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For every child, the right to thrive

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

The consultant will support the Risk Management Unit, including Implementing Partnership Management and Operations, in conducting monthly analysis on key performance indicators, management of financial assurance activities and knowledge management during the transition of new regional office.

How can you make a difference? 

Scope of Work:

The Risk Management Unit of the Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO) is responsible for supporting partnership for implementation, the management of financial assurance, and technical support and oversight to the 23 Country Offices in the region, the Regional office and Italy Refugee Response Office.

Key tasks: 

• Monthly analysis the KPIs on monitoring and financial assurance for the Regional Office and the ECA region Country Offices 
• Follow-up with CO IPM Focal Point and Regional Office Programme Managers to ensure timely completion of all KPIs 
• Track the status of execution of Financial Audits for the region and follow-up with Country office operations managers and service provider to ensure all audits are in progress 
• Track the open action points in eTools and follow up with country offices on their timely closure
• Work with service providers for assurance activities to ensure all deliverables are timely completed, contracts are invoiced, paid and closed timely. 
• Review the status of programme documents in eTools and work on closing ended partnerships  
• Support the Risk and Operations Manager on the preparation and delivery of Capacity Building Sessions
• Compile case studies, tools and materials developed by the Regional office in preparation for transitioning into the new regional office.

 

Work Assignments Overview	Deliverables/Outputs	Number of days
1.Monthly key performance analysis on programmatic visits and spot checks, identifying gaps in meeting the indicators and proposed follow up actions for: Regional Office and Italy Bureau The country offices in the region	12 Monthly KPI Analysis – 2 days each month	24 days
2.Coordination of the annual financial audit process for the region. This includes communication with the country offices on the annual audit process, preparation of exemption requests, monthly status report on the financial audits in the region, analysis on results of the financial audits.	December and January status report on 2025 financial audits with summary of financial findings – 2 days each   June 2026 annual financial audit schedule developed, communicated to the country offices and exemption requests compiled and coordinated with HQ/PET – 5 days.   July, September, October, November, December 2026 status report on the financial audits and summary of financial findings – 5 days.	12 days
3.Coordination of financial assurance activities with service providers. Activities include: monthly tracking of the spot checks and audits being executed for the Regional Office, Italy and Poland. Closure of 2025 contracts and invoicing and issuing and amending if required the 2026 contracts.	2025 contract is timely executed, invoiced and closed – 3 days.   2026 financial assurance contract is issued, timely executed, invoiced and closed. Activities include coordinating the LTA offers, issuance of purchase orders, amending when required – 10 days.	13 days
4.Analysis of open action points and coordinating with country offices on their timely closure.	Monthly status of open action points. Annual report on the 2025 action points from financial assurance and follow-up activities conducted. – 10 days	10 days
5.Gathering of existing documentation (guidance, standard operating procedures, tools, templates, capacity building materials) developed by the regional office operations team. Categorizing and systematically organizing them.	Repository of regional office operations materials – 8 days.   Analysis of practices and documentation from MENARO, to identify area of synergies and gaps to assist in the transition process – 5 days	13 days
6.Develop a capacity building regional plan on existing and emerging risk management practices, customized by office typology, including a roll out plan on new HQ policies and procedures (ESS, anti-fraud, CFM, Safeguarding)	2026 capacity building plan – 4 days.	4 days.
7.Support and organization of the annual risk management network meeting and providing support for AMP review and DROPS preparation in March 2026 , including sessions design, facilitation and other administrative support.	Support the annual risk management network meeting, including planning, session design, facilitation, logistics, and documentation. Provide support for AMP review, including preparation, coordination, and consolidation of review materials -3 days Assist with DROPS preparation, including planning, content support. -3 days Provide general administrative support, including scheduling, materials preparation, and action tracking. -3 days	9 days
8.Annual analysis on regional risks: consolidation and analysis of CO risk registers and report on types of risk based on country office typology.	Summary of risks, risk mitigation measures and controls for the 23 country offices in the region.   Regional analysis by typology of country office. 10 days	10 days
9.Support on analysis, reporting and general tasks for the risk management and operations team as required, based on regional and organizational priorities.	The work of the Risk and Operations team is dynamic and interlinked with all other teams. This require ad hoc analysis and reports. The consultant is anticipated to support the team with professional expertise on average 1 day a month,12 days	12 days

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Estimated Duration of the Contract

107 working days between December 2025 and December 2026

Consultant's Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be home-based with one travel to Istanbul in September for 5 days. 

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please submit a professional fee (in USD) based on 107 working days to undertake this assignment.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

Minimum requirements:

• A First level degree is required.
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience with either the UN and/or NGO in Emergency and/or Early Reconstruction settings.
• Strong analytical and presentation skills
• Strong formatting and editing skills (one Powerpoint presentation or analytical report to be submitted along with the consultancy application) 
• Excellent written and spoken skills in English.  
• Strong familiarity with inSight, PowerBi, SharePoint and pivot tables.Familiarity with ECARO programming, including emergency strong advantage
• Good inter-personal and communication skills.

Desirables:

• Knowledge of another UN language is considered an asset

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most marginalized children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Please submit a full CV, a Cover Letter, and at least one PowerPoint presentation or analytical report (URL or as attachments) in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.