Finance Officer

Under the guidance of the Finance Manager, the Finance Officer is responsible as team lead for ensuring quality of work, performance delivery, service excellence and compliance of the responsible technical unit. The efficiency and efficacy of the support provided by the Finance Officer results in the timely and accurate management of financial services globally in compliance with UNICEF policies and procedures, which in turn strengthens the GSSC’s capacity in supporting UNICEF offices in delivering programmes which help the most vulnerable women and children across the world.

People Management:

• Ensure achievement of team performance optimization to meet Key Performance Indicator targets set for the unit.
• Ensure team is adequately staffed and trained to delivery on their job responsibilities.
• Lead team and develop staff through coaching and mentoring.
• Provide technical support, feedback and on the job training to team members and ensure team cross-functional collaboration.
• Support and advise staff and management as appropriate to improve relations, achieve consensus and resolve issues.
• Monitor performance parameters, critical indicators and evaluate staff performance.
• Promote management excellence and work life balance in the unit.
• Support a culture of honest and continuous feedback and performance management.

Service Delivery:

• Lead and supervise service delivery of unit in order to meet organizational performance, productivity goals, compliance requirements and customer satisfaction levels.
• Develop technically sound work practices and business process for finance department in accordance with UNICEF’s policies and procedures.
• Influence and evaluate the impact of changes in policies, regulations on internal controls and advise management accordingly.
• Ensure timely preparation and presentation of monthly financial reports to senior management.
• Ensure proactive coordination with other team leads and other streams for timely resolution of issues and concerns.
• Perform root cause analysis and deliver improvement initiatives on business process bottlenecks.
• Design and develop work programmes for suspicious transaction monitoring, detective reporting and transaction level monitoring.
• Ensure Risk Management matrices are updated and follow-up on the implementation of mitigation measures.
• Ensure close and positive client service relationships with the offices being supported, issues are resolved positively and proactively.
• Assist supervisor during internal/external audits and in ensuring recommendations are implemented on time.
• Stakeholder Coordination and Partnership
• Ensure proactive coordination with all stream leads and sections in GSSC for timely resolution of issues.
• Effectively collaborate and negotiate with key stakeholders. Present unit deliverables to stream leads with solid technical justifications.
• Address and respond to customer feedback on a timely basis.
• Communicate effectively with vertical and horizontal authorities within UNICEF.

Projects and Innovation:

• Support projects to ensure GSSC process compliance to organizational policies and procedures and the achievement of efficiency initiatives.
• Provide advisory support in various projects in order to enhance internal controls efficiency and productivity in business process across all finance streams, including the issuance of process instructions.
• Maintain constant innovative approach to enhance productivity, sound internal controls and minimize transactional time/cost.
• Provide technical support on projects dedicated to technology integration, robotics and process automation etc.
• Initiate and lead projects for process improvement in units and across units where required.
• Knowledge Sharing, Training and Updates
• Remain current and knowledgeable to ensure all changes in UNICEF rules and regulations applicable to GSSC are implemented to ensure compliance.
• Evaluate the impact of changes in regulations on internal controls and advise management accordingly.
• Keep abreast of latest advancements in GSSC financial management/industry and ensure that team is trained and updated.
• Help design and deliver training programmes to address compliance needs, latest financial management advancements, fraud awareness, risk management, internal controls and related technical subjects for Finance Team.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

Education: 

• A first university degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in accounting, business administration, economics, financial management or another relevant field is minimum requirement.  Master’s degree in a relevant field is an asset

Work Experience:

• Minimum of 2 years of relevant Financial transactional experience and/or other directly related technical fields is required.
• Minimum of 1 year experience in a shared service center or consulting/audit environment. Additional years of experience in shared service is desirable.
• Proven supervisory and people management experience including developing and maintaining high performing teams is desirable.
• Experience in a UN system agency or organization some of which served in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office, especially Excel required.
• Knowledge of UN/UNICEF’S rules, regulations and procedures is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in both spoken and written English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/578074