Associate Programme Officer

Position Purpose

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Pooled Fund Manager and Head of Office (OCHA ROLAC), the Associate Programme Officer is responsible for the implementation of the programmatic and monitoring functions of the Regional Humanitarian Financing Unit (RHFU), including both funding mechanisms led by ROLAC (Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean): the LAC HF (with country envelopes in Colombia and Haiti), and CERF (Central Emergency Response Fund). The Associate Programme Officer leads the formulation, management, and evaluation of programme and monitoring activities within his/her portfolio; and provides advice services.

The Associate Programme Officer works in close collaboration with other units and field offices within OCHA, programme staff in other UN Agencies, OCHA and CBPF (Country-Based Pooled Funds ) section staff in HQ, cluster coordinators, technical advisors/experts, partners and donors to ensure successful processes within the RHFU and LAC HF, including the country envelopes in Colombia and Haiti; and CERF when necessary.

Duties and Responsibilities

Substantively contribute to the RHFU: Fund Management and Coordination:

• Support and implement standardized policy in line with the CBPF (Country-Based Pooled Funds) Global Guidelines and HQ guidance.
• Liaise with NGOs, UN partners as well as clusters and OCHA field offices with country envelopes to follow-up on project progress and overall Fund progress.
• Contribute to ensure proper communication and support during the allocation process of LAC HF and CERF to all stakeholders.
• Liaise with and provide necessary support to recipient organizations of the Fund throughout the life cycle of the projects, promoting coherence between humanitarian needs and response.
• Contribute to organize field missions, conferences, meetings, and events related to LAC HF under the guidance of the Pooled Fund Manager.
• Under the guidance of the Pooled Fund Manager and in collaboration with other OCHA units and field offices, as well as with support from relevant OCHA HQ sections, contribute to document and disseminate results, best practices and results of the Fund across internal and broader audiences through information and communication products/pieces (i.e., bulletins, feature stories, photographs/videos, websites, etc.).
• Contribute, when necessary, on the CERF allocation processes and Coordination mechanisms and allocation reporting to HQ.

Support the fund allocation process from the design of the allocation strategy and throughout the project cycle:

• Contribute to the process of Internal Capacity Assessments for new partners following the CBPF (Country-Based Pooled Funds) Global Guidelines.
• Ensure necessary coordination during fund allocation processes with relevant counterparts in line with the Terms of Reference and/or allocation guidelines (i.e., Review and/or Advisory Boards, cluster leads, humanitarian organizations, and OCHA).
• Contribute to the drafting of the Fund’s allocation strategies for LAC HF and CERF allocations following guidance from the Humanitarian Coordinators/HoOs and the Pooled Fund Manager, in consultation with relevant counterparts and coordination fora.
• Contribute to the review process of project proposals by the RHFU and review committees and follow up with partners on programmatic aspects.
• Communicate concerns about proposals, project documents and/or implementing partners to the Pooled Fund Manager.
• Oversee programme implementation with the implementing partners within the approved projects.
• Organize training and workshops related to LAC HF or CERF processes, programmatic and cross-cutting issues, reporting and monitoring activities, proposal development, and others programmatic topics.
• Contribute to LAC HF and CERF reporting and follow up processes.
• Keep the Pooled Fund Manager informed of trends and/or individual cases that contribute to evidence-based decisions or actions.

Lead the monitoring of LAC HF-funded projects and ensure compliance with monitoring instances:

• Ensure compliance with monitoring and reporting requirements in place for the Fund.
• Develop the monitoring plan for LAC HF-funded projects including field site visits and reporting instances according to the Operational Modalities and the CBPF (Country-Based Pooled Funds) Global Guidelines.
• Organize and conduct regular field visits to LAC HF-funded projects to monitor their implementation, ensuring the alignment with the project proposal and the Grant Agreement.
• Ensure that field monitoring reports and recommendations to implementing partners are reflected in the One Grant Management System (OneGMS) on a timely manner and in compliance with CBPF (Country-Based Pooled Funds) Guidelines.
• Ensure timely reporting of project implementation and communicate concerns to the Pooled Fund Manager.
• Ensure that results and findings from monitoring visits are shared with the Pooled Fund Manager and implementing partners in a timely manner, and recommendations are followed-up.
• Ensure that implementing partners submit narrative reports within the established timeline for all LAC HF-funded projects.
• Monitor the delivery and review of narrative reports from implementing partners to ensure compliance with CBPF (Country-Based Pooled Funds) Global Guidelines and to provide feedback.
• Ensure all project documents are on OneGMS partner files.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization:

• Perform other duties as assigned by LAC HF Pooled Fund Manager.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in political science, social science, international studies, public administration, economics, legal science, or a related field is required or
• A first-level university degree (bachelor´s degree) in  humanitarian or development affairs, social sciences, public administration, international studies, economics, or a related field is required.

Experience, Knowledge and Skills:

• Two (2) years (with master’s degree) or 4 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience at the national and/or international level in humanitarian affairs, emergency preparedness, crisis/emergency relief management, rehabilitation, development, or related area is required.
• Experience in humanitarian financing, e.g., grant management, fundraising, and donor relations for humanitarian programmes, is desirable.
• Experience with United Nations and/or NGOs desirable.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and ability to establish and maintain a good working relationship.
• Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.), database packages, and web-based management systems.
• Demonstrated experience in report writing.
• Experience in project management and supervision, monitoring and evaluation, and administration is desirable.
• Experience in grants management and in the design of logical frameworks is desirable.
• Ability to work with moderate supervision, efficiently, competently, and with integrity with diverse people.
• Willingness to work under pressure in an international and multicultural environment.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners and colleagues to achieve organizational goals.

Languages:

• Fluency in Spanish and English is required for this position.
• A good knowledge of French is desirable.
• Knowledge of Haitian Creole is desirable.

Source: https://estm.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/requisitions/job/20097