Senior Finance Assistant

OVERVIEW

Parent Sector : Field Office

Duty Station: Jakarta

Classification of duty station: [[filter12]]

Standard Duration of Assignement : [[filter13]]

Job Family: Administration

Type of contract : Non Staff

Level : Level 4

Duration of contract : 1 year

Recruitment open to : Internal and external candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 13-OCT-2024

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

Under the overall authority of the Director & Representative of the UNESCO Regional Office in Jakarta, the guidance and direct supervision of the Finance and Administrative Officer (AO), the Snr. Finance Assistant shall undertake administrative & financial tasks ensuring adherence to UNESCO financial rules, policies and controls. S/he shall work closely with other team members to ensure to ensure effective and efficient service delivery. The incumbent shall perform the following duties and responsibilities:

Long Description

FINANCIAL: 
•    Responsible for the processing of financial transactions in line with established financial rules and regulations.  Co-ordinates with others on related issues during transactional processing.
•    Reviews incoming payment requests, scrutinizes supporting documents for relevancy, completeness & accuracy in line with applicable policies, procedures, rules and regulations. 
•    Conduct pre-qualification of payment request posting eligibility reviews within delegated authority in accordance with established financial rules and policies ensuring due diligence, adherence and compliance to controls.
•    Verifies accuracy of payment/wire postings.  Audits transactional activity to ensure accuracy of disbursement postings and adherence to relevant financial regulations and internal practices.  
•    Conduct pre-periodic reviews and analysis of accounting data.  Identifies anomalies and initiates corrective action as appropriate. Flags complex matters and issues that may impact financial risks/liability to the supervisor for guidance.
•    Analyzes and monitors open Outstanding items (ULOs) in travel, FRN, Contracts, SES, & unposted payments.  Initiates corrective action. 

Long Description

BUDGETING: 
•    Assists Administrative Officer (AO) in budget preparations. Undertakes research and consolidates cost estimates for Budget proposals development. 
•    Assists  AO in budget execution and expenditure monitoring/reporting.  
•    Ensures procurement requisitions are in line with authorized budgets and agency financial rules and regulations. 
•    May certify financial commitments and payments (where applicable) within delegated authority ensuring adherence to established Controls & budget availability.
•    Assists in cash flow computations to guide periodic replenishment.  
•    Liaises with BFM/AP and other units on outstanding payment items and rejected payment instructions.

Long Description

GENERAL: 
•    Extracts financial data from SAP. Runs various reports for management review as requested.
•    Responds to queries. Drafts correspondence in relation to budgetary and financial matters for management review and/or internal clients/stakeholders.
•    Supports AO office in enforcing quality assurance standards particularly with regard to IPSAS financial accounting transacting, ensuring adherence to established checks & controls.
•    Ensures all relevant supporting records are maintained online in SAP and DUO backend for audit trail.  
•    Drafts or prepares correspondence to respond to inquiries in respect to relevant financial and budgetary matters. Maintains up to date e-files.
•    Assists with data collection and analysis, preparation of data presentations and reports for information sharing.  Responds to queries and contributes to knowledge building and management.
•    Supports review of travel & procurement requests in accordance with ADMIN manuals and agency financial rules.  
•    May provide logistical and administrative backstopping support as necessary. 
•    Performs other related duties as required by Unit Chief.

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

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REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education:
Bachelors degree in the field of Finance or Accounting. Business Administration degree may be considered with course work in finance and/or accounting.

Work Experience:
•    5 - 8 years progressive experience in finance, budget or accounting or business administration. 
•    Demonstrated knowledge of accounting principles with experience in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) financial systems.
•    Progressive experience in payment and payroll posting, accounts reconciliations and financial reporting.
•    Ability to interpret financial and administrative policies to guide accurate application. 
•    Ability to extract, interpret, analyze, and format data across all finance & budget functions.

Skills:
•    Good negotiating skills to resolve conflict. Ability to shape and influence agreements with requisitioning units.
•    Ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks simultaneously. Ability to work under stress and manage competing priorities. 
•    Ability to listen effectively, correctly interpret messages/queries from others and respond appropriately providing accurate guidance. 
•    Ability to work collaboratively with others in a team environment to achieve organizational goals ensuring confidentiality and discerning sensitive data.
 

Languages:
Ability to speak and write clearly in English.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

Education:
MBA and/or Professional accounting certification (e.g. ACCA, CPA) is desirable.  

Work Experience:
•    A minimum of 5 years progressive experience in finance, budget or accounting.
•    Knowledge and experience in International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) is desirable.
•    Experience with integrated business intelligence systems for data analytics and reporting is desirable. 

BENEFITS AND ENTITLEMENTS

SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

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