Senior Manager, Programme Audit

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership committed to saving children’s lives and protecting people’s health by increasing equitable use of vaccines in lower-income countries. The Vaccine Alliance brings together implementing country and donor governments, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. Gavi uses innovative finance mechanisms, including co-financing by recipient countries, to secure sustainable funding and adequate supply of quality vaccines. Since 2000, Gavi has contributed to the immunisation of more than 888 million children and the prevention of more than 15 million future deaths.

BACKGROUND Audit and Investigations (A&I) provides audit support to the management and stakeholders of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. It is an independent and objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve the operations of Gavi. The scope of A&I’s work extends not only to the Secretariat but also to the programmes and activities carried out by Gavi’s grant recipients and partners. A&I assists Gavi in accomplishing its objectives by bringing a systematic and disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of both Gavi’s risk management, control, and governance processes, and eligible countries’ programmes used to manage Gavi’s support. A&I provides assurance across four main areas of activity: • Internal Audit, the conduct of audit on Gavi’s internal management processes and controls; • Programme Audit, the conduct of audit on programmes operating in the 73 Gavi-eligible countries; • Investigations and counter-fraud, the examination of issues, incidents and cases of misuse which may have led to loss or non-compliance with relevant rules and regulations, both internally and externally; and the undertaking of counter-fraud work; • Whistle-blower reporting, the receipt and assessment of information from Gavi staff and third parties relating to possible issues, incidents and misuse which may have led to loss or non-compliance with relevant rules and regulations, both internally and externally.

THE ROLE The role of the Senior Manager, Programme Audit is to lead and execute country programme audits either as a sole auditor or working with colleagues. The Programme Audit team has the responsibility to undertake risk assessment across the portfolio of Gavi-supported countries, to agree an annual plan of audit, and to execute audits in line with that plan. The objectives of the audit generally are: • To gain assurance on the proper operation of a country’s financial programme identifying opportunities to strengthen the country’s financial management capability; • To assess compliance with the principles set out in Gavi’s Transparency and Accountability Policy (TAP) consistent with the requirements of the aide-Memoire and partnership framework agreement agreed with the country; • The scope of country programme audits is primarily the financial management of cash programmes but includes certain aspects regarding the appropriate use of vaccines, as set out in the TAP policy.

Key functions and deliverables: • Undertake country programme audits determined by the Head, Programme Audit: plan and prepare; execute field work; document results; and prepare draft report; • Liaise as needed with programmes staff, Ministry of health management and staff, and in-country partner representatives throughout the course of the audit, from preparation to reporting; • Undertake audit work in a manner consistent with the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing.

MAIN DUTIES

• Once an audit is assigned, undertake preliminary planning and risk assessment to determine the scope of the audit, to be agreed with the head; • Liaise with programmes management and staff throughout the course of the audit: preparing, conducting, and reporting; • Conduct audits in-country either as part of a team or operating individually; • Manage relations with key management from Ministry of health and in-country partner representatives; • Manage situations of potential conflict or disagreement with external parties appropriately during the course of the audit; • Review and agree the draft audit report with the head; • Support the head in maintaining and developing the programme risk assessment tools, used as the basis for prioritisation, audit planning, and capacity management; • Conduct specific reviews or tasks as requested; • Ensure audit work is undertaken consistent with internal requirements and the professional standards of the IIA; • Liaise with the head on all aspects of the audit work undertaken.

Note: The essential functions listed in this section are not exhaustive of the job responsibilities; other duties may be assigned consistently with the department needs.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in audit, accounting or relevant field; • A professionally recognised accounting or auditing qualification from an internationally recognised institution.

WORK EXPERIENCE

• A minimum of 8 years professional auditing and accounting experience; • Experience working within developing countries (ideally, a variety of country experiences); • Experience within a well-regarded, professional environment; • Demonstrated leadership and management capability.

SKILLS/COMPETENCIES

• Highly analytical and able to work with both low levels of detail and a ‘big picture’ perspective; • Good written communication skills; • Clear, effective and persuasive oral communication skills – ability to balance assertiveness with need to build and maintain relationships, particularly with in-country partners and Ministry of health management and staff; • Able to operate independently but applies judgement in knowing when to consult; • Ability to work flexibly within a complex, dynamic environment; • Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment with cross-functional and multi-disciplinary teams in a collaborative style; • High standards of personal conduct and integrity.

LANGUAGES

• Written and spoken fluency in English; • Written and spoken fluency in French is desirable.

CONTACTS

Internal Contacts: • Colleagues within Audit and Investigations; • Colleagues within Programme Financial Assessment (PFA); • Colleagues within programmes. External Contacts: • In-country partner representatives, especially UNICEF and WHO, for audits conducted; • Management and staff of Ministry of health, for audits conducted.

TRAVEL • Travel will be a routine part of responsibilities, up to approximately 40%.