Job Description

Title: Development Program Specialist (Budget), FSN – 11 in

Company Name: USAID Bangladesh

Vacancy: 01

Job Location: Dhaka

Employment Status: Full-time

Educational Requirements:
∎ Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Management
∎ The Specialist is required to have a Bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, accounting, business management or a related field

Experience Requirements:
∎ At least 5 year(s)

Job Responsibilities:
∎ Program Budget Formulation and Implementation
∎ • The Specialist serves as the Program Office's principal budget analyst and is responsible for the development of a range of budget analysis tools to assist Mission staff at all levels in decision making. S/he tracks and reports on the Mission’s historical funding trends, current budget status and budgetary expectations. S/he applies this information to program management and the development of the Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS).
∎ • S/he is expected to be familiar with a broad range of key sources of information for Agency policies and procedures, and to be able to guide the Mission’s Senior Management Team and technical staff in the implementation of their budgeting and financial management responsibilities. S/he serves as an important resource person on matters related to the Agency's budget cycle and pertinent USAID regulations and Mission reporting requirements. S/he assists in the Mission’s annual budget planning process, the Operational Plan (OP), to ensure that US foreign assistance resources are appropriately allocated to development activities, taking into account priorities established by the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) and the USG in an on-going dialogue. The Specialist will also lead the drafting of the Congressional Budget Justification and Congressional Notifications and the budget sections of the Mission Resource Request,
∎ • S/he is able to conduct research and provide analyses on a range of technical issues related to program implementation including but not limited to pre-obligation requirements, country and assistance checklists, fund directives and earmarks, forward-funding regulations, emphasis area coding, limitations set forth in the annual appropriations bill, separate notification requirements and Congressional Notification format and submissions, USAID’s internal policies and procedures as outlined in the Automated Directive System (ADS), funds control requirements and program policies and procedures to the Senior Management Team and technical team members. To accomplish this work, the Specialist is expected to maintain a working relationship with counterparts in Washington, DC and communicate regularly with them on budgetary issues.
∎ • S/he helps to ensure that program resources are allocated appropriately to achieve the Mission’s stated goals and objectives, advises on the eligible uses of funds for various purposes and ensures that programs are designed and implemented in accordance with USAID’s foreign assistance objectives as outlined in the relevant Mission strategy documents. The Specialist will play a key role in the management and implementation of the Mission’s current five-year CDCS and in the development of future country strategies; budget planning and formulation; and will periodically adjust funding levels to reflect Agency focus and priorities.
∎ • The Specialist will also contribute to the drafting of bilateral agreements with the GOB and amendments, align the bilateral financial budget to reflect the CDCS priority funding areas, clarify queries with the government counterpart and draft forwarding letters to ERD.
∎ • S/he will provide support to technical offices and support offices in the preparation of Mission-wide financial management and budgetary tools related to both program funds and operational expenses funds as needed. This work will include the preparation of Program Office staffing funding tools including staffing MAARDs and Mega MAARDs, accruals exercises and the Budget Formulation and Execution Manager (BFEM). S/he will also support the Human Resources team by helping to prepare personnel budgets and participating in staff recruitment Technical Evaluation Committees.
∎ • In addition, the Specialist serves as the Program Office’s key point of contact on all Program Office specific audit concerns, liaising with the Mission’s Office of Financial Management (OFM) as required. S/he also assists in the tracking and implementation of the office’s Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA) responsibilities and updating the Uniform Risk and Internal Control Assessment (URICA) systems.
∎ • The Specialist will be responsible for leading data analyses exercises to support decision making on a wide range of programming issues at the operational and strategic levels, including Mission program resource allocation and Local Currency Portfolio management. S/he will assist in developing and managing the necessary trackers and databases so that the Mission can respond to ad hoc requests as well as meet the Agency's regular reporting requirements of Local Currency and Trust Funds. The Specialist will be the PRO lead person for all local currency transactions, reporting and investigations.
∎ Financial Management Tools Administrator
∎ • Global Acquisition and Assistance System (GLAAS) OPS Master and Development Information Systems (DIS) are tools used by the Mission to conduct its daily business processes. As a primary reviewer in GLAAS, the Specialist is expected to spend a substantial portion of his/her time reviewing procurement actions in GLAAS, preparing pre-requisition checklists, checking the accuracy of fund-cites, ensuring all relevant supporting documents are attached to the requisition, etc.
∎ • The Specialist is also responsible for maintaining the OPS Master tool and database as well as DIS manages the Mission’s portfolio to capture one comprehensive development story from strategy to results for internal and external stakeholders. DIS serves as the central repository for all development data on USAID funded projects. DIS integrates with numerous systems in use across the Agency, including GLAAS, Phoenix, NextGen and others to streamline workflows and reporting processes. OPS Master is the master program funds tracking tool and, as such, is a highly complicated database that integrates with Phoenix, and regional and Washington, DC systems. The Mission is required by Washington, DC to maintain the database and to use it for all budget tracking. The Specialist is responsible for maintaining the data from DIS and OPS Master and updating the data quarterly. S/he will be responsible for standard and custom management reports and analyses using DIS and OPS Master for effective management decision-making. Further, s/he is responsible for ensuring that procurement actions conform to the Operational Plan by documenting and matching them with DIS and OPS Master databases. As a subject-matter expert (SME), the Specialist will be responsible for rolling-out and training mission staff, updating and maintaining DIS and OPS Master databases to the Mission.
∎ • The Specialist will also be the primary Point of Contact on the management of the Field Support Database which transfers program funds to Washington, DC for the management of centrally funded mechanisms and their individual, locally managed Task Orders. As such, s/he will provide direct support to technical staff in the financial and budgetary management of centrally funded mechanisms including determining the appropriate time to transfer funds through the Database, tracking activity budgets via the Database, recommending and facilitating budgetary changes via the Database.
∎ • As the primary Financial Management Tools Administrator, s/he will play a key role in the quarterly financial reviews (QFRs) which use spending plans, OAA procurement trackers, and OPS Master to examine burn rates and pipelines of each program/project to align its budget allocation. The Specialist will be responsible for preparing the meeting agenda, reports and spreadsheets, in-depth analyses of pipelines and burn-rates of projects/activities, and taking notes for after-action items and follow-up. Through quarterly financial review meetings by each Technical Office, the Mission will set out its procurement priorities for the fiscal year and align its spending plan based on available funding.
∎ Financial Reporting to Government of Bangladesh
∎ • The Specialist will be responsible for various financial reporting to the Program Office’s key Government of Bangladesh counterpart, the Ministry of Finance’s Economic Relations Division (ERD). This reporting includes quarterly disbursement reports, historical aid flow reports, bilateral assistance reports, and data compilation on the Aid Information Management System (AIMS) of ERD. S/he will also prepare quarterly disbursement reports for ERD, coordinate with OFM for accuracy, and forward the reports to ERD. S/he will also enter comprehensive project aid data into the AIMS system, check for accuracy and validity, run reports for management and answer queries and clarify questions. The Specialist will prepare ad-hoc reports and answer queries arising out of various issues and clarify concerns. S/he will attend meetings with ERD relevant to financial reporting and/or AIMS data management system development and improvement.

Additional Requirements:
∎ The Specialist must have five years of progressively responsible professional experience in a development related public or private sector organization such as a foreign government diplomatic organization, international NGO, foreign donor agency or foreign company. Previous experience should include financial analysis and budgeting, with significant exposure to development programming. The Specialist should have experience creating and managing financial or other databases and using specialized statistical and mathematical/IT tools for analysis. Previous experience should include responsibility for exercising judgment and providing solid analysis leading to sound financial and program decision-making on development assistance projects.
∎ Person with disability are encouraged to apply

Salary: Tk. 263709 - 480329 (Monthly)

Compensation & Other Benefits:
∎ Mobile bill, Tour allowance, Medical allowance, Weekly 2 holidays

Job Source: Bdjobs.com Online Job Posting.

Application Deadline: 8 Jan 2022

Company Information:
∎ 9 Dec 2021
∎ USAID Bangladesh
∎ Address : US Embassy, Baridhara, Dhaka
∎ Web : www.usaid.gov/bd
∎ Business : The largest US agency in the US Embassy, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Category: NGO/Development

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