Background

The United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women (the Trust Fund) is a multilateral grant-making mechanism established in 1996 pursuant to General Assembly resolution 50/166. It is administered by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) on behalf of the United Nations system.

The Trust Fund supports local, national, regional and cross-regional programmes to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against women and girls in all contexts. It provides funding for proven, innovative and catalytic multi-year programmes by national and local governments, civil society organizations and United Nations country teams. To date, the UN Trust Fund has awarded $139 million to 493 organizations in 139 countries and territories. Currently, the UN Trust Fund portfolio includes over 100 active grants.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the UN Trust Fund Operations Analyst, following a client-oriented approach, the Budgetary Review Consultant provides budget support services ensuring effective and transparent utilization of financial resources and integrity of work in accordance with UN Women Financial Regulations and rules, UN Trust Fund operational guidelines and UN Women Policies, Finance Manual and instructions.

Duties and Responsibilities

In anticipation of high volume of upcoming financial reports from the current grantees, as well as expected budget proposals from the Spotlight grantees, additional support for budget verification and financial review exercises is essential during September-February time period.

Under the direct guidance and supervision of the UNTF Operations Analyst, the Budgetary Review Consultant will carry out the following tasks:

  • In coordination with Operations Analyst and Portfolio Managers, support the review of financial reports from grantees to ensure that expenses are being properly recorded by grantees, money spent in accordance to UN Women financial rules and regulations and communicated to grantees.
  • Validate the accuracy of the financial reports by ensuring that the supporting documents submitted by grantees match the reported transactions.
  • Provide feedback and accounting advice to grantees on technical accounting and operational topics (ai. foreign currency exchange rates use, accruing staff costs, etc).
  • Prepare supporting documentation package and all the necessary checklists for the approval of the Portfolio Managers and further processing by the Operations Analyst or Finance Associate
  • Prepare supporting documentation package for the disbursement of funds to grants recipients and follow up on successful receipt of funds by the grantees.
  • Review submitted Full-Fledged proposals and NGO assessment forms and provide detailed feedback on the requested budgets; validate supporting documents and verify that requested amendments are implemented, and satisfactory clarifications provided.
  • Support the Programme and Finance Analyst and Portfolio Managers in the budget management for UNTF grant projects: provide guidance and corrective recommendations on budgets submitted by selected grantee organizations to the Fund for its approval and advise on any finance issues arising.
  • Timely response to requests to resolve financial data issues.
  • Keep abreast of and ensure full compliance with all UNW Financial Regulations and Rules, Operations manuals, Internal Control policies and procedures, Standard operating procedures, Finance manual, and Delegations of Authority to ensure consistency across UN Trust Fund and UN Women.
  • Other duties as required.

Competencies

Core Values and 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
  • Client orientation
  • 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: 

  • Ability to perform a broad range of specialized activities related to financial resources management, including managing non-core budgets, maintaining Accounts Receivables and Accounts Payables, and management reporting;
  • Knowledge of financial rules and regulations, and accounting
  • Strong IT Skills;
  • Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Completion of Secondary education with specialized training in finance. University degree in Accounting or Finance would be an asset.

Experience:

  • 3 years of progressively relevant work experience is required;
  • Experience 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, SUN etc);
  • Knowledge of IPSAS and IFRS is desirable.

 Language Requirements:

  • Fluency in written and spoken English is required; Proficiency in another UN language will be an asset.