Job Description

Tiered Approach

In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:

• Tier 0: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
• Tier 1: Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
• Tier 2: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
• Tier 3 or no tier indicated: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates

Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.

Background

General Assembly Resolution 2186 (XXI) decided to “bring into operations the United Nations Capital Development Fund as an organ of the General Assembly which shall function as an autonomous organization of the United Nations. The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) assists developing countries, especially least developing countries, in the development of their economies by supplementing existing sources of capital assistance by means of grants, loans, and guarantees. UNCDFs vision is to help mobilize and catalyze an increase of capital flows for SDG impactful investments to Member States to address the most pressing development challenges facing vulnerable communities in these countries and thereby contribute to sustainable economic growth and equitable prosperity.

As a Flagship Catalytic Blended Financing platform of the UN, UNCDF utilizes its unique capability in the UN system to deploy grants, loans and guarantees to crowd-in finance for the scaling of development impact. UNCDF focuses on where the needs are greatest, a deliberate focus and capability rooted in UNCDF’s unique investment mandate to support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the realization of the Doha Programme of Action for the least developed countries, 2022–2031.

As per its Strategic Framework, UNCDF works to deploy its functions as a hybrid development organization and development finance institution. UNCDF responds to Member States requests for assistance by providing targeted technical and financial advisory services on investments for development outcomes, designing bespoke financial structuring solutions, undertaking financial derisking of investments, and enhancing investment readiness of SDG aligned projects in partnership with private sector, UNOs, International and Local Finance Institutions, Development Finance Institutions as well as Foundations and Philanthropy, among others. UNCDF works to develop local financial systems, new markets and mobilize and crowd in capital from public and private sources. UNCDF is driven by a partnership mindset which enables it to deploy its different capital capabilities in highly tailored and responsive ways in order to mobilize investments flows from other sources, in particular from the private sector. By structuring transactions which are highly impactful, but also recognize the need for multiplying the impact of its own capital, UNCDF seeks to position itself as a preferred partner for different stakeholders. UNCDF’s work is focused on three priority areas, including:

• SME Finance
• Sub-National Finance
• Digital Finance

UNCDF’s organizational set up includes an Investment and Implementation Division (IID), Investment and Finance Oversight Division (IFOD), Operations and Oversight Division (OOD) and a Directorate of the Executive Office. UNCDF staff and personnel are located in regional hubs based in Dakar (Senegal), Nairobi (Kenya) and Bangkok (Thailand) with sub-regional presence in a number of locations in the Caribbean and Pacific Regions. UNCDF is led by an Executive Secretary based out of New York, USA. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 2321(XXII, para 1.a), the Administrator of the UNDP performs the function of the Managing Director of UNCDF. UNCDF is overseen by an Executive Board comprised of UN Member States.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Regional Investment Specialist for the Pacific and in close collaboration with programme, investment and operations colleagues, the Project Associate will provide operational, administrative and financial support for UNCDF ongoing initiatives implemented in the Pacific region. The Associate will support operational coordination, procurement, financial administration, logistics and partner coordination activities across project implementation in the Pacific countries.

1. Provide operational and administrative support for programme implementation

• Support day-to-day operational and administrative activities for the various initiatives in the Pacific region.
• Assist in the implementation of procurement plans, travel arrangements, and operational schedules.
• Provide administrative support for meetings, workshops, missions and programme events in a gender-sensitive manner, promoting inclusive participation, and addressing the specific needs of all genders.
• Coordinate travel logistics and related administrative requirements for programme personnel and consultants.
• Provide administrative and operational support to procurement activities, including supporting procurement planning, document preparation and initial review within requesting teams, vendor liaison for micro-purchasing cases where required, procurement tracking against plans, and records management, ensuring compliance with UNCDF and UNDP policies and procedures
• Maintain filing systems and documentation for operational and administrative records.
• Support asset management and inventory tracking related to programme activities.
• Follow up on operational requests, approvals and administrative actions required for programme implementation.
• Supports the travel and logistic arrangements, including travel transaction reconciliation as well as supplier registration and maintenance Collaborates and leads to ensure the continuity of office maintenance through related services providers.

1. Provide financial and compliance support for programme activities

• Support budget tracking and expenditure monitoring for UNCDF projects in the Pacific.
• Assist in preparation of financial reports and supporting documentation in line with UNCDF and donor requirements.
• Support processing payments, vendor invoices and financial transactions through corporate systems.
• Ensure operational and financial processes comply with UNCDF and donor rules and procedures.
• Support tracking and management of partner agreements, procurement contracts and related documentation.
• Support the review of project balances, cash availability, and other financial data; flag any discrepancies to the supervisor.
• Generate standard financial reports from corporate systems to support monitoring and planning.
• Support project and award management activities in Quantum.
• Support in budget revisions, project extensions and related financial actions.
• Support delivery rates, commitments and available balances to ensure efficient utilization of project resources

1. Support coordination and partnership engagement

• Support coordination with implementing partners, consultants, government counterparts and service providers on operational matters.
• Assist in organizing meetings, workshops and stakeholder consultations.
• Support preparation of meeting minutes, briefing materials and administrative correspondence.
• Coordinate with programme, finance and procurement teams to support timely implementation of activities.
• Provide administrative support for onboarding of consultants and project personnel.
• Support logistical arrangements for knowledge-sharing and learning activities.

1. Support operational reporting and documentation

• Maintain operational trackers, procurement monitoring tools and programme records for UNCDF projects in the Pacific.
• Support preparation of operational and administrative reports as required.
• Ensure proper filing, archiving and efficient retrieval of operational and financial documentation.
• Support consolidation of supporting documents for donor reporting and programme reviews.
• Assist in tracking procurement timelines and operational deliverables across the Pacific countries.
• Support continuous improvement of operational processes and administrative workflows where required.
• Provide administrative support during audits, programmatic reviews and verification exercises.
• Maintain accurate operational and financial records to support reporting and compliance requirements.

1. Support knowledge building, knowledge sharing and capacity building relevant to the project.

• Participate in training and organize briefings on internal procedures for the project personnel. Provide support to other capacity building activities, including to the design and delivery of tools, materials for workshops, or platforms that tap into the collective intelligence of communities and mobilize action.
• Provide support in the dissemination and sharing of relevant data and lessons learned within the CO and regionally. Keep pulse on emerging best practices nationally, regionally, and internationally that relate to the work of the assigned project.
• Make sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice. Support compiling and systematizing project knowledge, products and tools as well as their wide distribution to partners.

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

Institutional Arrangement

The Project Associate will carry out relevant duties under the guidance and direct supervision of the Regional Investment Specialist for the Pacific with matrix reporting to the Regional Operational Effectiveness and Assurance Specialist.

The Project Associate will have regular communication with the relevant staff via email and messaging apps, for coordination and guidance purposes, ensuring output quality and targets.

About Travel:

a) UNCDF will cover the cost of travel as required during the assignment

b) As per need, the incumbent will be required to travel to any of the countries in which UNCDF is implementing project activities in the Pacific.

Competencies

Core Competencies - UNDP Core Competencies can be found here.

Achieve Results:

LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline

Think Innovatively:

LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvement

Learn Continuously:

LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback

Adapt with Agility:

LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible

Act with Determination:

LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident

Engage and Partner:

LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships

Enable Diversity and Inclusion:

LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Finance

Accounting (General)

Knowledge of accounting concepts, principles, frameworks, standards, regulations, policies and trends, and ability to apply this to strategic and/or practical situations.

Finance

Audit risk management

Ability to address audit issues raised in the course of an audit and propose solutions in order to ensure a true and fair audit opinion is achieved.

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.

Finance

Banking and cash management

Ability to collect, handle, and manage cash, which involves assessing market liquidity, cash flow, and investments.

Finance

Management and cost accounting

Ability to produce periodic qualitative and quantitative performance reports to facilitate effective decision making and performance monitoring. Ability to use a range of costing techniques and analyses cost related data to provide quantitative information to the users of reports.

Business Management

Communication

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

Customer Satisfaction/Client Management

Ability to respond timey and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs.

Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy

Look for ways to add value beyond clients' immediate

requests. Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Secondary education is required.
• University degree (bachelor’s degree) in Accounting, Finance, Economics, Business, Management, Social Science, Public Administration, Environment, or relevant related fields will be given due consideration but not a requirement.

Experience

• Minimum 7 years (with secondary education) or 4 years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible administrative or project experience is required.

Required skills and competencies:

• Relevant experience in administrative and financial management.
• Experience in operations planning and budgeting.
• Experience working with National, Provincial and government agencies, in coordinating and conducting meetings, workshops and other activities.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.)
• Experience using spreadsheet and database packages, and in handling of web-based management systems and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) financials, preferably PeopleSoft.

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section:

• Experience working with UNCDF and UNDP’s policies, procedures and practice with the ERP.
• Experience in managing complex operations, financial and administrative processes within environment, natural resources, climate change and related projects, combined with ability to prepare high quality documentation on budgetary and financial matters, briefing notes, analytical summaries, and accounting spreadsheets.

Required Language(s):

• Fluency in English as well as iTaukei or Hindi is required.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Use of AI by candidates

Applicants are invited to read UNDP’s guidance for candidates on using AI responsibly in UNDP recruitment and selection

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