Summary

• The Finance Associate position forms part of UN Women’s Virtual Global Service Centre (VGSC) for financial donor reporting and project closure under the responsibility of the Chief of Accounts.
• Under the guidance and primary supervision of the Finance Specialist – Financial Reporting and Project Closure Unit Head, the Finance Associate is responsible for the preparation of financial donor reports and financial project closure; while also providing additional capacity to the regional office for other finance related duties under the daily secondary supervision of the Regional Office Finance Specialist. The Finance Associate will always promote a client-oriented approach and abide by UN Women’s financial regulations and rules. The Finance Associate works in close collaboration with the staff of the Division of Management and Administration, Programme Division, Regional Office and Country Offices, as well other UN entities in HQS and COs for resolving complex finance-related issues and information delivery.

Duties and Responsibilities

Administer focus on timely preparation of financial donor reporting and other management reports:

• Prepare financial reports for donors for UN Women offices timely and submit to VGSC Finance Specialists;
• Monitor outstanding donor reports to donors and initiate follow-up actions with Country Offices;
• Follow up on errors in chart fields or over expenditures and ensure proper adjustments are made;
• Assist in the maintenance of the General Ledger, analyzing and reconciling accounts with supporting modules;
• Respond to requests to resolve financial data issues;
• Prepare other regular finance indicators or management reports as requested;
• File and archive supporting work papers and documents;
• Regularly communicate with VGSC Finance Specialists;
• Provide budget setup support to permit accurate reports in formats required by Donor (E.g. EU report);
• Provide project staff with training on budget formats for donor-specific reporting requirements.

 Administer and implement financial procedures focusing on timely closure of projects:

• Perform and provide advice for financial project closure of projects for UN Women (UNW) offices;
• Monitor, reconcile and follow up with Country Offices (COs) on status of closed projects not yet financially closed;
• Prepare various reports on project closure status and initiate follow-up actions;
• Ensure proper control of the supporting documents for refunds to donors and general ledger journals;
• Follow up on errors in chart fields or over expenditures and ensure proper adjustments are made;
• Assist in the maintenance of the General Ledger, analyzing and reconciling accounts with supporting modules;
• Respond to requests to resolve financial data issues;
• File and archive supporting work papers and documents;
• Regularly communicate with VGSC Finance Specialists.

Provide accounting and administrative support to the RO Finance team focusing on achievement of the following results for Regional Office support: 

• Prepare and review of payment vouchers based on proper supporting documents authorized by the budget owners and project managers;
• Prepare various reports on incomplete/unpaid vouchers and initiate follow-up actions and; corrective actions on unposted vouchers, including the vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions, unapproved vouchers;
• Ensure Proper control of the supporting documents for payments, accounts receivable and General Ledger journals;
• Approve vendors in Atlas (for offices that you are not a delegated payment voucher preparer);
• Maintain the internal expenditures control system which ensures that vouchers processed are matched and completed, transactions are correctly recorded and posted in Atlas; and other entitlements are duly processed;
• Support the finance team in the internal and external audits of UN Women offices, as requested;
• Provide support to office as ATLAS (ERP) focal point as required;
• Provide support in management of asset and inventory of the region’s offices as required;
• Review and monitor month-end and year-end closure checklists and reports submitted by M/COs to ensure completeness, correctness, and timeliness;
• Provide supports, technical advices and assistances to M/COs on finance-related processes, activities and reports and facilitating sharing of good practices among offices;
• Handle budgeting, monitoring and reporting of RO management fund;
• Coordinate and facilitate project audits for projects under RO and project offices, and also support and monitor M/COs  project audits in coordination with HQ;
• Maintain and update ICF (Internal Control framework) matrix for RO and project offices and related delegation letters.

Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Build and strengthen the capacity of UNW offices in the areas of financial donor reporting and project closure, including conducting trainings in your region;
• Assist and provided input to training materials for the operations / project staff on financial donor reporting and project closure or other related finance items;
• Actively participate in knowledge sharing and changes of duties with other staff in Finance team, as requested by RO Finance Specialist, to ensure that all duties have back-up staff assigned and trained;
• Ensure full compliance with amendments to International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Inform other UNW Finance Users to ensure IPSAS compliance and currency;
• Ensure full compliance with all UNW Financial Regulations and Rules, Operations manuals, Internal Control policies and procedures, Standard operating procedures, Finance manual, and Delegations of Authority to ensure consistency across UNW and harmonization with other UN Agencies. Provide recommendations to Unit head for proposed amendments.
• Perform other relevant duties from time to time as requested by RO Finance Specialist.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Functional Competencies:

• Strong accounting skills;
• Knowledge of financial rules and regulations, and accounting;
• Strong IT skills and proficiency;
• Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems;
• Ability to administer and execute financial and accounting processes and transactions;
• Results and client oriented approach to work;
• Strong communication and relationship management skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Completion of High School (Secondary Education) is required;
• University Degree in Accounting or Finance is an advantage;
• Successful completion of UN Women Accounting Technical Test as part of the selection process.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of progressively relevant finance work experience is required;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and knowledge of database packages, working experience in web based ERP financial systems (i.e. SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle, etc.);
• Knowledge of IPSAS and/or IFRS is desirable;
• Demonstrated experience in developing complex financial reports required;
• Experience in developing reports for donors within a international organizational context is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of any other UN language is an advantage (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).