Finance Senior Officer

Under the direct supervision of the Finance Specialist and overall guidance of the Head of Fiance, the Finance Senior Officer supports in ensuring efficient financial management, provision of accurate financial information and effective delivery of financial services by the finance unit. He/she supports in the analysis and interpretation of UNOPS Financial Rules and Regulations, Organisation Directives, Administrative Instructions and guidance notes and provides solutions to a wide spectrum of financial issues. He/she assists in ensuring the effective and transparent utilisation of financial resources, the integrity of financial services and promotes a client-oriented approach consistent with UNOPS polices. The Finance Senior Officer works in close collaboration with the programme, operations, and project teams in the portfolios, IPAS, FG and clients and partners ensuring successful delivery of financial services.

 Functional Responsibilities:

• Implementation of operational strategies and support to portfolio management.
• Budget preparation, financial reporting, monitoring and control.
• Accounting, payments, treasury and administrative support.
• Capacity building and knowledge sharing.

 Implementation of operational strategies and support to portfolio management:

• Support in the planning of financial resources for portfolios, continuous analysis, and monitoring of financial progress, as well as presentation of forecasts for the client and management of projects.
• Ensure full compliance with the provisions of UNOPS FRRs, IPSAS, Organisation Directives, Administrative Instructions, and guidance notes in all financial transactions, recording, reporting, etc.
• Maintain oversight of projects, programs, and portfolios to ensure compliance with internal control procedures and fiduciary standards for all financial and related transactions.
• Support in the analysis and elaboration of proposals for cost-saving and reduction strategies.
• Support programs in designing and formulating workplans, targets, and performance metrics.
• Assist in the engagement process of entering project data into oneUNOPS, ensuring alignment with pricing policy, finalization of funding agreements, etc.
• Coordinate with projects and programs in the preparation and consolidation of cash-flow forecasts, ensuring inputs are extracted from approved cash-flow plans, activity plans, and monitoring tools.
• Support the finance unit and project operations and program teams in planning and coordinating audit activities, including the implementation of recommendations and conducting project closure.
• Support monitoring and provide advice to projects and programs on financial status, including pending and approved budgets, available contributions for expenditure, and contributions already expended.

Budget preparation, financial reporting, monitoring and control:

• Supports the preparation of budgets and submissions, conducts regular analysis, and reports on budget and delivery progress; monitors expenditures against budget and reports on variances.
• Assists portfolio teams in ensuring budgets are prepared in accordance with established procedures, ERP (oneUNOPS) protocols, and client budgetary guidelines to meet reporting requirements.
• Reviews financial statements and reports issued by IPAS and FG, addressing queries and observations from project teams, funding sources, clients, and donors.
• Prepares interim financial statements and management reports for approval by the Head of Finance, ensuring compliance with established reporting requirements for funding sources, donors, and clients.
• Participates in identifying administrative budgetary requirements and provides guidance for budget preparation, formats, and submission procedures to facilitate consolidation at the portfolio level.
• Continuously monitors budgetary allocations, maintains contact with projects, clients, and donors to enhance budget management, and takes corrective actions when necessary.
• Supports monitoring of financial targets for projects and portfolios, including management budget expenditures, and assists in planning and adjusting expenditures.
• Maintains communication with project staff and PG to verify, correct, add, and enhance the quality of financial activities for specific projects or portfolios, including financial reports and audits.
• Conducts expenditure reconciliation and prepares various financial and statistical reports.
• Discusses concerns with projects and programs as needed to ensure timely corrective actions are taken regarding budget and financial reporting aspects

Accounting, payments and treasury activities :

• Review and confirm the appropriateness of operational transactions processed by interpreting and determining applicable UNOPS policies and Financial rules and regulations.
• Review payment requests for completeness before processing, ensuring that all required documentation is complete and that all necessary procedures are fulfilled to enable payment.
• Ensure payment requests are properly obligated, control supporting documentation, prepare vouchers, manage pay cycles, and enter transactions and financial data into the ERP (oneUNOPS).
• Regularly monitor financial exception reports for unusual activities, transactions, and investigate anomalies or unusual transactions.
• Support BSSC in banking-related activities in compliance with local financial and banking regulations, including processing bank transfers, recording miscellaneous deposits, and bank reconciliations.
• Take timely corrective actions on unposted vouchers, including resolving budget check errors and match exceptions, and responding promptly to IPAS and FG requests to resolve financial data issues.
• Assist in analyzing trends and forecasting income from projects and other sources. Support in monitoring Accounts Receivables and follow up with clients’ contributions.
• Conduct periodic petty cash counts, review requests for petty cash establishment before submission for approval, and review requests and expenditure reports for replenishment.
• Review requests for operational advances and prepayments, ensuring complete documentation for approval, and review requests and expenditure reports for settlement/clearance or replenishment.
• Ensure timely submission of compliance reports such as advances and petty cash to IPAS and FPG.
• Monitor VAT accounts and liaise with project managers to ensure reimbursements and clearances. Maintain files, including electronic filing, for all financial records and documentation.
• Perform other related duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Capacity building and knowledge sharing :

• Organize and conduct training sessions for project teams on application of UNOPS FRRs.
• Organize and conduct training sessions for project teams on application of systems and tools.
• Provide training support services to project teams in setting up projects, handling budget revisions, troubleshooting, and understanding financial transactions, reporting, and related tasks.
• Communicate with colleagues, projects, and clients in areas requiring verification, corrections, additional information, etc., to improve quality and enhance the knowledge base in the process. Synthesize lessons learned and best practices in Finance.
• Contribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice

 Education/Experience/Language requirements:

Education :

• Master’s Degree in Finance, Business Administration, Management or related field or
• A first-level university degree with additional 4 years’ experience in finance, reporting, budget, accounting, auditing may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree;
• Professional certification in accounting (CA, CPA, ACCA, ACA, CIMA, etc.), audit (CIA) or equivalent desirable and considered an asset

Experience :    

• A minimum of 4 years of experience at national or international level with responsibility for project accounting, budgeting and financial reporting in computerised environment;
• Practical experience with UN / UNOPS financial rules, regulations and procedures in accounting, budget, reporting etc is considered an asset.
• A thorough knowledge of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is considered an asset;
• Good knowledge of budget management, accounting and reporting for global multi-donor and  mult-partner, multi-country and regional projects and programmes;
• Good knowledge with the use of ERPs and financial applications is considered an asset;
• Solid computer skills, including proficiency in word processing and spreadsheets;

Languages:

• Fluency in both written and spoken English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.

Source: https://jobs.unops.org/Pages/ViewVacancy/VADetails.aspx?id=29781#1