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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

There is an urgent need for short term consultancy assistance to support various change management initiatives within the Finance Section, as well as provide support on various seasonal tasks relating to the 2018 Financial Year End Audit. These critical requirements are set out below.

  • UN Board of Audit (UNBoA) have for 2018 Financial Year Audit appointed the Government Chile as UNWomen new auditors. This mean that UNWomen would have to re-establish its relationship with the auditors, on various processes, procedures and documentation afresh so that the new auditors can have a permanent file of these processes, procedures and documentation.
  • UNWomen Financial Statements have in the past years been scrutinized for its application of its Inventory, Leasehold, Future Commitments and Non-Cash Benefits-in-Kind. There is a requirement for the collation and analysis of the large volume of data relating to these yearly tasks.
  • UNWomen is signing an increasingly large number of Non-Core Funding Contract with the European Union (EU). These contracts terms usually contain the requirement for Budget Reviews in line with the signed agreements. There is therefore an urgent need for UNWomen to develop a robust Budget Review Framework to support adequate monitoring and reporting of EU programmes.
  • There is a requirement for the Finance Section to immediately establish and in the first half of 2019 embed a Change Management modality that will regularly conduct a review of the new RMS Project module and its linkages to Atlas data capture and donor reporting. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance of Deputy Director for Financial Management, the consultant will carry out the following functions:

  1. Assist with setting up Permanent Audit Files for Processes, Procedures and Documentations
  • In consultation with the Finance Section staff, establish relevant documents relating to all areas of Audit for HQ and Field Offices.
  • Document and or update for all processes the Standard Operating Procedures
  • Draft process Flowchart for all processes and procedures.
  1. Collate and Analyze data for Inventory, Leasehold Benefit-in-Kind and Future Commitments
  1. Formulate Budget Framework and Review Budget templates for relevant EU Projects
  • In consultation with the VGSC and the Budget team, formulate a Budget Framework to be used by offices to establish relevant EU budgets.
  • Assist in responding to country offices and HQ sections on inconsistencies and questions as to how project set up in Atlas will impact donor reporting
  • Assist the Programme Support unit by providing training to field offices on financial management and best practices.
  1. Perform testing of the RMS Project module and review the Reporting and detailed expenditure analysis
  • Review reporting of Budget vs actuals, including a review of the project module in RMS.
  • Assist in providing additional training and capacity building across UN Women to improve the quality of the data entered into RMS, Atlas and DAMs.
  • Review of Project ID mapping and linkages to DAMS and Cost Sharing agreements.

Competencies

  • Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
  • Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
  • Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.
  • Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.
  • Organizational Awareness:Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
  • Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative.
  • Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
  • Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication

Required Skills and Experience

1.Educational Qualification:

  • Master’s Degree in accounting preferable.

2.Work Experience:

  • Previous experience in UN Women ATLAS environment and with UN Women Finance Section would be an advantage
  • Experience with Results management systems and Donor Reporting would be an advantage
  • Experience in the usage of office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and knowledge of database packages, working experience in web-based ERP financial systems, in particular must have experience in PeopleSoft
  • Experience working in teams
  • Excellent organizational skills and sound judgment
  • Strong sense of initiative and ability to prioritize and work independently
  • Ability to write and present information in a clear manner

    1.Mode of Contract Execution - This consultancy will be in New York HQ within the Finance Section team.

    2.Contract Term - The term for this contract will be for seven (7) month

    3.Payment Milestone - Monthly Rate commensurate with experience