials and/or presentations for sharing with internal and external audiences as and when required.

· Prepare financial and narrative updates and document sets for internal and external MDGi meetings;

· Prepare Financial and narrative donor reports drafted for UNICEF Brussels, ESARO and NY as per MDGi contribution agreement;

·

1. MDGi Programme Monitoring and Internal Coordination Support:

· Support day-to-day tracking and documentation of progress updates collected from internal UNICEF communications with support from MDGi Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer (within country office team, with regional office, with HQ and with Brussels teams) as well as from UNICEF team consultations with the EU Delegation to Zambia, with Government of Zambia entities at national, provincial and district level as well as with UN sister agencies;

· Coordinate with the MDGi Programme assistant for monitoring and archiving of all financial and administrative documents linked to the MDGi prpogramme electronically and in hard copie.Updated knowledge bank on ZCO shared drive.

Expected Deliverables

The following deliverables are to be submitted in accordance to approved quality assurance and clearance processes through the UNICEF Chief of Health and Nutrition Section who is the approved ZCO MDGi Project Coordinator.

#Deliverables/Products Timing 1 Continuously updated and accurate monitoring of financial disbursements and utilization for all MDGi programmatic funds Ongoing 2 Collated set of financial utilization reports from partners for reference/reporting/auditing purposes Ongoing 3 Financial and narrative progress updates and document sets for internal and external MDGi Meetings 5 working days before the dates of MDGi statutory or ad-hoc meetings 4 Financial and narrative donor reports drafted for UNICEF Brussels, ESARO and NY as per as per MDGi Contribution Agreement reporting schedule 10 working days before donor reporting schedule 5 Updated knowledge bank on UNICEF ZCO shared drive Ongoing 6 Prepare budget and workplan documents (in consultation with MDGi Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer and International Programme Manager) to facilitate disbursements of funds from European Union to UNICEF

Payment Schedule

Monthly payment upon submission of satisfactory monthly progress reports.

Performance indicators for evaluation:

§ High quality outputs;

§ Results driven;

§ Meets deadlines;

§ Collaborative and team player.

Qualification/Specialized knowledge and Experience:

§ University degree in the social sciences, journalism or related field, a master’s degree is an asset;

§ High level of fluency in written and spoken English and advanced user level competency of MS Office suite are prerequisite

§ Demonstrate experiences in working with government partners, UN agencies, NGO’s and donors

§ At least three to five years of experience with UNICEF or other international organizations on complex programmes, with focus on donor reporting, technical writing and editing required;

§ Knowledge of EU contractual procedures for development funding desirable;

§ Proven documentation and knowledge management for EU funded projects required;

§ Proven ability to express clearly and concisely ideas and concepts in written and oral form; specific skills in report writing and editing;

§ Ability to research, analyze, evaluate and synthesize information;

§ Excellent teamwork skills;

§ Computer skills, including internet navigation, and various office applications especially Microsoft Word, Powerpoint and Excel required.

General Conditions of Service and Ethical Considerations:

The following general conditions shall apply.

§ Workplace: UNICEF Lusaka;

§ Applicable DSA for field trips;

§ Not entitled to any payments during days off and sick leave;

§ Under the consultancy agreements, a month is defined as 22 working days and fees are prorated accordingly. Will not be paid for weekends or public holidays;

§ Not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement;

§ No work may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant.

§ Will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.

Competency Profile (for details, please refer to UNICEF professional competency profiles.)

i) Core Values (Required)

· Commitment

· Diversity and Inclusion

· Integrity

ii) Core Competencies (Required)

· Communication [ II ]

· Working with People [ II ]

· Drive for Result [ II ]

iii) Functional Competencies (Required)

· Leading and Supervising [ II ]

· Formulating Strategies and Concepts [ II ]

· Analyzing [ II ]

· Applying Technical Expertise [ II ]

· Planning and Organizing [ III ]

Interested candidates should send their application by 15 August 2015 (a cover letter, CV, and signed P11 Form) with at least 3 traceable references to Lusaka@unicef.org with a copy totbanda@unicef.org. Please clearly indicate under subject “**MDGi Programme Budget Monitoring and Reporting Consultant, Lusaka, Zambia**”. Please note that acknowledgement of application will be extended only to short-listed candidates.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.