National Individual Consultancy –Programme Support Assistance, 4 months, UNICEF Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo. Office-based

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture., coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

UNICEF Bosnia and Herzegovina operates through a centralized Programme Associate (PA) Hub model that provides administrative and programme-support services across multiple programme sections. The volume and complexity of transactions related to programme implementation, implementing partnerships, HACT processes, financial documentation, travel, events and records management require dedicated support to ensure timely, accurate and compliant processing in line with UNICEF policies and procedures.

 How can you make a difference? 

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide temporary administrative and programme-support services to the Programme Associate (PA) Hub, strengthening its capacity to manage increased transactional and documentation requirements across the programme portfolio. The consultant will support the preparation, organization, quality review, tracking, processing and follow-up of programme-related documentation and requests, ensuring that submissions received from programme sections and implementing partners are complete, properly documented and processed through established UNICEF workflows.

The consultant will support administrative coordination related to implementing partnerships, HACT processes, cash transfers, invoices and payments, procurement and contracting actions, programme events, travel and records management. The consultant will also maintain relevant trackers, filing systems and status-monitoring tools and facilitate communication and follow-up with programme teams, implementing partners and operational functions to support efficient service delivery.

The consultant will perform transactional functions and will have have SAP/FIORI transactional access.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Support the preparation, review, organization and follow-up of documentation related to partnerships with government institutions, civil society organizations and other implementing partners, including programme documents, workplans, budgets, amendments and closure documentation.
• Support administrative coordination of Due Diligence assessments, PSEA assessments, micro-assessments, spot checks and other HACT-related assurance activities.
• Review the completeness of partner submissions and supporting documentation against established checklists and follow up on outstanding documentation requirements.
• Support processing and follow-up of cash transfer requests, FACE/ICE forms, liquidations and related partnership documentation in accordance with established UNICEF procedures.
• Maintain accurate partnership and HACT tracking tools, including monitoring of reporting, liquidation, assurance and partnership-management deadlines.
• Maintain complete and organized partnership files and supporting records.

• Support monitoring of programme budgets, grants, commitments and expenditures through the maintenance of tracking tools.
• Support preparation of programme expenditure forecasts, cash requirements and budget-monitoring information for review by responsible staff.
• Review and organize supporting documentation for financial transactions, payment requests and invoices to ensure completeness and compliance with established requirements.
• Prepare, process and follow up SAP/FIORI transactions within the scope of assigned access and responsibilities, including creation and maintenance of programme-related requests, commitments, service entry support documentation, payments and other programme-support transactions, in accordance with UNICEF policies, procedures and segregation-of-duties requirements.

• Maintain organized electronic filing systems, SharePoint repositories and programme documentation archives.
• Ensure programme records, correspondence and supporting documentation are appropriately stored and accessible for audits, reviews and reporting purposes.
• Draft routine administrative correspondence, meeting notes and follow-up communications.
• Support the use of corporate digital tools to improve document management, tracking and reporting.
• Undertake other programme-support and administrative tasks consistent with the functions of a Programme Associate and within the agreed scope of the consultancy.

• Education: Completion of secondary education is required, preferably supplemented by technical or university courses related to the work of the organization.
• Candidates holding a Bachelor degree in social science or relevant field must have a minimum of 3 years of administrative or clerical work experience and for candidates with advanced university degree (MA degree) in social science or relevant field  minimum 1 year of administrative or clerical work experience is required
• Work Experience:  A minimum of six years of administrative or clerical work experience with secondary education is required. Prior experience in programme support functions is an asset. Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.

• Skills
• Strong organizational and follow-up skills;
• High attention to detail;
• Ability to prepare complete and traceable administrative documentation; good numerical skills and confidence working with invoices, budgets and expenditure records;
• Strong Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel;
• Ability to maintain digital repositories and trackers;
• Strong written communication and vendor/partner coordination skills;
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines simultaneously.

• Language Requirements: Fluency in written and spoken English and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian is required.

• Previous experience working with UNICEF, another UN agency, EU-funded programmes, international organizations or development cooperation programmes.
• Familiarity with UNICEF programme and operational procedures, particularly partnership management, procurement, payments and programme administration.
• Previous experience supporting implementing partnerships and/or HACT-related processes, including FACE/ICE documentation, assurance activities, partner reporting or cash-transfer follow-up.
• Experience with implementing partnerships,
• Familiarity with VAT-exemption arrangements applicable to international or donor-funded programmes.  ,
• Experience maintaining SharePoint or comparable document-management systems. 
• Familiarity with SAP/FIORI is an asset but is not required, as the consultant will not process SAP/FIORI transactions.

• An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• A separate financial proposal

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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. 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.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Advertised: 22 Oct 2026 Central European Daylight Time
Applications close: 29 Oct 2026 Central European Standard Time

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