Finance and Administrative Assistant

The main aim of the FAO country offices is to assist governments to help develop policies, programmes and projects in the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner in order to achieve food security and reduce hunger and malnutrition.

The EU-funded programme entitled “Support to Rural Entrepreneurship, Investment and Trade in Papua New Guinea” (EU-STREIT PNG) is implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as the United Nations Joint Programme (UNJP), in collaboration with the Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and other partner agencies such as ILO, UNCDF, UNDP and ITU. The programme aims to promote sustainable agriculture and rural development, with a particular emphasis on improving the living conditions of rural communities, with a great emphasis on gender equality and youth inclusion. 

Reporting Lines:

The National Finance and Administrative Assistant will work under the administrative supervision of the FAO Office in Papua New Guinea and under the direct supervision of the International Finance and Administrative Specialist and overall supervision of EU-STREIT Programme Coordinator and in close collaboration with the International Operations Officer.

Technical Focus:

The National Finance and Administrative Assistant performs a large variety of routine administrative transactions and office support functions contributing to the smooth and efficient running of the work unit.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• Retrieve, enter, select and analyse data from a wide variety of sources, including FAO’s corporate systems and data bases; verify accuracy of data documents; make necessary calculations.
• Maintain imprest accounts; reconcile expenditures, balances, payments, statements and other data; assist in the preparation of recurring and special reports by preparing and editing data in appropriate format as requested; monitor project, programme and general office accounts.
• Prepare routine correspondence of administrative nature; draft correspondence to verify data, answer queries, and obtain additional information on transactions and financial matters, as required.
• Maintain a filing system of administrative and financial documents.
• Support to maintain liaison with local banks and financial institutions to keep up-to-date with financial and regulatory information (exchange and interest rates, procedures and rules, maintenance of bank accounts, etc.).
• Support the administration of personnel and equipment.
• Process claims or invoices and other payments requests in line with relevant regulations and instructions;
• Ensure that all supporting documents and information required to justify payment, including receipts, banking details, etc., are complete before releasing payments;
• Settle invoices and claims after verification of supporting documents;
• Compile and verify budget and accounting data by checking files, calculating costs and estimating anticipated expenditures; following authorization, make disbursements from petty cash as per delegation, maintain records of such disbursements and balance accounts as required;
• Assist in the preparation of periodic accounting records, finance and budget documents; record receipts and disbursements (ledgers, cash books, vouchers, etc.);
• Perform other duties as required.

Candidates Will Be Assessed Against The Following:

Minimum Requirements:

• High school diploma (BSc. or BA of management, business, public relations, and other relevant fields are preferred)
• At least 2 years of professional experience in administration, financial management and record keeping
• Working Knowledge of English and Tok Pisin
• National of Papua New Guinea

Source: https://jobs.fao.org/careersection/fao_external/jobdetail.ftl?job=2402151