Finance and Budget Assistant

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.

Under the overall guidance of the Head of Office and the daily supervision of the Operations Manager, the Finance & Budget Assistant is responsible for the execution of a wide range of finance and budget monitoring, analysis, tracking and provision of financial/ budget services and the processes in the Country Office (CO), ensuring timeliness, efficiency and transparent use of financial resources and delivery of services in accordance with organizational financial rules, regulations, policies, procedures and approved allocations. The Finance & Budget Assistant promotes a client-oriented approach consistent with UN Women rules and regulations, standard practices and guidelines.

The Finance & Budget Assistant works in close collaboration with the Programme and Operations Team of the CO as well as with the Operations teams in UN Women ROAP & UN Women HQ for solving complex finance-related issues and information delivery.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.  Provision of analysis and reporting of financial transaction & delivery, in full compliance of UN Women rules, regulations, policies         and standard operating procedures, including internal controls;

• Review and verify financial transactions, activities, and documentation; taking corrective actions as needed and reporting any unusual activities;
• Monitor financial exceptions reports for unusual activities or transaction, investigate anomalies and report to the supervisor conclusions and/or present recommendations for actions/decisions;
• Support to prepare reports on financial status, procedures, exchange rates, costs and expenditures;
• Follow-up on audit recommendations to monitor implementation of corrective actions;
• Collect, verify and present information and data for use in the planning of financial resources and the formulation of the Country Office (CO) programme work plans, budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements and execution modalities;
• Provide assistance in Annual Work Plan entry in Results Management System (RMS) as required.
• Support to monitor the proper functioning of the financial resources management system for office and programmatic budgets and resources;

    2.    Prepare and administer CO budgets in full compliance of UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and recording and reporting                  systems

• Formulate the budget, control allotments, monitor expenditures, and prepare revisions according to the needs of the CO;
• Track the appropriate and timely use of financial resources; 
• Create projects in Quantum prepare budget revisions, revise project awards and status; and determine unutilized funds;
• Maintain internal expenditure control system;
• Input data in Quantum and monitor status. Keep stakeholders and clients informed for timely action and/or decisions

   3.     Provide finance & budget support to the Programme and Operations team

• Record and post transactions in Quantum, process payroll, travel claims, MPOs, and other entitlements;
• Support the setup of budgets in Quantum to ensure they are in accordance with budgets agreed with donors and are input into Quantum at the detailed Activity ID level;
• Support to monitor each month over-expenditure of budgets and follow up with Budget Owner;
• Monitor the financial status and under the guidance of the Operations Manager implement control mechanisms for management/development projects;
• Monitor and proper follow up of all the financial items in Month-end and Year-end closure instructions status and under the guidance of the Operations Manager, take correction actions as required
• Keep stakeholders and clients informed for timely actions/decisions and review status reports for quality control;
• Provide information inputs to financial reports for Regional Office, HQ Finance and stakeholders
• Associate revenue and expenditure in commitment control for non-core projects.
• Provide inputs and take necessary actions to facilitate timely financial project closure;
• Support financial donor reporting by providing timely information and taking necessary actions as required by UN Women Virtual Global Service Centre for financial donor reporting;

  4.     Provide administrative support to Resource Mobilization

• Prepare drafts for cost sharing agreements including conditions of contributions within resource mobilization efforts, adhering to standard agreements where possible. Follow up on contributions within the CO resource mobilization efforts.

  5.     Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing

• Conduct training and/or helping organize training events and activities; as well as participate in trainings;
• Collect and compile lessons learned and best practices in financial management and services. Disseminate to clients and stakeholders as appropriate to build capacity and knowledge;
• Contribute to financial business operational practices and management innovations.

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

Functional Competencies

• Strong knowledge of financial rules and regulations and accounting principles;
• Strong knowledge and application skills of IT tools and understanding of management systems; 
• Strong 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.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification: 

• Completion of secondary education is required.
• Specialized national or international certification in accounting and finance is an asset.
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting is an asset.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in finance & programme admin related;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is required.
• Experience working in UN system is an asset.
• Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Fluency in Tetum is required.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: . Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.