Programme Associate G6 (Fund Management)

World Food Programme Myanmar

Vacancy Announcement

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

In emergencies, WFP gets food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After an emergency, WFP uses food to help communities rebuild their shattered lives. On average, WFP reaches more than 80 million people with food assistance in 75 countries each year. The organization has the global footprint, deep field presence and local knowledge and relationships necessary to provide access to nutritious food and contribute to the lasting solutions, especially in many of the world’s most remote and fragile areas.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has been presented in Myanmar since 1994 and is now focusing on helping the Government reach its national Zero Hunger Challenge by 2025. WFP’s work in the country is guided by three priorities: emergency preparedness and response; nutrition; and provision of social safety nets.

WFP’s mission is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger by 2030 as per the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2. It works to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

The Myanmar CSP 2018-2022 approved by the WFP Executive Board in November 2017 and it aims to contribute to three Strategic Outcomes that are aligned to four Strategic Results of SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for Development). A total of eight Activities are planned  to be implemented to achieve the contributions to the three Strategic Outcomes.

Under the Integrated Road Map (IRM) WFP has committed to a new way of working, linking not only all activities to the defined Strategic Outcomes, but also linking the resources used for implementing the activities to the results achieved.

The three strategic outcomes are:

 SO 1: “Crisis-affected people in food insecure areas meet their food and nutrition needs all year round.” Lifesaving food and/or cash will be provided to women, men, girls and boys affected by natural disasters, armed conflict, and inter-communal violence.

 SO 2: “Vulnerable people in states and regions with high food insecurity and/or malnutrition have access to food all year round.” WFP will provide food/cash assistance to vulnerable populations, while providing technical assistance to support the government in strengthening its social protection programmes, food systems and emergency preparedness capacity.

 SO 3: “Children under 5 in Myanmar have improved nutrition in line with national targets by 2022.” WFP will contribute to increasing the availability and access to safe and nutritious food for vulnerable and affected populations in crisis and non-crisis situations to enhance their nutrition and resilience. WFP will also support the government in implementing national nutrition actions, including SBCC, preventive nutrition specific and sensitive interventions, and scale-up of management of acute malnutrition.

This job is located in WFP Myanmar office in Yangon.

At this level, job holders are responsible for technical work including the planning, implementation and co-ordination of activities that require thorough understanding of programme/project context, issues and ability to apply a range of guidelines/practices. They independently handle a wide range of specialized programme or policy support activities and may be involved in analytical work. Work performed typically has a substantial impact affecting other parts of the programme. Job holders demonstrate initiative in the identification and resolution of a wide range of issues/problems, and effectively handle unforeseen situations. They may act as technical focal points in the area of vulnerability assessment and analysis. Job holders set objectives, resolve wide-ranging issues and unforeseen problems, supervise and coach a team of support staff within an area of responsibility. 

The purpose of this job profile is to provide effective coordination and specialized support to a full range of policy and programme activities that effectively meet food assistance needs.

Under the overall supervision by the Head of Programme Unit and the direct supervision of the Strategic Outcome Managers in WFP Yangon, the incumbent will perform the following duties: -

•    As a focal point for Fund Management, coordinate with the SO Managers and Activity Managers in managing, planning, monitoring and utilization of grants for FLA budget and Cash based transfer;
•    Create and release service outline agreements (SOA) in WFP corporate financial system WINGS for the signed FLAs with cooperating partners; (including food distribution agreement and cash distribution agreement) (alternate to FLA focal point);
•    Create and release Purchase Requests-Cash to beneficiary (PRCB) in WINGS for the signed FLAs with cooperating partners in line with the respective grant;
•    Coordinate with Procurement to create and changes of Purchase Order-Cash to beneficiary (POCB);
•    Create purchase order for food and or cash distribution agreements (PODA) with cooperating partners;
•    Review of beneficiary and resource requirement on WFP information management system (COMET) for the signed FLAs;
•    Create and release loan and borrowing agreement and repayment in WINGS to rotate the stock to avoid the pipeline break;
•    Review invoices in Invoice Tracking System (ITS), submitted by cooperating partners through field offices against terms and conditions agreed in the signed FLA, and take corrective measures for any observed discrepancies between agreed cash amount and request amount; and agreed rates and invoice rates, tonnage and invoice amounts (alternate to CP payment focal point);
•    Timely recognition of cash requests in WINGS for cooperating partners’ monthly cash request for beneficiary and process cash payment requests endorsed by sub-offices in accordance with cash distribution records; (cash focal point);
•    Timely recognition of expenses in WINGS for cooperating partners’ monthly distribution claims and process cooperating partners’ payment requests endorsed by sub-offices in accordance with commodities distribution records for both food and cash modalities (alternate to CP payment focal point);
•    Prepare manual purchase request (PR) & Wings PR/SES/GRN for the purchase of program related nonfood item dealing with CO Programme Unit and Sub-Offices;
•    Perform as a focal point for Micro Purchase Order for Programme Unit for the procurement of goods and services. 
•    Maintain the vendor information for cooperating partners’ updated organization information and detail banking information (alternate to CP payment focal point);
•    Update SOPs in line with financial directives and in coordination with functional units;
•    Set up, classify and maintain unit files;
•    Perform other related duties as required.

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Coaches team in the most effective ways to communicate WFP’s Strategic Objectives to WFP team and partners in the field.
•  Be a force for positive change: Implements new methods or tools to improve team’s work processes and productivity.
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Maps team’s activities and tasks to specific successes in beneficiary communities to showcase positive impact.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Explains to teammates how each unit contributes to the overall WFP mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Identifies skill development opportunities such as training modules or on-the-job experiences for self, colleagues and direct reports.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Facilitates team building activities to build rapport in own unit.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Facilitates the pairing of junior colleagues with coaches within own team.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Proactively anticipates potential challenges and develops mitigation plans to ensure that team meets goals and targets.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Identifies opportunities to be creative in own work and to help team be more innovative and accurate in their respective tasks and areas of work.
•  Focus on getting results: Monitors team’s deliverables and provides feedback to ensure outcomes are delivered consistently and accurately.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Provides accurate guidance to team on expected responsibilities and tasks, whilst also upholding own commitment to the team.
•  Be Decisive: Sets an example and provides guidance to junior team members on when to escalate issues when faced with challenging issues in the workplace or in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Facilitates partnerships with other WFP units to accomplish missions in the field.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Sets an example and provides guidance to team on how to build relationships with external partners.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Articulates to colleagues or direct reports the value of contributing to other WFP teams and agency partnerships in fulfilling WFP’s goals and objectives.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Organizes, monitors, and prioritizes own and team’s efforts to ensure that they will fulfil the needs of internal and external partners.

Education:
University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses in partnership, fund and financial management.

Language:

Fluent in written and oral skills in both English and Myanmar.

Knowledge/ Skills & Experience
Knowledge of humanitarian assistance and development practice. General knowledge of UN system, policies, rules, regulations and procedures governing administration. Knowledge of the political, economic and social situation in Myanmar. Training and/or experience utilizing computers, including Microsoft window software, SPSS and other standard WFP software packages and systems.

Preferable to have at least five years of progressively responsible experience, of which at least one year was closely related to fund and financial management. Experience in following areas is an advantage.
• Has facilitated communication with technical teams (i.e. nutrition, VAM, etc.).
• Has contributed to implementation of programmes.
• Has observed or assisted with policy discussions.

This post is opened for Myanmar Nationals Only.

Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. Only short-listed candidates will be notified.

Female applicants and qualified applicants are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.