Finance Assistant

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

Under the daily supervision of the Operations manager, the Finance Assistant is responsible for the execution of a wide range of financial services and administrative processes in the CO, ensuring timeliness, efficiency and transparent use of financial resources and delivery of services in accordance with organizational financial, rules, regulations, policies, procedures and approved allocations. The Finance Assistant promotes a client-oriented approach consistent with UN Women rules and regulations, standard practices and guidelines.

The Finance Assistant works in close collaboration with the Operations, Programme and projects staff, and the Operations team in the CO to ensure consistent service delivery.

The Finance Assistant works in close collaboration with the Operations Team in the Regional Office as well as with the Operations and Programme teams in UN Women HQ for solving complex finance-related issues and information delivery.

Duties and Responsibilities

Implement financial strategies, in full compliance of UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and recording and reporting systems

• Review and verify financial transactions, activities, and documentation. Provide inputs to reports on financial status, procedures, exchange rates, costs and expenditures.
• Generate regular management reports on the status of all CO financial resources.
• Follow-up on audit recommendations to monitor implementation of corrective actions.
• Gather and present information and data for use in the planning of financial resources and the formulation of the
• CO program work plans, budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements and execution modalities.
• Maintain proper filing system for financial documents.

Prepare and administer CO budgets in full compliance of UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and recording and reporting systems

• Provide inputs to the budget, control allotments, monitor expenditures, and prepare revisions according to the needs of the CO.
• Identify and record contributions and receipts for income application.
• Provide inputs for preparation of cost recovery bills for the services provided by UN Women to other programmes or organizations and ensure proper follow-up.
• Provide inputs to monitoring budgets preparation and modifications and budgetary status.
• Manage petty cash; review expenditures under all advances/imprest accounts issued to projects, follow up and arrange for their timely replenishments.
• Undertake corrective actions on un-posted vouchers, including vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions and unapproved vouchers.

Provide finance support to the Programme team.

• Maintain the accounts receivable for UN Women projects and recording of deposits.
• Prepare Purchase Orders (POs) and non-PO vouchers for development projects.
• Record and post transactions in Quantum, process payroll, travel claims, and other entitlements.
• Monitor proper follow up of advances to implementing partners, review their financial reports together with project managers.
• Provide inputs to financial reports to donors and other clients and stakeholders.

Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing

• Participate in relevant trainings for the operations and programme/project staff on finance.
• Collect and compile lessons learned and best practices in financial management and services.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

•  Good knowledge of financial rules and regulations and accounting principles.
•  Good knowledge and application skills of IT tools and understanding of management systems.
•  Good knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages.
•  Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems.
•  Ability to administer and execute financial and accounting processes and transactions.
• Ability to create, edit, synthesize, and present information in clear and presentable formats

Required Skills and Experience

• Completion of secondary education required.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, accounting or public Administration is an asset
• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in financial management.
• Experience in working in a computer environment using multiple office software packages.
• Experience in the use of Quantum is an asset
• Fluency in Spanish is required.
• Working knowledge In English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian).