Finance And Budget Officer

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. UNEP’s Corporate Services Division is the guardian of UNEP’s corporate interest, mitigating its exposure to risk and supporting the organization with management tools, plans and related capacity building. It oversees UNEP’s efficient and effective management, in line with UNEP’s accountability requirements, rules, regulations and UN core values. This position is located in UNEP, Corporate Services Division, Programme and Budget Unit in Nairobi. Under the direct supervision of the Head of the Unit, the incumbent will be responsible for the following duties:

Responsibilities

Medium-term plan:

• Reviews, analyses and finalizes the preparation of UNEP’s medium-term strategy and its revisions on the basis of departmental submissions, taking into account recommendations and decisions of specialized intergovernmental bodies including UNEA and the General Assembly.
• Provides substantive support to relevant intergovernmental and expert bodies in their review of the medium-term strategy and its revisions, and secures approval from UNEA and the General Assembly.
• Ensure legislative mandates are accurately translated into programme budgets.

Budget preparation:

• Reviews, analyses and finalizes cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements from;
• the divisions and regional offices, including programmatic aspects;
• ensure compliance with the medium-term strategy and other legislative mandates.
• Supports the development of the resource requirements section in the Programme of Work.
• Provides detailed inputs with respect to resource requirements for budget submissions.
• Reviews, analyzes and finalizes programme budget/financial implications to the governing bodies statements in light of additional mandates.
• Provides substantive support to relevant intergovernmental and expert bodies in their budget review and assists in securing approval from UNEA and the General Assembly.
• Lead the yearly allocation process for core financial resources and their deliberations through the Budget Steering Committee.

Budget administration:

• Issues allotments, authorizes sub-allotments, including redeployment of funds when necessary, ensuring appropriate expenditures.
• Manages and monitors budget implementation and recommends reallocation of funds as necessary.
• Monitors expenditures to ensure that they remain within authorized levels.
• Administers and monitors extra-budgetary resources, including review of agreements and cost plans, ensuring compliance with regulations and rules and established policies and procedures.
• Administers and monitors extra-budgetary resources pertaining to Thematic Funds and Programme Cooperation Agreements (Norway, SIDA, China and other corporate agreements as assigned by the Director of Corporate Services Division).
• Reviews draft agreements and cost plans, support the allocation of the yearly contributions, ensures allotments are recorded in the ERP system against approved projects and initiatives, monitor and follow up on expenditures including monthly review of outstanding commitments, timely closure of the associated grants, reporting the financial reports to the donors, while ensuring compliance with regulations and rules and established policies and procedures.
• Reviews and makes appropriate recommendations with respect to the finalization of budget performance reports, analyzing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Prepare periodic and ad-hoc reports, including monthly budget dashboard reports to senior management, Programme Performance Reports (PPR) to UNEP Senior Management, as well as to the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR).
• Manage approved staffing table for Corporate Services Division, Executive Office, and Evaluation Office, and other assigned client offices.
• Prepare monthly post incumbency reports and update the positions’ cost distribution in Umoja Organization Management to ensure correct coding blocks are charged.
• Prepare/review relevant financial and/or budgetary reports needed for IPSAS financial statement purposes.
• Provides substantive support to relevant intergovernmental and expert bodies.

General:

• Provides advice and guidance, including training, to headquarters and field staff and team members on budgetary and financial policies and procedures, including results-based budgeting.
• Participates in inter-departmental meetings and/or technical survey missions on matters related to resource requirements, programming and budgetary issues.
• 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 the United Nations policies and procedures.
• Drafts reports for intergovernmental bodies and for management on budgetary issues, and correspondence.
• Undertakes research and analysis of budgetary policies and procedures, makes recommendations for changes and/or modifications.
• Acts as Certifying Officer under Financial Rule 110.4 to ensure that proposed obligations and expenditures are in accordance with approved budgets and established regulations and rules.
• Ensures the integrity of financial and management systems and the controls that underpin them.
• May plan, organize, manage and supervise the work of the subordinates assigned.
• Collects and analyzes data to identify trends or patterns and provide insights through graphs, charts, tables and reports using data visualization methods to enable data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting.
• Incumbent may be asked to perform other related duties.

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in business administration, finance, or related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two years of qualifying work experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Successful completion of both degree and non-degree programs in data analytics, business analytics or data science programs is desirable.

Work Experience

• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible work experience in budget, finance, administration, business administration or a related area, is required. Proven working experience with the financial and budgetary functions in Enterprise Resource Platform (ERP) systems (e.g., Umoja) is required. Experience in conducting qualitative research and analysis is desirable. Experience using data analytical tools such as MS Excel and Power BI is desirable. Experience with the preparation of financial, budgetary and management reports, use of reports in Business Intelligence, and the reporting of budgetary information in accordance with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) is desirable. Experience in results-based budgeting (RBB) is desirable. Experience in applying the policies and practices of cost recovery is desirable. Experience with the UN Common System or a comparable international organization in the development and administration of complex assessed and extrabudgetary resources and the service of intergovernmental bodies (e.g. Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), 5th Committee, Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC) is desirable. 2 years or more of experience in data analytics or related area 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 UN official language is desirable. NOTE: Fluency equals a rating of “fluent” in all four areas (read, write, speak, understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of “confident” in two of the four areas.

Source: https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/234171?language=en