Finance Assistant

Org. Setting and Reporting

The Department of Operational Support (DOS) was established to provide end-to-end operational support, advisory services and other solutions to operating entities across the Secretariat, including departments, offices away from headquarters, peace operations, and regional commissions. Under the strategic guidance of the Department of Operational Support (DOS), the Kuwait Joint Support Office provides efficient and client-oriented services with the goal of moving transactional, non-location dependent administrative functions from its client entities. These include transactional elements of human resources, finance, travel and payroll. This position is located in the Kuwait Joint Support Office (KJSO) in Payroll Unit under the Office of the Deputy Chief KJSO. The incumbent will report to the Chief of Payroll Unit.

Responsibilities

Within the delegated authority, and under the direct supervision of Chief of Payroll Unit and with the overall guidance of the Deputy Chief KJSO, the Finance 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 Assistant 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).
• Processes of payment to governments and vendors for goods and services. This includes, amongst other things calculating, inputting, and checking payments for correctness and communicating discrepancies to supervisors.
• Reviews and processes requests to create “other” (non-vendor, non-staff) business partners in the UMOJA system, checking the accuracy and completeness of submissions and preventing duplication of existing records.
• 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 and related staffing table authorizations.
• Verifies accuracy of input data, ensuring consistency of data in previous allotments to new allotments 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.
• Peer reviews draft business partner entries created by colleagues.
• Supports other UMOJA master data tasks as required.
• Review account balances at individual payee Id level and advise the concerned Unit on pending balances and obligations to be transferred to the correct Id.
• Assist in the creation of receipts and deposits for all ASHI related payments.
• Assists staff members regarding queries on payment and deposit-related issues.

Treasury:

• Reviews outgoing payment 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.

Payroll

• Processes travel claims in conformity with approved travel authorization, ensuring compliance with relevant rules and instructions, and proper documentation and certification.
• Assists in verifying payroll and processing payments to staff members for their entitlements including salaries, claims, education grants and income tax.
• Assists in verifying and running off-cycle and correction payroll.
• Assists in reconciling payroll and payments related to general ledger and vendor accounts.
• Prepares separation notification for UN Joint Staff Pension Fund.
• Assist in the creation of receipts and deposits for all After Service Health Insurance (ASHI) related payments.
• Assists staff members regarding queries on payment and deposit-related issues.

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. and assist in retrieving and locating documents to verify the accuracy and legitimacy for account balance in payable, receivables and disbursement accounts
• Provides administrative support to the Chief of Payroll and/or Finance/Budget Officer(s), as required.
• Performs other related duties, as assigned.

Education

• High school diploma or equivalent is required. Certificate/coursework/training in accounting, finance, banking or direct related fields is desirable.

Work Experience

• Five (5) years of experience in finance, accounting or related area is required. The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced by two (2) years for candidates who possess a first-level university degree or higher. Experience working with United Nations Financial Rules and Regulations and Staff Rules or those of a similar international organization is desirable. Experience in processing, verifying or reconciling accounts related to salary, payroll or accounts payable experience is desirable. Experience in payroll or finance modules of ERP systems, such as SAP, is desirable. Three (3) years of relevant experience within the United Nations Common System or a similar large, international organization, 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 Arabic is desirable. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage.

Source: https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/239173?language=en