Finance and Budget Assistant

Org. Setting and ReportingThis position is located in the Payroll and Accounts Payable Section in the Division of Administration, Department of Operational Support (DOS). The Department of Operational Support was established to provide operational advisory services to operating entities across the Secretariat, including other departments, offices away from headquarters, field missions, and regional commissions. The Payroll and Accounts Payable Section processes global payroll and payments, provides travel finance related support, consultants payment, vendor payments, provides policy advise and operational guidance, testing and implementation of enhancements. The Finance and Budget Assistant will report to the Chief of the Payroll and Accounts Payable Section. ResponsibilitiesWithin delegated authority, the Finance and Budget Assistant will be responsible for the following duties: Travel and other Claims: • Reviews, analyses and prepares payments to staff members in relation to travel expense reports and training related expenses. • Analyze and clear travel related old and recent open items. • Analyze submission and request for issuance of CPM advance, process CPM ERs, and clear CPM advance. • Analyze and clear CPM related old and recent open items. • Respond to emails and service clients via team message and meetings. • Provide training to new staff members, and process ad hoc requests and cover for staff members when on leave. Finance • Scrutinizes source documents for completeness, accuracy and validity of charges. • Investigates erroneous charges and takes appropriate corrective accounting actions as part of the review of rejected payments in the travel liability account and rejected GL. • Reconciles and reviews suspense accounts and ensure proper clearance procedures have been followed. • Extracts details of income, expenditure, assets and liability from accounting system in order to analyze and verify accuracy and validity. • Assists with the monitoring and review of the open items in the travel payroll accounting GL accounts. • Investigates and processes the relevant journal voucher to clear the open items in these accounts. • Prepares worksheets and assists with the preparation of financial statements. • Audits various accounting transactions, e.g., payroll, vendor payments, final payments, income tax returns, travel claims, etc., to ensure correctness of disbursements and adherence to relevant staff rules, financial regulations and rules, ST/AI issuances or practices. • Serves as Approving Officer for disbursements up to an authorized level. Budget: • Provides support with respect to the review, analysis and preparation of the medium-term plan and its revisions and all support with all aspects of budget preparation. • Monitors expenditures and compares with approved budget. Prepares adjustments as necessary. • Assists in preparation of budget performance submissions and finalization of budget performance reports, analyzing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures. • Monitors integrity of various financial databases. • Verifies accuracy of input data, ensuring consistency of data in previous allotments to new allotments issued. Other - ad hoc • Provides guidance and training to colleagues as required and assists with other urgent projects within the section. • Monitors/reviews methods used to remit payments and supervises investigation of non-receipt of payments. CompetenciesProfessionalism: Knowledge of, and ability to apply financial rules, regulations and procedures in the UN environment. Knowledge, skills and ability to extract, interpret, analyse and format data across the full range of finance and budget functions, including programme development and database management, claims and treasury operations. Ability to identify and resolve data discrepancies and operational problems. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Commitment to implementing the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of work. Planning and Organizing: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently. Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client. EducationHigh school diploma or equivalent is required. Job - Specific QualificationNot available. Work ExperienceA minimum of seven (7) years of experience in finance, budget, accounting, administrative services or related area is required. The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced to five years for candidates who possess a first-level university degree or higher. Experience in the use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, such as Umoja, SAP or equivalent is required. Experience processing travel disbursement, including personnel entitlements, expense reports, and various types of advances and settlements is required. Experience working with the United Nations or a large global organization’s systems and procedures, Staff Regulations and Rules, and Financial Regulations and Rules is desirable. Experience with CPM mechanisms, clearances, processess and procedures is desirable. LanguagesEnglish and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this job opening, English is required. The table below shows the minimum required level for each skill in these languages, according to the UN Language Framework (please consult https://languages.un.org for details).