The Management Support Team (MST) is responsible for strategic planning and management of financial, human and administrative resources including efficient procurement and logistical service, information communications and technology, the effective and efficient delivery of essential operations services in RBA, continuous development and improvement in operations, policies, and methods to align with RBA and clients evolving business needs and advisory support to RBA Directorate in the formulation and implementation of the RBA overall mission, strategy and plans of actions.

The Operations Advisor / Manager reports to the Deputy Regional Director and is responsible under the Deputy’s guidance for the management of all activities related to financial planning and accounting, operations including premises relocation issues, establishment and implementation of internal control including audit, operational performance reviews and preparation of management reports.

The Operations Manager provides policy support to the Deputy Regional Director on strategy development, and management of the implementation of the unit’s overall strategies and fostering intra/inter unit collaboration for high performance.

• Ensure successful completion of all annual resources and budgetary needs of Hqs and the 45 country offices for submission to RBA senior management approval.
• Exercises headquarters oversight role on, monitors performance of, and provides guidance to, the Operations Managers (DRR-O) in country offices in the annual and periodic resources management (core and non-core funds and related staff positions) and reporting to ensure optimum allocation and use of resources for programme and operations needs and compliance with corporate decisions.
• Oversees the prioritization of country offices premises relocation demands by determining (in consultation with BOM/Security office) the relocation demands which are security-induced and those which are not and negotiating corporate funding in support of the move.
• Formulate the Bureau’s annual and biennial budgets for the consideration of management, ensuring that they meet the Corporate overall requirements and reflect decisions taken by UNDP and the bureau senior management on financial and operational matters;
• Monitor the budget implementation and performance of the Hqs units and country offices and Trust Funds and Cost-sharing funds; ensure financial liquidity at all times; also ensure that the transactions against the Funds are recorded in Atlas accurately and that expenditures remain within authorized levels;
• Routinely monitors financial exception report for unusual activities, transactions, and investigate anomalies or unusual transactions. Inform supervisor and other UNDP staff at Headquarters of the result of the investigation when satisfactory answers are not obtained and ensure that all financial transactions are identified, recorded and verified in compliance with IPSAS as outlined in the corporate policies and procedures,
• Facilitates the provision of on-demand financial technical advisory services to COs, and knowledge sharing/capacity building of CO managers. 

Expected results:

i) Sound financial resource management, effective budget utilization, and long-term financial sustainability of RBA headquarters and country offices; ii)  RBA compliance with corporate resource management and reporting guidelines. 

• Ensure efficient procurement at RBA HQ level in accordance with corporate rules and regulations
• Assist and advise units and country offices on government cost-sharing management from project document formulation to implementation and procurement.
• Advises CO programmed and operations teams on effective business processes, including procurement services, to ensure effective delivery and CO risk management
• Facilitates the provision of on-demand procurement technical advisory services to COs, and knowledge sharing/capacity building to CO managers.

Expected results:

(i)Improved and efficient procurement functions at RBA headquarters, (ii) assistance and advice provided to RBA regional programmes and Country Offices.

• Submit to Supervisor and/or senior management financial analysis and trends of donors’ non-core (Trust funds, cost-sharing etc) contributions to RBA; contribute to development of policies and standards of agreements to facilitate resource mobilization, including cost-sharing and trust fund agreements.
• Prepare financial forecasts and past and current expenditure trends and patterns for senior management review and evaluation of financial status.
• Report on financial operating environment at the HQ and field office level; take action to adjust to needs. Advise and/or keep informed on the financial legal implications and risks assessments
• Monitors corporate business intelligence tools to ensure problem solving and compliance by RBA units.
• Work in close collaboration with the clustering of business process team of RBA and BMS through regular briefings and review of clustering plans and proposals, provision of data, reports and analysis as needed and required.

Expected results:

i) Improved and efficient financial operations at RBA headquarters and for RBA HQ managed regional projects; ii) Fast response time for queries on budget issues emanating from COs.

• Monitor the timing of year-end closure of accounts and ensure all financial balances are captured in the corporate systems (Atlas) for accuracy and compliance with UNDP accounting standards and principles.
• Prepares strategic financial reports and comparative analyses for senior management including information related to programme and project financial status, analysis of income, expenditure, delivery rates, etc.
• In coordination with other units, identifies weak performing country offices through composite performance assessments and/or country office scan and recommends to RBA senior management actions to improve financial performance;
• Respond to internal and external audit enquiries and findings. Evaluate audit observations and/or take timely corrective actions to resolve issues/anomalies. Provide advice to Supervisor/Senior Management on issues relating to Audit;
• Support and advise Country Offices on audit recommendations follow-up and timely closure.
• Lead in the preparation and submission of action plans for addressing weaknesses identified in the implementation of control systems and processes including those identified in audit reports
• Represents the bureau in the technical boards for ATLAS and Enterprise Risk Management;
• Represents the bureau at the UNDP inter-bureau analytics task force on performance management

Expected results:

Improvement in audit recommendations closure in RBA. Early warning system in place to track financial performance of country offices, regional service centers and RBA HQ with measures to support improvements in the areas of weakness.

Others

Partnership and networking

• Collaborate with internal and external partners, colleagues in other Bureaux to keep abreast of evolving trends, development and needs, share ideas for improvements and align services according to needs.
• Represent RBA in corporate and external meetings/bodies dealing with finance policy setting and decision-making as appropriate; 

Knowledge management and capacity building

• Constantly monitor and evaluate operational policies, procedures, methods, tools and associated systems, to assess its utility, applicability and efficacy in operational management. Recommend and/or draft new policies and procedures and introduce innovation and best practices in business operations to enhance services.
• Lead/organize training events and design/set training agenda for country offices (eg, Operations Managers workshop) and Hqs. Determine and make available sufficient and expert resources for training events.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: The position supervisees the Management and Support Team (MST)

and has oversight for the new team of Programme Risk Management.