UN WOMEN Jobs - 75646- UN Women Finance Associate

UN Women Finance Associate

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New York City, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

TA Local

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

24-Nov-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

GS-7

Duration of Initial Contract :

364 days

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 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, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) was established through the UN General Assembly Resolution 50/166 with UN Women as its Administrator on behalf of the UN system. The UN Trust Fund is a global multi-lateral mechanism supporting national efforts to end violence against women, one of the most widespread human rights violations in the world. The UN Trust Fund provides technical assistance and funding to advance the development of innovative models and strategic interventions in the area of ending violence against women.

Under the supervision of the Grants and Programme Manager, the Finance Associate provides financial 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 Policy and Operations Manual (POM), Finance Manual and instructions.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide financial administration support in monitoring the financial processes for the UN Trust Fund.

Record donor contributions and pledges received and forward on a timely basis to Finance Section for recording in ATLAS and update the UN Trust Fund donors master list.
Facilitate disbursement of funds to grants recipients including: i) vendor creation and liaison with Procurement Section; ii) preparation of payment vouchers and supporting documentation and liaison with Finance Section of UN Women for payment voucher approvals; and iii) follow through to successful receipt of funds by grants recipients.
Provide guidance and corrective recommendations on budgets submitted by selected grantee organizations to the Fund for its approval; and ii) initiate projects in ATLAS, create budgets, prepare budget revisions, advise on any budget issues arising, monitor and liaise with Finance Department on rephasals, etc.
In coordination with Programme Specialists, undertake review of financial reports and supporting documents from grantees to ensure that expenses are being properly recorded by grantees, money spent in line with their approved budget.
Provide feedback and accounting advice to grantees on technical accounting topics (ai. foreign currency, accruing staff costs, etc).
Prepare the necessary journals (accounts payable journal vouchers or APJVs) to process the financial reports in Atlas to liquidate cash advances to grantees.
Monitor, reconcile advances to grantees which are not in accordance with the approved budget and report any non-compliance to Grants and Programme Manager and respective Programme Specialists.

Generate ATLAS management reports, review data periodically and monitor projects delivery. Follow-up with Finance and Budget Sections on inconsistencies and ensure adjustments are accurately entered in the system.
Co-ordinate and manage timely adherence of Month-end closure checklist and Year-end closure instructions for UN Trust Fund to ensure all actions are taken in accordance with the timelines as indicated and provide to UN Trust Fund Chief for certification.
Prepare relevant financial data for presentations made to donors and other external audiences as requested by the Fund Chief
Liaise with Finance Section for requests for preparation of donor reports and review and comment on draft reports provided prior to finalization.
Support the Trust Fund internal and external audits, co-ordinate implementation of audit recommendations.2

2. Provide operational support to the UN Trust Fund:

Ensure proper control of the supporting documents for payments of contracts. Ensure funds availability.
Coordinate the procurement processes of the UN Trust Fund, in close collaboration with the Administrative Associate and Procurement Section.

3. Provides accounting and administrative support

Prepare payment vouchers based on accurate and complete supporting documents authorized by the UN Trust Fund Chief.
Ensure proper control of the supporting documents for donor agreements and grantee agreements, payments, donor receipts and general ledger journal entries and accounts payable journal vouchers, including filing, archiving and uploading the donor agreements to the UN Women intranet.
Maintain the internal expenditures control system which ensures that vouchers processed are matched and completed, transactions are accurately recorded and posted in Atlas; and other entitlements are duly processed on a timely basis.
Implement timely corrective actions on unposted vouchers, including the vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions, unapproved vouchers.
Prepare general ledger journal entries (GJEs) for corrections to ensure transactions of UN Trust Fund are accurate and liaise with Finance Section for review, verification and approval.
Prepare general ledger journal entries (GJEs) for the allocation of funds and support costs to UN Women Offices in charge of implementation of grants.
Review, reconciliation and or investigation of general ledger account balances on a monthly basis or as requested by Finance Section to ensure transactions are accurate, timely and complete.
Provide timely response to requests to resolve financial data issues.

4. Facilitate capacity building and knowledge sharing

Actively participate in knowledge sharing and trainings conducted by UN Trust Fund TF Unit to ensure currency of knowledge on UN Women policies and practices.
Keep abreast of and ensure full compliance with amendments to International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
Keep abreast of and ensure full compliance with all UN Women Financial Regulations and Rules, Operations manuals, Internal Control policies and procedures, Standard operating procedures, Finance manual, and Delegations of Authority to ensure consistency

5. Provide Other duties as required

Performance Indicators:

Timely, complete and accurate financial transactions/activities/documentation
Timely and accurate advice on UN Women financial rules and regulations
Timely and regular monitoring of financial resources management system and timely expenditure of financial resources
Timely and accurate support to budget formulation and controlling allotments
Timely and accurate monitoring of internal expenditures control systems

Timely and quality financial support to team

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: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

Excellent knowledge of financial rules and regulations and accounting principles;
Excellent knowledge and application skills of IT tools and understanding of management systems;
Excellent knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages;
Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems;

Ability to administer and execute financial and accounting processes and transactions.

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

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Completion of secondary education; first university degree in business or public administration, economics, political science or social sciences desirable but not required.

Completion of UN Women Accountancy & Finance Test required

Experience:

7 years of progressively relevant finance 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: Excellent written and spoken English; knowledge of another official UN language an asset