FINANCE ASSISTANT [Temporary]

Established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (UN) in 1958 as one of the UN's five regional commissions, ECA's mandate is to promote the economic and social development of its member States, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa's development. Made up of 54 member States, and playing a dual role as a regional arm of the UN and as a key component of the African institutional landscape, ECA is well positioned to make unique contributions to address the Continent’s development challenges. The strategic objective of ECA is framed around delivering ideas and actions for an empowered, inclusive and transformed Africa in the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 of the African Union through its three core functions, namely, its function as a think tank, its convening function and its operational function.

This position is located in Finance and Budget Section within the in the Division of Administration in United Nation of Economic commission for Africa. Addis Ababa Ethiopia. The Finance Assistant will be reporting directly to the Head of Payroll and Disbursement Unit in Finance and Budget Section.

Within delegated authority, and under the direct supervision of Head of Payroll and Disbursement Unit and overall guidance of the Chief of Finance and Budget Section, the Finance Assistant will be responsible for the following duties:

•Processes of payment to governments and vendors for goods and services. This includes, among other things calculating, inputting, and checking payments for correctness and
communicating discrepancies to supervisors.
•Processes travel claims in conformity with approved travel authorization, ensuring compliance with relevant rules and instructions, and proper documentation and certification.
•Assists in verifying payroll and processing payments to staff members for their entitlements including salaries, claims, education grants and income tax.
•Assists in verifying and running off-cycle and correction payroll.
•Assists in reconciling payroll and payments related to general ledger and vendor accounts.
•Prepares separation notification for UN Joint Staff Pension Fund.
•Drafts/prepares memorandum and/or faxes to various offices, departments and overseas offices.
•Responds to queries and requests for information from staff members and administrative counterparts.
•Reviews and processes requests to create "other" (non-vendor, non-staff) business partners in the UMOJA system, checking the accuracy and completeness of submissions and
•preventing duplication of existing records.
•Peer reviews draft business partner entries created by colleagues.
•Supports other UMOJA master data tasks as required.
•Review account balances at individual payee Id level and advise the concerned Unit on pending balances and obligations to be transferred to the correct Id.
•Drafts or prepares correspondence responding to inquiries with respect to relevant financial matters.
•Maintain and keep up-to-date payment file record.
•Assist in retrieving and locating documents to verify the accuracy and legitimacy for account balances in payable, receivables and disbursement accounts.
•Process VAT payment by liaising with Inland Revenue Government office
•Performs other duties as may be required.

•PROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge of, and ability to apply financial rules, regulations and procedures in the UN environment. Ability to maintain accurate records, review and interpret a wide variety of data. Ability to identify and resolve data discrepancies and operational problems. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Commitment to implementing the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of work.


•TEAMWORK: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others' ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.


•CLIENT ORIENTATION: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be "clients" and seeks to see things from clients' point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients' needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients' environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.

High school diploma or equivalent is required. Certificate/coursework/training in accounting, finance or directly related fields is highly desirable.

At least five (5) years of experience in finance, accounting or related area is required, of which preferably three (3) years within the United Nations common system.
Experience working with United Nations Financial Rules and Regulations and Staff Rules is desirable. Experience in processing, verifying or reconciling accounts related to salary, payroll or accounts payable experience is desirable.
Experience in payroll or finance modules of ERP systems, such as IMIS and SAP, is highly desirable.

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the posts advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of French is desirable.

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

• This position is temporarily available until the return of the post incumbent. If the selected candidate is a staff member from the United Nations Secretariat, the selection will be administered as a temporary assignment.

• While this temporary assignment may provide the successful applicant with an opportunity to gain new work experience, the selection for this position is for a limited period and has no bearing on the future incumbency of the post.

• Subject to the funding source of the position, the eligibility for this temporary job opening may be limited to candidates based at the duty station.

• This temporary job opening may be limited to “Internal candidates,” who have been recruited through a competitive examination administered according to staff rule 4.16 or staff selection process including the review of a central review body established according to staff rule 4.15.

• Staff members of the United Nations common system organizations who will reach the mandatory age of separation or retirement within the duration of the current temporary need period are not eligible to apply.Submitting an application or selection for the current temporary job opening does not delay or increase the mandatory age of separation.

• Retirees above the mandatory age of separation who wish to be considered for the current temporary job opening must indicate the reason for their last separation as "retirement." Such retirees shall not be employed by the Organization, unless (a) the operational requirements of the Organization cannot be met by staff members who are qualified and available to perform the required functions; and (b) the proposed employment would not adversely affect the career development or redeployment opportunities of other staff members and represents both a cost-effective and operationally sound solution to meet the needs of the service.

According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment.

Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.

Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.

The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.

Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.