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.

UN Women operationalizes this through Flagship Programming Initiatives (FPIs) developed to achieve transformative results for gender equality and women empowerment. The FPIs respond to the expanded agenda for Beijing+20 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The main objective of UN Women’s support to Government under Humanitarian Action is to ensure protection, as well as equitable and safe access to and benefit from the humanitarian and development assistance to the most vulnerable, and marginalized refugee and host community women and girls. The programme also promotes women’s participation and leadership in the camps and host community, and women’s active role in maintaining peace and social cohesion.

At national level, UN Women operates based on the UN Cooperation Framework (2021 -2025), working closely with other UN Agencies and Government to achieve i) Transformative and inclusive governance, peace and justice, ii) Shared prosperity in a healthy environment; and iii) Human wellbeing and resilience with positive cultural norms, in terms of gender and human rights. The above focus aligns with Uganda’s National Development Plan (NDP 3), the SDGs as well as UN Women’s Global Strategic Plan. In the specific area of Humanitarian Action, UN Women and partners implement the Women’s Leadership, Empowerment, Access and Protection Program to contribute to women’s participation benefit from humanitarian action. With the growing humanitarian and situations across Uganda including floods, locust invasions, COVID-19 among others, there is need for UN Women to strengthen gender across the humanitarian, disaster risk reduction and recovery processes.

Under the overall guidance of the Operations Manager , the Finance Analyst is responsible for providing assistance to Uganda Country office programmes as necessary to ensure capacity and support; assistance with development projects for the finance users of UN Women for better business practices and controls as well as automation; ensuring all finance users are compliant with and trained in the accounting standards, financial regulations and rules, policies and procedures, training, advice for the Country Office.

The Finance Analyst works in close collaboration with Finance Section HQ, Programme and Operations colleagues, teams at the country level, UNDP staff and Government officials in ensuring high performance and efficiency in Finance.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Coordinate the financial planning, analysis, and provision of services to the Uganda CO in accordance with UN Women internal control framework, rules, regulations, policies and procedures

  • Recommend and/or implement cost saving and reduction strategies;
  • Review and/or verify financial transactions/activities, recording/reporting system and audit reports. Co-ordinate with Finance Section HQ on suggestions for amendments;
  • Review financial business processes and use of Atlas system to ensure accurate and complete reporting of financial transactions by UN Women staff in accordance with the Internal Control Framework and Delegation of Authority and the timely flow of financial information in UN Women for management, monitoring and oversight purposes;
  • Analyze and oversee all financial resources managed by the Uganda CO and provide high-quality professional advice on financial issues to the Uganda CO management, as necessary;
  • Coordinate cash management processes, including liquidity management, recommend impress level, risk assessment, security for cash assets on site.
  • Assist with financial risk assessment reviews for the Uganda CO, by identifying areas of risk and providing recommendations and action plans for addressing issues raised.

2. Coordinate the monitoring and oversight of financial systems in accordance with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and procedures

  • Monitor financial systems and reports for unusual activities, transactions, investigate anomalies;
  • Coordinate the Uganda CO timely completion of their Month-end Instructions Checklist and Year-end Instructions Closure Checklist;
  • Draft all financial reports in accordance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and ensure continued compliance.  Monitor the Uganda CO for compliance with IPSAS accounting standards by reviewing business processes and systems modules resulting in IPSAS compliant general ledger and financial statements;
  • Review Implementing Partner advance procedures and test against UN Women policies to ensure compliance.  Investigate and follow up on any anomalies for timely action and resolution, as necessary;
  • Review all contractual arrangements with suppliers of goods and services to ensure that the financial terms and conditions of all contracts are being adhered to by the suppliers of goods and services;
  • Report to Operations Manager and Deputy Director for Financial Management any case of non-adherence for timely action and recommendations for actions/decisions, as necessary;
  • Respond to questions and provide analysis as requested to the Finance Section HQ.

3. Coordinate financial reporting in the Uganda CO in accordance with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and procedures

  • Draft timely and accurate automated interim financial reports to governments and donors as required under the donor agreements and other cost-sharing arrangements for submission to Virtual Global Service Centre Finance Specialists;
  • Track and report contributions within the resource mobilization efforts, including pipeline, contracted and overdue and future milestones.  Review contributions receivables and provide information to Operations Manager for follow up, as necessary;
  • Write ad hoc financial Donor and other reports as requested;
  • Follow up and/or take prompt action to respond to audit and other findings on financial management.

4. Coordinate the audit process in accordance with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and procedures

  • Coordinate the pre-audit preparations for financial management of the Uganda CO to be audit ready and complete the pre-audit checklist.  Travel to the Uganda CO field offices as necessary to assist during CO audits.
  • Contribute technically to the training in the CO as part of the training plan or requirement of pre-audit preparations or as otherwise determined by Operations Manager or Deputy Director for Financial Management;
  • Write responses to internal and external audit inquiries and other findings related to financial management for review/approval by Operations Manager and Deputy Director for Financial Management and incorporate recommendations in development in policies, procedures and practices;
  • Plan and track expenditures and performance audit of financial resources, including extra-budgetary income.

 

5. Coordinate programme/ project budgets in accordance with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and procedures

  • Coordinate all financial resources of programmes/ projects through planning, guiding, monitoring and controlling of the resources;
  • Prepare and monitor budgets of management projects;
  • Analyze and report on the budget approvals and the delivery situation of management projects;
  • Contribute to the proper mechanisms to eliminate deficiencies in budget management; 
  • Submit financial information for timely preparation of donor reports;
  • Prepare advance payments and direct payments for programme implementation and record them in Atlas.
  • Provide assistance to offices in the region in relation to project closure and provide training on a regular basis, in conjunction with Virtual Global Service Centre Finance Specialists.

6. Coordinate financial training and communication for the Uganda CO

  • Monitor the effectiveness of the services of the finance team on a regular basis to ensure close relationship between Finance Section and Finance Users in CO and take corrective measures as needed;
  • Coordinate development projects to ensure effective finance and communication tools are in place and regularly monitored for improvements;
  • Perform the Finance Helpdesk function for CO to ensure accurate and timely response to issues and advice requested in conjunction with HQ Finance Field Support Unit;
  • Support in the implementation of the approved Training plans (specifically ATLAS and IPSAS) in conjunction with HQ Finance Field Support Unit and Finance specialist in RO on a recurrent basis to ensure competency across all Finance Users at CO;
  • Provide oversight for Finance staff of the CO and monitor progress and provide guidance and direction to the staff as necessary to ensure goals and objectives are achieved.

7. Participate in knowledge management and capacity building

  • Identify, participate in the development and/or recommend enhancement/updates/improvement in Atlas financial modules for better business practices and controls in the CO;
  • Capture, synthesize and/or codify lessons learned and best practices in the CO support and financial management and services. Disseminate to Finance Section HQ to share knowledge and build capacity;
  • Contribute to the design of learning tools, best practices and innovations in financial business operational practices and management, promote transparency, ease of communications, hosting of financial documents, and all policies and procedures between all UN Women users of the CO data.

 

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: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

  • Good knowledge and expertise in financial planning and management;
  • Good knowledge of complex financial rules and regulations, preferably UN/UN Women Financial Rules and regulations;
  • Good conceptual/strategic skills and success in implementing financial re-engineering, management systems development, policy design, innovation and knowledge product development is an asset;
  • Good knowledge and experience in the application of complex financial systems and modules (such as Atlas);
  • Good knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages;
  • Ability to provide advice and support;
  • Good analytical skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

  • Master's degree (or equivalent) in Finance/Accounting. Professionally qualified accountants from an internationally recognized institute of accountancy will have a distinct advantage.

Experience

  • At least 2 years’ experience in an accounting-specific role with in a large international organization preferably in the UN system is required.
  • Demonstrated financial experience using an ERP financial system.
  • Demonstrated experience in providing financial and budget support to programmes/projects; Demonstrated experience at developing detailed financial reports for senior management.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of IPSAS/IFRS.
  • Demonstrated experience in supporting more than one office simultaneously is an asset
  • Demonstrated financial experience of working in a regional or multi-country context is an asset;
  • Experience in the usage of office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.).
  • Demonstrated experience using an online web-based management System is an asset

Language Requirements

  • Fluency in English is required
  • Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Application Procedure

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

 UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.  All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)