Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the global development network of the United Nations system that is on the ground in over 140 countries, with its Headquarters in New York, USA. The Bureau for Management Services (BMS) is a central Bureau tasked with the development of corporate strategies, policies, tools and systems in key cross-cutting management areas.

The Office of Financial Management (OFM) performs a pivotal role within BMS and within UNDP’s global finance function, partnering with Bureaux and Country Offices. The primary role of OFM is to maintain the financial integrity of UNDP through providing financial leadership, supporting the efficient and effective management of its financial resources, promoting financial sustainability and responsible resource allocation in the context of a fluctuating funding environment. This is accomplished by the development and implementation of sound financial policies and practices, oversight of corporate financial management performance, and flexible scalable support to resource allocation. OFM is a key source of information for the Executive Board, General Assembly, to Partners and wider civil society. It supports transparency through the provision of on time and quality statutory and other financial reports that comply with international standards and regulatory guidelines.

UNDP uses PeopleSoft ERP system, referred to internally as “Atlas” which was implemented in 2004 and comprises various modules including, Accounts Payable, Contracts Module (used for management of revenues and receivables), General Ledger, Treasury Module, Human Resources, Grants and Project Management, Bank-to-Book (B2B) and Asset Management modules. Given the decentralized nature of UNDP’s operations with presence in over 140 country offices, access to Atlas is controlled via customized user profiles and access rights which permit users to access and perform specified functions in accordance with their approved access rights. UNDP has embarked on the process of migrating from the current PeopleSoft ERP to Oracle Cloud ERP to improve internal processes and keep up with evolving industry standards.

At the same time, UNDP will also implement a new Treasury Management System (TMS) which will provide UNDP Treasury with enhanced visibility into cash and risk and help UDNP better deploy its funds around the world. The new TMS is essential for the ability of Treasury to manage its cash and risk after the proposed launch date. Any delays or system flaws could have significant consequences for UNDP’s movement of cash and investments with could impact UNDP’s ability to make overall payments.

Both systems are in the implementation phase and expected to go-live in January 2023 (delayed from the initial target of 1 July 2022) for the core modules and additional functionality is expected to be rolled-out gradually within the HQ and the Bureaus and to the country offices in phases. Separate to the ERP, it is anticipated that the TMS will run parallel with the current system 1-2 months prior to go-live to properly assure the soundness of the system and work out any unforeseen hurdles in advance of the go-live date. The system stabilization and staff support activities will require expert input through the go-live deadline to support the implementation and setup phase to prepare for the release as well as after the release to continue to assist with any issues that arise.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK

Summary of key functions:

The consultant will support the Treasury Unit in its implementation, release and troubleshooting of the new TMS in alignment with UNDP's ERP System.

The consultant will provide strategy, leadership, and tactical execution in implementing the new TMS for UNDP Treasury as it pertains to both investments, foreign exchange, and cash operations.

The consultant will report to the head of the Investment Unit within Treasury and will work closely with other Treasury staff to provide support to the overall Treasury Unit.

The Consultant’s responsibility will cover the following broad functional areas relating to Treasury:

Provide strategy, thought leadership, and technical expertise on TMS system requirements for investments, cash operations, CO Cash Management units, and global Bank connectivity for different types of payment instructions and methods.
Manage the timeline of deliverables (internally from Treasury and externally from FIS)
Advise and support Treasury on data preparedness and maintenance based on requirements from TMS for different modules
Provide expertise on data resource handling (historical data migration and provision of future data needs)
Work with external data providers (ie: Bloomberg, Northern Trust, etc.) to make best use of TMS capabilities and output
Work with UNDP in-house banks to support on bank connectivity for cash settlement and global payments
Design process for and platform for foreign exchange deal aggregation and order transmission to electronic trading platform
Setup straight through processing (STP) for all trading activity (fixed income and foreign exchange)
Define and structure the foundation for daily cash positioning and forecasting for HQ and CO oversight
Provide insight for standard (and custom) reporting to cover investment and cash operations requirements
Provide expertise in advanced risk management capabilities
Support and participate in UAT testing and draw UAT results for all TMS modules

The specific responsibility areas for the consultant and the associated deliverables will include:

Deliverables

Due Date

(est.)

% Payment

Deliverable 1:

A summary document on UNDP core financial processes under the ownership of Treasury and their alignment with TMS and Oracle Cloud.

Output: In coordination with Treasury and other individual consultants, compile a formal log of principal functionality gaps, change management impact and potential impact on the project timeline for financial processes.

Input to the go-live decision discussion considering the project actual status and major system gaps (showstoppers) identified, if any.

Output: In coordination with Treasury technical leads, other individual consultants, and financial banking partners, compile a formal log of principal functionality gaps, change management impact and potential impact on the project timeline for financial processes impacting Treasury.

Coordinate the compilation of user test cases and summary reporting to the Divisional management on key issues. Quality control for alignment of test cases with the user requirements on business process under FPMR’s ownership.

Output: Finalized User Test Cases available on the intranet site against which the TMS functionality will be measured.

Document the system integration testing results and impact on the go live. Coordinate the compilation of critical process/module/integration failures/weaknesses/workarounds, if any.

Output: Maintenance of appropriate test results and the basis for impact analysis for review and audit purposes.

Dependencies: Input from Treasury and GSSC staffs, other individual consultants, and the process leads and the success of the Conference Room Pilot (CRP2).

6 January 2023

70%

Deliverable 2:

Support the compilation of the policy and SOP revisions required. Leverage the knowledge of UNDP financial processes to prioritize documentation and perform quality control.

Output: Maintenance of appropriate internal documentation for Treasury operations.

Contribute to the ongoing Treasury strategy post TMS deployment to ensure the most productive use of the new TMS.

Output: Position paper to Treasury management on the recommendations for overall Treasury business processes.

Dependencies: Input from the Treasury team and the success of the TMS/ERP deployment.

28 Feb 2023

30%

Competencies

Sensitivity to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age differences.
Demonstrated ability to provide guidance and oversight in the area of financial and administrative management.
Proven skills and ability to identify issues, formulate opinions, draw conclusions and recommend solutions.
Ability to assess risks and correctly analyze the likelihood of occurring and prioritize any necessary action to risks with the largest business impact.
Strong financial management and accounting skills.
Knowledge of the financial frameworks, programme policies & procedures of UNDP and/or UN entities.
Experience in large-scale ERP implementation projects including data conversion. Experience with Oracle ERP is a distinct added advantage.
Thorough & proven understanding of common business and project management practices.

Analytical capabilities combined with strong interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills is desirable

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

Minimum Master’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics or Public/Business Administration with qualifying post degree training is required.

Experience:

Minimum 10 years of specialized experience in investment and foreign exchange transaction management at the international level is required.
Experince with treasury management system is required
Experience in Peoplesoft, and Oracle Cloud ERP; large-scale ERP implementation projects including data conversion and/or data preparedness; UN Finance and Accounting procedures; UNDP Finance experience will be an added advantage.
Familiarity with international development and the UN system is desirable.
UNDP experience will be an added advantage.
Programme country office experience is desirable.
Experience and ability to communicate effectively in groups and formal meetings.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English is required;
Working knowledge of another UN language would be an asset