Management and Programme Support Specialist

UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels offers a spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in its Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in UNDP’s Strategic Plan. 

Within the GPN, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages; represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora, including public-private, government and civil society dialogues; and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. 

BPPS’s Hubs on Nature, Climate, Energy and Waste, with the support of the Vertical Fund Programme Support Oversight and Compliance Unit, works with governments, civil society, and private sector partners to integrate nature, climate, energy and waste related concerns into national and sector planning and inclusive growth policies, support country obligations under Multilateral Environmental Agreements, and oversee the implementation of the UN’s largest portfolio of in-country programming nature, climate change, energy and waste. This multi-billion-dollar portfolio encompasses: 

• Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services including forests; 
• Sustainable Land Management and Desertification including food and commodity systems; 
• Water and Ocean Governance including SIDS; 
• Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation; 
• Sustainable Energy; 
• Extractive Industries; 
• Chemicals and Waste Management; 
• Environmental Governance and Green/Circular Economy and SCP approaches. 

This work advances crosscutting themes on innovative finance, digital transformation, capacity development, human rights, gender equality, health, technology, and South-South learning.

In addition to UNDP’s bilateral partnerships in Nature, Climate, Energy and Waste, UNDP is an accredited multilateral implementing agency of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Multilateral Fund (MLF), the Adaptation Fund (AF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). As part of UNDP’s partnership with these vertical funds (VFs), UNDP’s Vertical Fund Programme Support Oversight and Compliance Unit supports UNDP’s Nature, Climate, Energy and Waste related Hubs and provides countries specialized integrated technical services for eligibility assessment, programme formulation, capacity development, policy advice, technical assistance, training and technology transfer, mobilization of co-financing, implementation oversight, results management and evaluation, performance-based payments and knowledge management services.
 

The Vertical Fund Programme Support Oversight and Compliance Unit Management and Programme Support Specialist (MPSS) will serve as the regional lead of the Management and Programme Support Unit (MPSU), leading the financial oversight and compliance on the GCF/GEF/AF portfolio in the Asia/Pacific region. S/he will be accountable for fund allocation, GCF/GEF/AF financial reporting, business process review, costing and pricing of services, and responsible for programme support, operational oversight, and management of the Vertical Fund portfolio for Asia/Pacific region. The MPSS will be delegated with authority as level 2 approver managing development and management resources, and to ensure compliance with UNDP, GCF/GEF/AF, and other donor requirements. 

The MPSS works in close collaboration with MPSU teams in Headquarters (HQ) and Regional Hubs (RH), with Country Offices (COs), and other UNDP Units to ensure consistent service delivery and practices. 

The MPSS will report to the Chief of the Management and Programme Support Unit within Vertical Fund Programme Support Oversight and Compliance Unit. The MPSS will be based in UNDP’s Regional Hub in Bangkok, Thailand, is expected to directly supervise two staff, and required to travel occasionally. 

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

• Responsible for budget and operations management being carried out in full compliance with UNDP regulations, rules and policies; 
• Implementation of corporate operational strategies, including contribution to the establishment of management targets and monitoring of achievement of results focusing on operation/finance/budgeting/delivery;
• Continuous process improvement, contributing to the business processes mapping, and establishment of internal standard operating procedures in budget, costing and resources management, procurement, and logistical services in compliance with UNDP internal control framework;
• Efficient and effective performance as Level 2 approver to approve purchase orders, vouchers, and other financial transactions;
• Conduct exceptions/compliance review on the use of management and global project budgets. Mitigate risks, identify issues, and recommend solutions and system improvements;
• Monitor the year-end closure process of GCF/GEF/AF and related cost sharing projects, ensure timely and accurate operational/financial reports produced with high quality; 
• Assist with data preparation;
• Coordination of internal and external audits on management projects and global projects hosted under the VF Program Support Oversight & Compliance Unit;
• Manage and supervise operations including common services, supplies, and ICT equipment, and optimize highest cost savings on management projects;
• Manage travel budgets and expenditures and ensure travel entitlements are compliant with UNDP travel policies;
• Smooth collaboration with Regional Hub’s Human Resources and Operations Units to ensure timely recruitment and contract extensions of local staff and local consultants as required.
• Management of budget performance of relevant Cost Center(s), including GOE and staff allocations and actual time allocations;

• Coordination and quality assurance of financial reports data gathering process and preparation;
• Preparation and/or clearance of financial reports to donors using Atlas warehouse data, Quantum, PIMS+ and other systems; 
• Guiding COs on correction of financial reporting errors and ensure high quality financial reports submitted to GCF, GEF, AF and other donors; 
• Coordinate response and conduct analysis on budget/expense data requested by GEF, GCF, AF, and other donors; 
• Serve as regional business process focal point on financial reporting design, linking to systems (Atlas warehouse, Quantum, PIMS+, GEF portal, Trustee Letter of Commitments, etc.), based on VF management and business requirements; 
• Monitor the financial dashboard on key milestones and ensure accuracy (e.g. PIF approvals, CEO/Donor approvals, DOAs, cash/ASL allocations, budget revisions, 1^st disbursement, MTRs, closures, cancellations, etc.);
• Coordinate corporate exercise of projections on VF resource mobilization, delivery, and GMS revenue targets;
• Monitor PIMS+ financial/budget data, identify issues, and notify staff and Senior Management team of potential risks;
• Conduct cost efficiency analyses and produce management reports for decision making;
• Prepare SOPs and training materials on reporting and data collection.

• Responsible for financial review and/or clearance on submission documents, e.g. funding proposals, donor agreements, project documents and other related budgets/financial documents for submission to GEF and GCF; 
• Responsible for financial review and/or clearance on project documents and other required documents for issuance of delegation of authorities to COs; 
• Oversight on GEF/GCF project budget set up in Quantum and in PIMS+ and ensure compliance with approved project documents; 
• Responsible for fund allocations on GEF projects, and cash management/disbursement schedule and requests on GCF projects. Review Regional Technical Advisor cleared Annual Work Plans (incl. Multi-year Budgeting), compare to the approved ProDoc budget, Quantum budgets, verify cumulative expenditure status, and project budget balance; 
• Provide inputs to PISC and Country Office Capacity assessment for GEF and GCF programming;
• Oversight of COs on closure of VF projects and ensure compliance with VF policies;
• Oversight of COs on quality implementation of the NIM/NGO/DIM audit implementation plan, focusing on significant issues, such as NFMs, and recommend risk mitigation solutions;
• Provide analysis and assistance to the annual external audit on GEF special purpose statements and other VFs as needed;
• Effective monitoring of project deliveries and ensure GEF/GCF Fee is released to UNDP Units accurately and timely; 
• Leading data collection and analysis on financial/budget/delivery data for region based financial review as required by VF Senior Management;
• Conduct financial portfolio analysis by region, by CO, by project and by Thematic teams.  Identify exceptions, implementation issues, and recommend solutions; 
• Monitor the year-end closure activities and timelines to ensure timely and accurate operation/financial reports are produced with high quality. 

Knowledge management, learning, and tools development:

• Identify needs, develop knowledge products, SOPs, and resource kit to facilitate training on Vertical Funds financial/budget management and reporting requirements; 
• Provide training to relevant teams on budget management, reporting, including but not limited to, ICF, budget management policies of UNDP and GCF/GEF, etc.;
• Contribute to the analysis, documentation, codification of results/lessons learned from financial reporting
• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: Supervision, management, performance management, and development of personnel will be required

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact 
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems 
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands 
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

• Business Management  – Communication:
  • Ability to communicate in a clear, concise, and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.
  • Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media, and other appropriate channels.
• Business Management  – Operations Management:       
  • Ability to efficiently plan, organize, and oversee the Organization business processes in order to convert its assets into the best results in the most efficient manner. Knowledge of relevant concepts and mechanisms.
• Business Management  – Risk Management:      
  • Ability to identify and organize action around mitigating and proactively managing risks.
• Operations – Financial and process innovation:              
  • Financial and business process engineering expertise required to innovate, design, change and implement new financial business models, financial instruments, financing opportunities, business processes, policies and procedures, and technological solutions.
• Finance – Budget Management:              
  • Ability to support budgetary aspects of work planning process, drawing and management of team budgets.
• Finance – Financial Reporting and Analysis:      
  • Understands changes in regulatory, legal, and ethical frameworks and standards for financial reporting in the public sector. 
  • Ability to extract, evaluate financial data, derive relevant findings, and present them in a meaningful and coherent manner to facilitate effective decision making and performance monitoring.
  • Understands the benefits of integrated reporting, including non-financial resources such as human, social, and intellectual capital, and environmental and governance performance
• 2030 Agenda: Engagement & Effectiveness – Effectiveness:
  • Quality assurance of corporate data