Financial Management and Internal Audit Expert - CDR

Country: Lebanon Organization: UN Development Programme Closing date: 21 Oct 2026 POSITION INFORMATION • Organization: UNDP Lebanon Through Stars Orbit Consultants and Management Development • VA No.: UNDP/LBN/VA26/196 • Position Title: Financial Management and Internal Audit Expert - CDR • Duty Station: Beirut • Duration: 3 months (without exceeding 11 working days per month). • Vacancy Date of Issue: 14 October 2026 • Vacancy Closure Date: 21 October 2026 • National or International consultancy: National consultancy To review the full Terms of Reference (TOR), please follow link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11G9U98moBJUQJ0FYTdCyo-lvs9S6ZEUh/view?usp=sharing BACKGROUND For over six years, Lebanon has been facing a prolonged economic, financial, and social crisis. The country experienced multiple shocks, including economic and financial collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut Port explosion, and, most recently, more than a year-long armed conflict that caused extensive damage and losses. These developments led to a severe economic contraction, depreciation of the Lebanese Pound, soaring inflation, fiscal imbalances, and a sharp decline in the real value of income, particularly affecting public sector employees. As a result, state institutions have been struggling to deliver on their mandates due to lack of financial resources and a significant loss of skilled professionals in the public sector. Against this backdrop, the capacity for evidence-based policymaking, regulation, and the delivery of priorities has been severely constrained by the crises. The state continues to face major resource and capacity constraints in responding to the crisis, supporting post-conflict recovery, and addressing structural challenges. At the same time, there is limited visibility over development aid directed to Lebanon. Since the 2019 collapse, most donors have made funding conditional on broad reforms and progress toward an IMF agreement. As a result, only a small share of aid has been channeled through government systems. Most grants and loans remain off-budget, creating a disconnect between aid inflows and national public finance management. The Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR), operating under the Council of Ministers, plays a central role in Lebanon’s development planning, infrastructure projects, coordination with development partners, and reconstruction efforts. The prolonged crisis has placed pressure on its human resources and operational capacity, highlighting the need to strengthen its institutional arrangements, organizational structure, and business processes to respond effectively to evolving priorities. In response, a comprehensive Functional and Business Process Review of CDR was undertaken to assess the institution’s existing functions, organizational arrangements, business processes, governance mechanisms, and staffing requirements, and to identify measures to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. The findings and recommendations of the review have been consolidated in an implementation roadmap. The roadmap distinguishes between measures that can be implemented within the existing legal and regulatory framework, referred to as the Interim Arrangements, and reforms that require amendments to Decree No. 10941 of 2003 and Decree No. 10942 of 2003, referred to as the Target Roadmap. The implementation of these reforms is structured in stages, with the present assignment supporting measures identified for implementation under Stage 1. Strengthening of financial control and assurance is an important component of CDR’s institutional reform. This requires reinforcing the independent internal audit function, clarifying the relationship between financial management and the applicable Internal Financial Regulation, strengthening the operating framework of the Financial Management System (FMS), and reassessing the mandate and positioning of the Funding Evaluation Department. These measures are intended to strengthen the control environment, clarify responsibilities and reporting lines, improve the consistency and effectiveness of financial procedures, and enhance CDR’s capacity to assess and monitor funding-related matters. Accordingly, UNDP seeks to recruit a Financial Management and Internal Audit Expert to support CDR in implementing the relevant Stage 1 reforms through three connected workstreams. The first will support the establishment of an internal audit function on an interim or outsourced basis, with appropriate independence and direct reporting to the Board of Directors through the Audit Committee and aligned with the Global Internal Audit Standards of the Institute of Internal Auditors. The second will support the alignment of the structure, reporting lines, and procedures of the Financial Management System with the Internal Financial Regulation, including through the preparation of an updated Financial Management System Manual. The third will undertake a detailed assessment of the Funding Evaluation Department and support the measures required for its reactivation. Through this assignment, the Financial Management and Internal Audit Expert will contribute to strengthening CDR’s financial governance, internal control, and assurance arrangements, while supporting the implementation of the broader institutional reform roadmap. The assignment will help establish clearer financial management and oversight responsibilities, strengthen independent assurance, and support the effective functioning of the mechanisms through which CDR manages, evaluates, and oversees its financial resources and funding-related activities. SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK Under the general supervision of the UNDP Senior Economist and LPARD-P Project manager, and in close coordination with the initiative’s team leads from UNDP and CDR, the Financial Management and Internal Audit Expert will be responsible for the following: Workstream 1. Establishment of the Internal Audit function • Assess the current control and assurance environment at CDR against the requirements of Circular No. 5/2025, the audit requirements of Law No. 244/2021 and the Global Internal Audit Standards, and record what the institution must put in place to close the gap. • Draft the Internal Audit Charter for adoption by the Board, covering the mandate and scope of the function, its authority, the protected functional reporting line to the Audit Committee, the administrative relationship to the Office of the President, unrestricted access to records, staff and information across all divisions without prior clearance from management, and the protection of the budget and of the appointment terms of the person responsible for the function. • Prepare the mandate, scope, charter and rules of procedure of the Audit Committee, covering its composition, its meeting frequency and quorum, its decision rights, its coordination between CDR, the external auditor and the internal audit function, its ownership of the whistleblower policy and its role as escalation point for integrity-related grievances. • Define the boundary between the internal audit function, which performs ex-post and risk-based assessment, and the ex-ante legality control exercised by the Government Commissioner, so that the two do not duplicate one another. Workstream 2. Alignment of the Financial Management System (FMS) with the Internal Financial Regulation • Review the Internal Financial Regulation, the financial procedures currently applied, the organizational chart and the reporting lines of the divisions and departments concerned and record each point at which the prescribed process and the assigned role do not correspond. • Facilitate the workshops with the Finance Division and the other units concerned through which the procedures, responsibilities and reporting lines are updated, and record the decisions taken. • Prepare the updated Financial Management System Manual, comprising the policies, the procedures, the process flows, the control points, the segregation of duties and the job descriptions for all positions within the divisions and departments concerned, with the job descriptions prepared in the transition-ready form used across the reform. Workstream 3. Assessment and Reactivation of Funding Evaluation Department • Reassess the mandate and positioning of the Funding Evaluation Department against current institutional priorities, available capacities and governance needs, and set out the options available to CDR, comprising the recruitment of the minimum staffing required to activate the department as mandated, and the redefinition of its mandate with the integration of its functions within existing units. • Define the analytical outputs that support decisions of the President and the Board on funding sources and financial engineering, and that can be produced within current resources, specifying for each output its content, its data sources, its preparation route and its frequency. • Prepare the mandate, scope, charter and rules of procedure of the Strategy Committee, covering its composition, its meeting frequency and quorum, its role in coordinating investment and financing planning and its interface with management. • Define the coordination mechanism between the two committees (Strategy and Audit) and CDR management, including the calendar of submissions to the Board and the form of the committee reports. EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES The consultant is expected to complete the above tasks and activities within 3 months (without exceeding 11 working days per month). INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS • The consultant shall perform tasks with day-to-day management and the direct supervision of the designated project manager or institutional focal point. • UNDP will be responsible for providing the contractor with all necessary materials related to the project in a timely thorough and transparent manner. UNDP will be also responsible to provide clarifications and facilitation of the work. • Day-to-day transportation from home to office (and vice versa) shall be covered by the consultant’s own means. The Consultant will rely on his own means of communication and transportation. DURATION OF WORK The assigned duration for this consultancy is 3 months without exceeding 11 working days a month. The mission is expected to commence immediately after contract signature and be completed within three months from the contract signature date. Any continuation of the services beyond this period, including the second phase of support described in the Background, is subject to a separate contract or a formal amendment of this contract. Continuation depends on satisfactory performance under this contract, the continued requirement for the services and the availability of funds. The time needed to review/complete/approve deliverables and output is (5) working days. DUTY STATION The consultant will work from home with regular field visits to CDR - Beirut, Republic of Lebanon. STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS • Education: Master’s degree or equivalent in Accounting, Finance, Financial Management, Auditing, Public Financial Management, Business Administration, Public Administration, or a related field. Specialized focus on internal audit, public financial management, financial controls, risk management, or institutional financial reform is highly preferred. • Experience: At least 10 years of combined professional experience in: (i) financial management, accounting, internal and/or external audit, financial control and risk management; and (ii) assessing and strengthening financial management systems, internal control frameworks, financial procedures, and governance arrangements, preferably within public-sector institutions and/or donor-funded programmes. • Language: Fluency in the Arabic and English languages (both written and oral). “The Personnel will be covered with Health insurance and Personal accident insurance; the fees shall be deducted from personnel's monthly payment”. How to apply To apply for this position please follow the link below. Kindly note only CVs received through the link will be considered for this position. Link to Apply: https://vacancies.my-soc.org/apply/20261013095507/VACANCY-6ACDFFFBEABC7 TERMS AND CONDITIONS TO APPLY • CV or P11 Form including 3 references must be submitted online in PDF along with your Education Graduation Certificate. • Use English language only. • indicate clear years of experience with each job (Month/Year) • If the candidate is currently employed by a government institution, he/she must be able to provide an unpaid leave of absence for the duration of the consultancy. • Only candidates who are short-listed will be contacted. • By submitting your application, you have read the Terms of Reference for this position and agree that any false, wrong, or incomplete information might lead to your disqualification in this recruitment process.