UN WOMEN Jobs - 83209- Grants Management Systems

Grants Management Systems - Technical Specialist

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Mar-2019

Application Deadline :

13-Feb-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

10 Months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The UN Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women (“UN Trust Fund”) was established by General Assembly Resolution 50/166, with UN Women as the Fund’s Administrator on behalf of the UN system. The UN Trust Fund is a leading multi-lateral grant-making mechanism providing support for non-governmental organizations working to address the global pandemic of violence against women and girls. To date, the UN Trust Fund has awarded $139 million to 493 organizations in 139 countries and territories. Currently, the UN Trust Fund portfolio includes over 100 active grants. With its annual call for proposals, the UN Trust Fund receives an enormous amount of applications a year, having received 1300+ applications in response to its 2017 Call alone.

The UN Trust Fund, through its annual Call for Proposals process, identifies and selects the most note-worthy projects to fund each year. The application selection process is rigorous and extensive, requiring coordination across a wide range of stakeholders, including applicants, external experts, UN Women offices and other UN agencies. The UN Trust Fund utilizes an online Grants Management System (GMS), available in English, French and Spanish, for both the grantee selection process as well for managing grantee reporting obligations including vital results data management and analysis. The accurate and seamless collection of business information is essential for the UN Trust Fund to successfully meet its results reporting, advocacy and communications obligations, and to raise more funds for our cause.

The UN Trust Fund is in the process of procuring a new online grants managements system (which will be based on the existing system’s structure), in collaboration with a vendor and the UN Women Information Systems and Telecommunications (IST) Section. The current online platform is articulated around 2 main sections: 1) the Call for Proposals (CFP) section is highly visited and can receive +2,000 users simultaneously (applicants and reviewers) during each Call for Proposals; and 2) Grants management section, which enables online financial and narrative reporting, through which 100+ active grantees submit their bi-annual progress reports and receive feedback from Fund users.

We need a dedicated technical, information systems specialist to manage the development of the new grants management system, in collaboration with the Trust Fund team and IST. In addition, this technical systems specialist will also be responsible for the maintenance and support of the current system, including providing technical support to all the users (applicants/reviewers/grantees/Fund users). This is an exciting opportunity for a technical, information systems specialist to work with a high performing team on a vital human and women’s rights issue. You will have the opportunity to learn about project and grants management and contribute to improving the way we work, for the ultimate benefit of women and girls around the world.

You can explore our Grants Management System here: https://grants.unwomen.org/

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

Coordinate the development and implementation of the new / redesigned GMS in 2019 (coordinate and manage the systems development project with the new vendor, in collaboration with IST and the UNTF team);
Coordinate the maintenance of the current GMS system and phased transition to the new system (including management of the Maintenance and Support contract with existing vendor);
Coordinate the smooth delivery of online changes and updates related to the launch of a new Call for Proposals (CFP) in the system in 2019, and serve as Technical Helpdesk Support for all the GMS users.

Coordinate the development and implementation of the new / redesigned GMS in 2019

Serve as the main focal point in the UN Trust Fund to coordinate the information systems development project to redesign and build a new Grants Management System in 2019
Coordinate with the Vendor, UN Women ICT, UN Trust Fund staff, UN Women focal points and grantee users to consolidate the UN Trust Fund requirements for the new GMS modules and enhancement items.
Develop, implement and monitor the work plan to ensure that the work is completed in a timely and effectively manner by all the parties, including key deliverables by the vendor.
Discuss, clarify and confirm the technical requirements in detail, with the vendor and the UNTF, during the requirements gathering phase and throughout the development processes to ensure that the vendor fully understands the requirements of the UN Trust Fund.
Review mock-up documents and demo sites in consultation with the relevant UN Trust Fund staff and share consolidated feedback with the vendor in a timely and effectively manner.
Ensure the day-to-day effective communication and coordination with the vendor and UNW Women ICT regarding the deployment of releases to the training and production servers and the update of issues in Share Point.
Conduct exhaustive User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for all modules in English, French and Spanish (and possibly additional languages).
Report bugs as well as layout/design/edit-related issues/glitches in a systematic and organized manner. Once these issues are fixed by the vendor, verify the fix in the server and update the GMS Issue Register Page in SharePoint, and liaise with relevant stakeholders/users.
Update further the GMS user guides for grantees and fund users to add new chapters as modules are finalized, and to improve the content and reader-friendliness based on the feedback and suggestions from grantee and fund users.

Coordinate the maintenance of the current GMS system and phased transition to the new system (2019)

Act as the Technical Lead of the existing GMS project in the UN Trust Fund to work directly with the maintenance teams from the vendor and UN Women ICT Team, including day-to-day communication and coordination through meetings, email, Skype calls and telephones.
Coordinate the efforts to monitor the implementation of the GMS section of the UN Trust Fund Annual Work Plan, including monitoring of the timeline, deliverables, budget and expenditure.
In collaboration with UN Women Procurement, ICT and Finance Officers of the UN Trust Fund, ensure that the existing contract with the vendor is effectively and timely managed and processed and any new contract negotiated for cost efficiency.
Conduct all the tasks of Fund Admin in the backend of the system, including the functions related to the creation of a new grants making cycle, management of roles and users, static artifacts, email templates, new grants set-ups, and announcements.
Plan a smooth and effective transition from the current GMS to the new system for all stakeholders/users, including data transfer and integration of the two systems.

Support the technical aspects of the online GMS application system related to the Call for Proposals (CFP) in 2019 and serve as Technical Helpdesk Support for the CFP and GMS

Oversee the technical implications of launching a new Call for proposals, including beta-testing the application and review templates to ensure a smooth and timely roll-out.
Control user access, permissions and privileges and other database responsibilities for the UN Trust Fund staff, expert consultants and regional offices.
Provide troubleshooting support during the application process as needed. Run database reports and exports as requested by the UN Trust Fund staff.
Oversee the GMS Helpdesk email account assisting applicants, grantees and other users in a client-oriented manner, as required.
Provide customized technical support to grantee users via email, Skype/telephone and/or webinars to ensure that they can use the GMS effectively for their tasks. Ensure timely updates of call-related documentation on the GMS site as well as regular email status updates to applicants.
Provide troubleshooting to any technical issues on CFP and GMS reported to the Helpdesk: investigate into, report the issues in the CFP/GMS Issue Register and liaise with vendor, IST and user as needed
Once the data of new grantees are available from CFP system, set up the new projects in the reporting section, in collaboration with Finance Officer and Portfolio Manager.
Provide troubleshooting to any technical issues on CFP and GMS reported to the Helpdesk: investigate into and report the issues in the CFP/GMS Issue Register; verify the fix and revert to the user.
Organize practical training sessions and/or webinars for grantees, UN Trust Fund staff and UN Women staff members, as required to ensure all the relevant stakeholders are familiar with the GMS and how to use.

You will also have the opportunity to take part in other team activities as time allows.

Competencies

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

Demonstrated proficiency to have analytical ability and thorough understanding of software development life cycle processes
Experience developing technology platforms for web-based database / information systems
Actively seeks to apply current expertise and new ideas on how to optimize use of technology to streamline workloads.

Client Orientation

Able to identify and analyze clients' needs and develop appropriate technology solutions to meet business requirements; desire to organize and improve processes.

Planning and Organization

Ability to pay attention to details in a very organized manner.
Ability to establish priorities and to plan and monitor own work in a very systematic manner.
Ability to review each page of the online system, report issues and verification of each fix in a very systematic and organized manner.
Proven ability to work under pressure and produce deliverable that is accurate, timely and of high quality.
Ability to manage conflicting priorities.
Strong attention to detail.

Communications

Able to speak and write clearly and effectively, including to: advise and train users on the use of complex systems/applications and related matters;
Prepare specifications and other written reports/documentation in a clear and concise style.

Teamwork

Good interpersonal skills; ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations with people in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Qualifications

Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Computer or Information Systems, Public Administration, Development, Social Sciences, Business Administration or related field.
A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

Minimum two (2) years of relevant professional experience in information systems technology, particularly in systems development (from a business user perspective), requirements gathering, analyzing, documenting and testing of online systems.
Experience in developing online platforms an asset.
Experience in conducting quality assurance-related work and/or testing of new online products/services an asset.
Experience in conducting trainings and webinars for a wide range of users an asset.
Experience in working in a multi-cultural setting with people from different cultural backgrounds an asset.
Additional certification related to project management is desirable.

Languages

Fluency in English (oral and written) is required.
Fluency in Spanish and/or French is an asset.