Senior Expert on Financial Management and School-Level Follow-Up

Scope of work:
The main operational and implementation support tasks are as follows:
1. Support MEHE in creating a more efficient and effective financial management process linking attendance data and relevant calculations for the payment requests submitted to UNICEF under TREF for payments to teachers and schools.
2. Apply strict quality controls on all financial data generated internally before sharing with the DGE and external parties
3. Operationalize the new Checklists, SOPs, and User Guidelines for the Financial Management Application on school-level financial management in close collaboration with schools and REOs and relevant central MEHE counterparts
4. Support move-away from a fixed top-down unit cost to a bottom-up costing and needs-based transfer model.
5. Analyze and aggregate financial data at the school and regional office level across budget items, expenditure practices, operational versus student-impact investments, etc.
6. Collaborate closely with developers of the new School-Level Financial Management application to ensure regulations and procedures are reflected in the new software and applied by users.
7. Support Budget Preparation for MEHE´s Annual Work Plan and Budget with a particular focus on school-level budgeting where needed.
8. Liaise with Third Party and other relevant TA for post-verification expenditure work as well as system building and processes to be improved in Financial Management Including digitization of financial management, integration with existing MEHE systems, or the development of new financial management software.
9. Provide support to Annual External Audit in organizing all relevant data and files.
10. Advise on management transition from paper-based to digitized financial management systems and liaise with the ICT department to ensure integration and linkages with SIMS/EMIS.
11. Work closely with the Accounting Department to add and analyze government revenues to the overall MEHE education budget

The Senior Expert´s main reference is the TREF Urgent Results Framework 2025 as outlined in the Annex of this TOR. The key deliverables are derived from all 7 pillars with a specific focus on Pillar 3 (Financial Management) as follows:

1. Specific memos to DGE with clear solutions and a way forward on all relevant data-related challenges for TREF implementation
2. Payment Requests for Teachers, Schools, and specific programs prepared for submission to UNICEF.
3. Institutionalization and continuous update of SOPs, checklists, and training material on financial management at school, REOs, and MEHE levels.
4. Quarterly Financial Reports as per TREF requirements, including a narrative part
5. Aggregated financial reports at school, regional, and central MEHE level
6. Current official rules and decrees updated and/or replaced by new rules and decrees co-drafted with relevant MEHE staff
The Senior Expert may lead junior and mid-level team members if recruited.
Deliverables and Schedules:
The Senior Expert reports to the DGE and works closely with the assigned public official counterparts and other IST members as well as UNICEF technical counterparts.
At the beginning of the assignment, the Senior Advisor drafts a Work Plan in response to the TREF Urgent Results Framework 2025 clearly reflective of the main tasks and deliverables outlined in this TOR. Weekly internal IST meetings are held with all IST members in the presence of the DGE and selected MEHE staff to co-design interventions and apply an adaptive workflow in response to urgent crisis demands.

Profile Requirements:
The position is for Lebanese nationals and requires a minimum of 7 years of relevant technical, and operational management experience in the public sector, preferrable with deep knowledge of multi-stakeholder management systems. A Master's degree from a reputable academic institution in relevant fields or equivalent professional experience as well as 2 professional references are a pre-requisite. The selection is based on the quality of the application and subsequent interviews with a panel of key TREF stakeholders.