Finance and Budget Assistant

This 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 policy advice and operational guidance, testing and implementation of enhancements. The Finance and Budget Assistant will report to the Chief of the Section.

Responsibilities

Within delegated authority, the Finance and Budget Assistant will be responsible for the following duties:

Budget:

• Assists in the preparation of supporting documents (narrative and supporting tables) with respect to finalization of cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements.
• Supports the Finance/Budget Officers(s) in extracting information and generating expenditure reports from computerized information system databases; assists in preliminary analyses of the extracted information and the reports generated, and highlights areas of concern for the attention of the Finance/Budget Officer(s).
• Assists in the development of resource requirements for budget submissions and in the preparation of budget performance submissions.
• Researches/compiles data and other information required by the Finance Budget Officer(s) in the review and analysis of relevant proposals.
• Consolidates data and provides support to Finance/Budget Officer(s) with respect to budget reviews of relevant intergovernmental and expert bodies.
• Assists the Finance/Budget Officer(s) in the preparation/finalization of budget performance reports, performing preliminary analysis of variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Prepares pre-encumbrances and obligations in IMIS and review them to ensure that funds are available and the correct account has been used.
• Assists in drafting the initial versions of the Financial Aspects section of the Secretary-General’s reports to the Security Council, draft resolutions and Reports of the Fifth Committee for peacekeeping operations and the Annotated Agenda for peacekeeping items.
• Assists the Finance/Budget Officer(s) with data input in the budget instructions for peacekeeping operations.
• Assists in the financial backstopping of trust funds, including monitoring the status of voluntary contributions, generating expenditure reports from IMIS and monitoring reporting requirements by donors.
• Assists the Finance/Budget Officer(s) in the issuance of allotments/appropriations and related staffing table authorizations.
• Verifies accuracy of input data, ensuring consistency of data in previous allotments/appropriations to new allotments/appropriations issued.
• Reviews draft reports, verifying overall accuracy, consistency and uniformity in the presentation, and ensuring comprehensiveness and compliance with the format prescribed by the Editorial and Documents control of GACM; cross-checks consistency of figures in tables with the text of the reports, and verifies references to other reports and documents, bringing errors to the attention of the Finance/Budget Officers(s) concerned; ensures that all necessary corrections are incorporated in the reports; co-ordinates with other finance and budget staff on related issues during preparation of budget reports.

Claims:

• Verifies and prepares less complex payments to third parties, commercial entities, and individuals, with respect to settlement of certified death and disability, contingent-owned equipment, stores, pay and allowances, and letters of assist claims. Treasury:
• Reviews incoming payment instructions with regard to banking details and sources of funds.
• Prepares payments for final disbursement by Cashier.
• Dispatches payment instructions and cheques to banks.
• Creates receipts and deposits for all incoming funds.
• Notifies payees of status of payments.
• Assists staff members, Fund Management Officers and donors regarding queries on payment and deposit-related issues.
• Identifies and annotates bank account movements.
• Files and archives documentation as required.

Finance:

• Records and reconciles more complex accounting transactions.
• Examines and records financial transactions of Offices-away-from-Headquarters/Peacekeeping Missions/other UN organisations and prepares remittances for disbursement.
• Reconciles more complex bank accounts in various currencies.
• Assists in the processing of payments to governments and vendors for good and services. This includes, amongst other things, calculating, inputting, and checking payments for correctness and communicating discrepancies to supervisors.
• Assists in processing payments to staff members for their entitlements including salaries, claims, education grants and income tax.
• Drafts/prepares memoranda and/or faxes to various offices, departments and overseas offices.
• Responds to queries from staff members and third parties.

General:

• Keeps up-to-date on documents/reports/guidelines that have a bearing on matters related to programme budgets, ensuring compliance with intergovernmental recommendations and decisions as well as with United Nations policies and procedures.
• Drafts routine correspondence with respect to enquiries related to relevant financial and budget matters.
• Maintains and keep up-to-date files.
• Provides administrative support to the Head of the organizational unit and/or Finance/Budget Officer(s), as required.
• Performs other related duties, as assigned.

Education

• High school diploma or equivalent is required.

Work Experience

• A minimum of five years of experience in finance, accounting, budget, administrative services or related area is required. The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced to three 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 desirable. Experience in processing payroll, vendor/travel claims settlement in an international organization is desirable. Experience working with the United Nations or a large global organization’s systems and procedures, Staff Rules and Regulations including entitlements and Financial Regulations, Rules, and procedures is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable.

Source: https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/232248?language=en