UNDP Jobs - 55965- Finance/Administrative Specialist

Finance/Administrative Specialist

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

12-May-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA) is responsible for UNDP’s external relations and advocacy functions. The Bureau leads and supports the organization in cultivating, building and nurturing strategic relationships and alliances that are essential for advancing and successfully achieving the mission of UNDP. These relationships encompass a wide range and number of key constituencies and development partners, that includes programme countries, existing and prospective donor countries/emerging economic powers, multilateral institutions such as the IFIs, the European Commission, civil society, the private sector, foundations, academia and think tanks, the wider UN system, various UN inter-governmental bodies, as well as global, regional and national media.

The Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy consists of the Directorate where the Strategy and Analysis Unit is located, and the following groups: Communications Group; Partnerships Group and UN System Affairs. In addition, BERA has 5 Representation Offices in 5 major donor cities, namely: Brussels, Copenhagen, Geneva, Tokyo and Washington D.C.

The Management Support Unit (MSU) is considered an integral part of the Directorate and focuses on supporting the Bureau Directorate in all corporate planning aspects, results-based management (RBM), quality assurance and risk management including evaluations and audit. The MSU also has the responsibility for strategic budgeting of resources as well as implementation, monitoring and compliance. It acts as an important liaison between BERA New York and Representation Offices, with central business units especially on various managerial and operational issues. This unit is also responsible for managing all the operations of BERA including, procurement, budget management, logistics general administration and IT services.

The Financial Operations Specialist has the overall responsibility for ensuring the highest efficiency in the delivery of functions, in particular, in the areas of budget management, procurement, administration and some HR related functions. He/She provides guidance and has an oversight role in order to ensure compliance with UNDP rules and regulations.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Chief, Management Support Unit (MSU), The Financial Operations Specialist is expected to perform the functions as outlined below:

Effective and accurate support and advice on financial resources management and oversight:

Financial analysis and oversight for all resources managed by the BERA and provision of high-quality professional advice to the BERA management;
Proper planning, expenditure tracking and audit of financial resources, including extra-budgetary income in accordance with UNDP rules and regulations;
Manager level 2 for financial transactions approval;
Full compliance of financial activities, financial recording/reporting system and audit follow up with UN/UNDP rules, regulations, policies and strategies;
Implementation of the effective internal control framework, proper design and functioning of the financial resources management system;
Mapping of Bureau finance business processes and elaboration/establishment of internal standard operating procedures pertaining to financial oversight exercised by the BERA MSU;
Elaboration and implementation of cost saving and reduction strategies; and
Routinely monitors financial exception reports for unusual activities, transactions, and investigates anomalies or unusual transactions. Informs the BERA Chief MSU of the results of the investigation when satisfactory answers are not obtained.

Advise the BERA chief MSU and support those BERA units without professional finance management capacity in the management and oversight of the financial structure pertaining specifically to Trust Funds and/or cost sharing projects under the fiduciary responsibility of BERA:

Support the BERA chief MSU in all aspects pertaining to audit preparations pertaining to BERA managed TFs and/or cost sharing projects;
Support the BERA Chief MSU in coordinating the financial management of Trust Funds that are under BERA fiduciary responsibility, monitor contributions received to the TFs and disbursements of funds to funded projects;
and financial closure of projects funded by these TFs;
The Specialist will work in close collaboration with all relevant external grant providing partners and all UNDP grant recipient entities (Country Offices; Regional Bureau Units, BPPS Units etc) in ensuring successful and transparent financial coordination of BERA managed TFs;
Oversee timely reporting for TF funded projects, reviews all financial reports to grant giving entities;
Provides advice on budget, financial report and cash request formats and other financial issues, develops effective solutions to problems/bottlenecks;
Ensures that budgets, income and expenditures are correctly recorded in Atlas by project managers; conducts financial analysis to ensure that budgets do not exceed allocations and that expenditure is within budget;
Liaises with the OFRM on financial reporting and other issues; and
In close collaboration TF management units, oversees timely submission of annual financial statements to be certified by the UNDP Comptroller.

Efficient support and advice to BERA Chief, MSU in management and oversight of matters pertaining to BERA procurement processes

Full compliance of procurement activities with UN/UNDP rules, regulations, policies and strategies:
Support BERA Chief MSU in elaborating effective internal control, proper design and functioning of a client-oriented procurement management system;
Support BERA Chief MSU in mapping Procurement business processes and elaboration/establishment of internal Standard Operating Procedures in Procurement, control of the workflows in the Procurement Unit, harmonization of the workflows in the office;
Certification of submissions to the BERA Contract, Asset and Procurement Committee (CAP) and Advisory Committee on Procurement (ACP);
Elaboration and implementation of the internal control system which ensures that Purchase Orders (PO) are duly prepared and dispatched. Timely corrective actions on POs with budget check errors and other problems; and
Management of the implementation of the procurement processes monitoring system and mechanisms to eliminate deficiencies in procurement.

Support and advice on monitoring and organizing BERA Management Projects’ budgets and HR related matters:

Support the BERA Chief MSU in managing all BERA financial resources through planning, guiding, monitoring and controlling of the resources in accordance with UNDP rules and regulations;
Presentation of forecasts for development and management projects;
Elaboration of the internal delivery control system of all BERA management projects including BERA managed Representation offices ensuring that expenditure targets are met and advising BERA Operations on strategies regarding the use of Core resources in line with BERA work plan;
Regular analysis and reporting on the budget approvals of management projects;
Elaboration of proper mechanisms to eliminate deficiencies in budget management; and
Collection of information on internal and external clients’ satisfaction and needs in order to develop improvements to services.
In liaison with OHR support to proper HR administration of core funded staff including contract extensions, adjustments in payroll, updating Atlas profiles etc. when required.

Facilitation of knowledge building and sharing in the areas of Finance and Procurement:

Support and advise the BERA Chief MSU in organizing of training for the BERA Operations staff on Finance and
Procurement matters;
Synthesis of lessons learned and best practices in Finance and Procurement; and
Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

Competencies

Innovation:

Ability to make new and useful ideas work.

Leadership:

Ability to persuade others to follow.

People Management:

Ability to improve performance and satisfaction.

Communication:

Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform.

Delivery:

Ability to get things done.

Technical/Functional:

Primary:

Project Management:

Ability to plan, organize, and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Budget Management:

Ability to support budgetary aspects of work planning process, drawing and management of team budgets.

Resource Allocation:

Ability to distribute resources in a strategic or tactical way:

Relationship Management:

Ability to engage with other parties and forge productive working relationships.

Quality Assurance:

Ability to perform administrative and procedural activities to insure that quality requirements and goals are fulfilled:

Contract Management:

Knowledge of contract management concepts, principles and methods, and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.

HR/Finance Interface:

Provide support to HR Finance Interface including position management, chart of accounts, certification of financial resources for position extension, creation etc.

Office Administration:

Ability to manage day-to-day office activities (including but not limited to travel management, facilities and asset management, policy and procedures maintenance) to meet operational needs.

Accounting (General):

Knowledge of accounting concepts, principles, regulations, and policies and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.

Secondary

Knowledge Management:

Ability to capture, develop, share and effectively use information and knowledge.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree or equivalent in Finance, Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics or related field.
Certification in Procurement and Public Finance would be desirable.

Experience:

5 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in providing financial management and procurement advisory services and/or managing staff and operational systems;
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and advance knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web based management systems;
Functional and operational knowledge of IFRS or IPSAS will be a distinct advantage;
Experience of IPSAS and/or IFRS is required for external candidates;
Experience with UNDP financial rules and regulations and ERP system highly desirable.

Language:

Fluent in English.

N.B.: Long-listed candidates will be required to undergo the UNDP Advanced Accountancy & Finance Test.