Programme Management Analyst

Office/Unit/Project Description

The UNDP Country Office in India established the Programme Management and Support Unit (PMSU) to provide effective and efficient management advisory support services to senior management, programme and operations teams and to align the oversight capacities and capabilities to the CPD to ensure a systematic approach to 6 key areas: people, knowledge, risk management, funding, operational excellence, and impact measurement. The PMSU acts as a quality assurance unit aiming to make the CO more accountable in terms of programme performance and management of results and programme financial resources.

The PMSU is responsible for developing and mainstreaming practical tools and approaches to promote effective and efficient programme planning, implementation, review, monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge management. The Unit also monitors and analyzes the programme financial resources for effective planning and utilization according to the CO’s overall programme focus and priorities. The Unit will play a key role in ensuring the compliance of the CO with corporate policies, rules and regulations and the alignment of the Country Programme to the Strategic Plan and changes introduced at the corporate level.   These tasks will in turn, facilitate the office’s ability to respond to the fast changing development needs, while maintaining high standards of operation based on corporate policies and procedures in an accountable manner.

The PMSU will report directly to the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative and will work closely with the Operations Manager.

Position Purpose:

Under the overall guidance and the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist, Programme Management Support Unit, the Programme Management Analyst is responsible for coordinating programme management, oversight and compliance activities of the Office and provides advice on quality assurance and supports oversight work for CO programme and operations activities and contribute to the overall management performance within the Country Office and organizational learning to enhance the impact and relevance of the country programme.

The Programme Management Analyst promotes a collaborative, client-oriented approach consistent with UNDP rules and regulations and works in close cooperation with Management, Programme, Operations and other Teams in the CO, Regional Hub and Regional Bureau and various HQ units.

To be successful in this role, the Programme Management Analyst should have a strong programme finance management background, sufficient knowledge of enterprise risk management, including advanced analytical skills. S/he should have strong teambuilding, interpersonal and communication skills, be able to work under pressure, and be able to look at issues from different angles and find creative solutions.

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.

Duties and Responsibilities

Ensure strategic oversight of programme planning, monitoring and reporting of development initiatives:

• Proper monitoring and oversight of internal control mechanisms and compliance of project and programme resource management actions, at the design, implementation and closure stages, to ensure that they are implemented consistently and in accordance with UN/UNDP rules, regulations, policies and procedures (POPP).
• Establish standard operating procedures and business processes for quality of the project budgets formulation and delivery, including costing of results, availability of resources, and reporting requirements to enable adequate monitoring and oversight.
• Ensure strategic inputs to project design, pre-appraisal and quality assurance reviews of the draft project documents to improve the quality of programming, including multi-year work planning, capacity assessments for financial reporting, resource management, cost-recovery including DPC, and financial arrangements etc.
• Contribute to the achievement of project objectives and outcomes through active oversight review of projects; assessment of reliability and integrity of financial information provided in project reports and corporate systems, and the completeness of supporting documents.
• Ensure quality advise and support to programme teams on effective use of tools and methodologies for resource planning, monitoring and reporting to better orient environment vertical fund projects and other donor-funded projects against UNDP corporate and donor policies related to programme and project management, offering concrete options to enhance  compliance, finance performance analytics, and other available sources of lessons and best practices.
• Supports overall resource mobilization of the CO through the review of donor agreements, cost sharing agreements and trust fund agreements and follow up on contributions. Coordinate with UNDP HQ and legal department for any necessary clearances.
• Support transparency and accountability in project resource management, and overall programme management and carry out targeted performance reviews to ensure targets are met; and make appropriate recommendations for improvement.
• Perform other tasks/duties that may be required upon direction of  supervisor.

Country Office focal point for Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfer (HACT) :

• Monitor and coordinate effective follow-up to the Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) Direct Implementation /(DIM) and CO audits, analyze audit findings and support preparation of the improvement plans, facilitate regular monitoring of capacity development activities for all projects.
• Participate in Inter-Agency HACT Taskforce and Identify HACT projects for UNDP and consolidate list with other UN agencies;
• Initiate and monitor/review micro-assessment and  Partner Capacity Assessment Tool of agreed partners;
• Review recommended capacity development needs of Implementing Partner and make recommendation to UNDP Management for follow up;
• Facilitate capacity development in collaboration with concerned UNDP units.
• Lead project spot-check exercise, provide guidance to Country Office Spot-check Team for carrying out project spot-check exercise, conduct quality assurance of spot check reports and facilitate follow up of the spot check findings
• Ensure proper implementation of anti-fraud mechanisms and anti-money laundering and countering finance terrorism (AML/CFT) policies and procedures.
• Elaborate office business processes mapping and development of risk-informed SOPs; identify opportunities for converting business processes into web-based systems to enhance efficiency, accountability, and risk management.

Ensure effective programme management, including promoting efficiencies through effective programme instruments planning:

• Monitoring and advisory support to programme planning and project design through correct support on programming instruments.
• Support programme teams on effective use of tools and methodologies for planning, monitoring and reporting to better orient projects against UNDP corporate and specific donor policies related to project design and management, offering substantive advice and concrete programming options to enhance project compliance, portfolio analysis, review of evaluations, performance analytics, and other available sources of lessons and best practices
• Provide guidance and advise on the selection of the correct programming tools and ensure that this is embedded into project design
• Provide support and ensure quality assurance of legal documents, including LOA, MoU, RPAs, LVG Agreements, PCA and cost sharing agreements according to UNDP rules and regulations/Advise and prepare funding agreements with donors and ensure compliance with the organization’s corporate template/ Effective and efficient clearance and implementation of the cost-sharing trust fund agreements.
• Coordinate with UNDP Legal Office and Headquarters on the clearance of donor agreements and programming instruments when required.

Effective coordination of Country Office audits and follow up of Country Office audits:

• Serve as focal point for Country Office audits and prepare required documentation.
• Facilitate provision of documentation from Country Office units as required
• Ensure audit recommendations are appropriately entered in UNDP database (CARDS) and regularly monitored for implementation
• Ensure analysis of the quality of evaluations, and audit trends with focus on financial controls and resource management and ensure relevant management actions as well as adjustments to business operations and programming approaches.
• Contribute to the design and monitoring of Country Office performance, integrating financial and operational performance metrics, including regional targets, workplans / MCO Business Plan and Annual Compacts etc.
• Ensure necessary follow-up measures to respond to the recommendations from global audits, regional assessments and corporate actions plans, etc., as required.
• Prepare annual audit calendar for project audits (NIM/NGO) including list of project to be audited based on corporate criteria;
• Provide quality assurance of the NIM/NGO audit reports and ensure audit follows UNDP corporate guidelines;
• Provide auditors, UNDP units and projects with checklists and audit scope and TOR;
• Facilitate interaction between auditors and projects and ensure timely submission of all audit requirements including reports;
• Analyze audit findings across projects and prepare audit follow up plan;
• Facilitate regular monitoring of audit follow up and preparation of capacity development activities for all projects;
• In consultation with Senior Management, assess risk areas and work with project staff to minimize risk exposure; 
• Enter required data and regularly monitor UNDP audit database (CARDS);
• Liaise with Regional Audit Centre on audit and oversight matters, seek guidance and technical inputs and support as necessary.

Capacity development and knowledge facilitation:

• Ensure needs and capacity assessments are conducted on regular basis and capacity development actions are designed in an efficient manner.
• Provide training and facilitates effective knowledge dissemination across the office and projects to ensure colleagues have easy access to resources and tools.
• Provide guidance and specific training sessions to programme and project staff on HACT and management /NIM/NGO audit processes and common findings
• Conduct analysis of COs’ data and case evidence to distil relevant lessons on programme oversight and programme finance, as well as  project management and implementation.
• In close collaboration with the Regional Bureau staff, contribute to development and delivery of modular training packages to strengthen COs’ and partners’ capacities in the programmatic and operational oversight and implementation of the CO portfolios.
• Contribute to CO capacity building efforts and the planning and delivery of workshops and learning events.
• Participate in, and bring CO perspectives into, the implementation of policy and strategic initiatives at the regional and HQ level in her/his areas of responsibility to support the key results, outcomes, and outputs of the UNDP Strategic Plan.
• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of  the Office and the Organization.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced University Degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Finance, Management,  Business Administration, Project Management, International Development, Public Administration, Accounting and/ora  professional accounting qualification from an internationally accredited institute of accountancy is required, OR .
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree
• Professional Certifications in Programme/Project management is advantageous.

Experience:

• Up to  2 years (with Master’s degree) or minimum 2 years (with Bachelor´s degree) of experience in programme management, programme oversight, resource management, financial management services or relevant related field is required.
• Demonstrated experience in programme/project management or programme finance and or operations management is required
• Knowledge of ERP platforms (Oracle Cloud, etc.) is highly desirable.
• Strong knowledge/experience of UNDP Enterprise Risk Management policy, Accountability Framework, programme and project management policies and procedures is desirable.
• Strong communication skills and excellent writing skills/experience is desired.
• Fluency in English and Hindi is required.

Source: https://estm.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/requisitions/job/17241