Background

The 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 supervision and guidance of the Operations Manager, the Finance Associate is responsible for managing and supervising the execution of a wide range of financial services and administrative processes in the Country Office (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 Associate promotes a client-oriented approach consistent with UN Women rules and regulations, standard practices and guidelines.

The Finance Associate 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

Administer and implement financial services and adapt processes and procedures related to finance: 

• Review and verify financial transactions/ activities/ documentation for accuracy, appropriateness and completeness and ensure full compliance of financial services and transactions with UN Women rules, regulations, and policies and recording and reporting systems;
• Monitor and implement a client-oriented financial resources management system;
• Implement CO finance process mapping and support in the elaboration of the content of internal Standard Operating Procedures in finance, as necessary;
• Analyze and monitor continuously the financial situation and monitor financial exception reports for unusual activities and transactions;
• Support and implement proposals on cost-saving and reduction strategies;
• Implement control mechanisms for the management of office department (core) and development projects (core programmable, non-core and trust funds) and keep stakeholders and clients informed for timely actions/decisions;
• Follow-up and/or take action on audit recommendations to ensure implementation of corrective actions.

Monitor the preparation and administration of budgets:

• Collect, verify and present thoroughly researched information and data for use in the planning of financial resources and the formulation of country program work plans, budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements and execution modalities;
• Monitor the preparation and modification/revision of budgets for UN Women programmes;
• Contribute technically to office budget planning and preparation;
• Provide information/guidance to the executing agencies on routine implementation of projects. Keep track of the appropriate and timely use of financial resources;
• Implement control mechanisms for development programmes through monitoring budgets preparations and revisions;
• Provide technical support to ensure project budgets are correctly and timely entered into Atlas;
• Prepare cost recovery documents for the services provided by UN Women to non-core programmes by core programme resources or prepare bills to services provided to other organizations for reimbursement, as required.

Ensure proper control of accounts:

• Provide advisory services on a wide range of finance related issues;
• Prepare verified payment vouchers based on proper supporting documents authorized by the budget owners and project managers;
• Ensure timely corrective actions are taken on un-posted vouchers, including vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions, and unapproved vouchers. Review vouchers before submission for approval;
• Prepare General Ledger journal entries (GLJEs) from proper supporting documents authorized by the budget owners and project managers;
• Approve vendors in Atlas;
• Prepare financial reports as needed;
• Review accounts receivables for UN Women projects and follow-up with project managers and Finance section at headquarters on contributions, deposits creation in Atlas and their application to accounts receivable and milestone pending items.  Review on a weekly basis Unapplied deposits list on Finance Section intranet page to ensure all receipts for region are identified timely.
• Maintain up to date and accurate data in Atlas and take timely corrective actions on erroneous data;
• Maintain follow up of advances to implementing partners, review their financial reports (FACE form) and supporting documentation together with Project Managers and take the appropriate action;
• Liaise with Finance Section for requests for preparation of donor reports and review and comment on draft financial reports in conjunction with project managers;
• Ensure all supporting documents on financial transactions are secured and properly filed;
• Prepare timely VAT reimbursements with adequate documentation support, where applicable.

Ensure proper Country Programme cash management:

• Manage petty cash in accordance with policy in POM;
• Ensure timely trouble shooting on irregularities in bank transfers and other forms of payment;
• Monitor for unusual financial activities or transactions, investigate anomalies and report to the Operations Manager and/or present recommendations for actions/decisions.

Facilitate of knowledge building and knowledge sharing in the CO:

• Organize and conduct trainings for operations/ project staff on finance issues;
• Synthesize lessons learned and best practices in Finance;
• Design and/or introduce innovations in financial business operational practices and management, in line with approval from Operations Manager.

Competencies

Core Values/Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity:

• Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
• Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

 Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring:

• Self-development, initiative-taking.

Working in Teams:

• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

• Creating synergies through self-control.

Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements:

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning

• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others.

Functional Competencies:

• Thorough knowledge of financial rules and regulations and accounting principles;
• Excellent knowledge and application skills of IT tools and management systems;
• Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems;
• Good analytical skills and results orientation;
• Client focused;
• Good interpersonal relations and written and spoken communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Secondary Education is required. Specialized national or international certification in accounting and finance would be an asset;
• University Degree in Business or Accounting desirable, but it is not a requirement.

Experience:

• 7 years of progressively relevant finance work experience is required;
• Proficiency in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and knowledge of database packages, working experience in web based ERP financial systems (i.e. SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle, etc.);
• Knowledge of IPSAS and/or IFRS is desirable.

Language:

• Written and oral proficiency in English and National Language in duty station is required. Working knowledge of another UN language is an asset.