Finance Assistant SC-5 Vientiane

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WFP encourages female candidates and people with disabilities to apply.

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis. We are committed to promoting diversity and the principle of equal employment opportunity for all our employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of religion or belief, ethnic or social background, gender, gender identity and disability.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

This job is based in Country Office, and report to the Senior Finance Associate and overall supervision of Head of Finance Unit.
At this level job holders are expected to take responsibility for completion of a range of finance/budget related processes and activities requiring some interpretation of standard guidelines/practices. Job holders are able to recommend a course of action to staff at various levels and may allocate tasks to other support staff.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Completion of secondary school education. A Bachelor Degree in Finance, Accounting or other related fields
Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English and Lao.

JOB PURPOSE

To support effective delivery of finance, budget and administration support services in order to facilitate transparent and efficient utilization of financial resources. 

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1. Assist in providing the procedural and technical support to staff within the areas of finance and budget, to ensure compliance with WFP financial policies, rules and regulations.
2. Monitor the cash advance record and assist in checking and validating finance document.
3. Verify vendor claims, advances and other receivables and observe appropriate procurement procedures, to ensure that suppliers are paid in a timely manner and in conformance with WFP finance rules and regulations.
4. Assist in compiling information from various sources in order to prepare reports relating to budgets, accounting, finance and statistics.
5. Retrieve, format and validate information obtained from various financial information systems and bring any discrepancy or inaccuracy to the attention of the supervisor and follow up corrective actions.
6. Maintain the web-based register for all invoices and payment transfers and record paperwork, to ensure that all documents are maintained and filed in compliance with WFP standards and guidelines.
7. Monitor and record all expenses in line with the approved budget in order to ensure that correct expenditure costs are charged and payments to external suppliers, cash grants and other supplier invoices are processed in a timely manner.
8. Provide guidance and on-the-job training to other support staff, to ensure services are delivered consistently and to the required standards.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Helps teammates articulate WFP’s Strategic Objectives.
• Be a force for positive change: Suggests potential improvements to team’s work processes to supervisor.
• Make the mission inspiring to our team: Explains the impact of WFP activities in beneficiary communities to teammates.
• Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Articulates how own unit’s responsibilities will serve WFP’s mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Trains junior teammates on new skills and capabilities.
• Create an inclusive culture: Seeks opportunities to work with people from different backgrounds.
• Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Serves as a peer coach for colleagues in same area of work.
• Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Tracks progress toward goals and shares this information on a regular basis with supervisor.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Explores ways to consistently be more efficient and accurate in own areas of work and shares new methods of work with colleagues.
• Focus on getting results: Focuses on getting results and tracks trends in completion rates for own tasks to identify opportunities for efficiency.
• Make commitments and make good on commitments: Takes responsibility for own tasks and notifies supervisor as soon as possible of potential delays in meeting deadlines or commitments.
• Be Decisive: Independently decides what action to take when faced with critical choices in the workplace or in dangerous situations in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Suggests opportunities for partnering with other units to supervisor.
• Build strong external partnerships: Identifies opportunities to work with colleagues and partners in the field towards common goals.
• Be politically agile & adaptable: Develops an understanding of the value of WFP’s teams and external partners in fulfilling team’s goals and objectives.
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Aligns own activities with supervisor’s priorities to fulfill internal and external partner needs.
  

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

This section is optional to describe additional responsibilities & knowledge required for the specific job

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• At least 3 or more years relevant working experience in finance and accounting.
• Has experience collecting and monitoring financial data on projects and programmes, assessing financial health and status, and reporting findings to senior leaders.

Desirable Knowledge and Skills:

• Excellent word processing skills and excel skills;
• Knowledge of SAP is an asset.
• Fluency in both oral and written communication in English and Lao.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Contract type & Level: Service Contract (Level: SC-5)

Contract duration: One year with renewal

Duty station: Vientiane Capital, Laos

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Opening date: 10 May 2024

Closing date: 23 May 2024

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Female applicants are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.