Finance Specialist

In this project, UNOPS will act as a “verifying agency” with the aim to scrutinize, verify and resolve the pending claims between the relevant De-facto Authority (DFA) employing ministry or agency and contractors, consultants and suppliers, both international and local, for the works and services completed before 15 August 2021 under the relevant externally financed projects in the country. The assignment includes the verification of different types of contracts including civil works, supply of goods and services by consultancy firms and individual consultants, mainly in the infrastructure sectors, across the country.  The verification work will also include verification of certain other project costs incurred before 15 August 2021.
UNOPS will provide the financier of the proposed project with a comprehensive overview of the state of potential unresolved project-related claims, clarify the amount of pending payments with credible supporting documents, and make recommendations for the amounts to be paid to each contractor, consultant, supplier or project-affected person.
Key project stakeholders are the financier of the proposed project, working level staff of Afghanistan De-facto Authority ministries, contractors, consultants, suppliers (both international and local).
UNOPS is seeking a Finance Specialist in order to: scrutinize, assess and evaluate documentation in relation to the financial aspects of the claims for payments in reference to the above project description. The Finance Specialist will be working alongside the Contract Management Specialist in order to verify the amounts due to be paid to each contractor, consultant, supplier or project-affected person and to verify expenses incurred under projects’ advance accounts
 Functional Responsibilities:

• This position will be supervised by the Senior Project Manager to support the implementation of the project. The Finance Specialist will have a Finance Officer to support and assist in the performance of the below key functions:
• Summary of Key Functions
• Provide technical lead and guidance on the verification of a large number of claims for payment against Contracts (both national and international suppliers/contractors/consultants), in terms of financial related aspects
• Verification of documents required for the liquidation of funds disbursed to projects’ advance accounts to finance eligible expenditures relating to small-scale community-based contracts, Project Management Offices (PMOs) staff salaries and operating expenses, and land acquisition and resettlement (LAR) compensation payments.
• Review and confirm the supporting documents to liquidate expenses incurred before 15 August 2021 relating to LAR compensation made to project-affected people, payments made to contractors and consultants, administrative expenses, and salaries of PMO staff.

• Collect and review Withdrawal Applications (WAs), all relevant records, outstanding invoices and supporting documents, and requests for contract verifications and scrutinize whether expenditures were in accordance with the contracts’ terms and conditions, for the grants’ intended purposes, and eligible for financing
• Review and reconcile WAs and other payment documents to identify the amounts of the retention monies to be reimbursed to contractors of civil works in accordance with ADB’s Loan Disbursement Handbook, 2022.
• Review advance payments disbursed to contractors, consultants, suppliers, and PMO staff and reconcile with the verified outstanding payments
• Based on the review and verification of the outstanding invoices, and physical confirmation (by other team members) of the works, goods, and services, contribute to recalculation, and reconciliation with the amounts of the invoices, submitted by contractors, consultants, and suppliers
• Undertake the following tasks in coordination and collaboration with the Legal Advisor,      Contract Management Specialist and Legal component of the team:
• Review subcontracting arrangements and identify subcontractors and subconsultants names, contact details, bank details and amounts to be paid to subcontractors and subconsultants from the verified payment
• Identify and itemize the amount of taxes and other duties to be paid by contractors, consultants and suppliers (which may be eligible to be included in the claim).
• Identify the total amount of outstanding payments including verified and confirmed amounts payable for the works, services, and goods, and the amount of the retention fees to be reimbursed and advances to be withheld
• Provide inputs into the preparation and review of the payment certificates, acknowledgement certificates, employers letter of confirmation, advance accounts letter and other documents relating to verification/certification as needed
• Confirm the bank account details of contractors, consultants, and suppliers and confirm the accuracy of the bank details with the banks against the original contracts
• Check, verify, and confirm that contractors, consultants, and suppliers (and their relevant shareholders and Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBOs), as applicable) and banks through which the payments will be made are not on the UN Security Council Sanctions List and liaise with ADB to ensure they are also not on any sanctions list applicable under ADB’s sanctions framework.

Expenses incurred under projects’ advance accounts verified, and compensations and entitlements to affected people under certain projects confirmed:

• Review supporting documents available in the PMOs of Executing/Implementing Agencies (EA/IAs) to confirm the eligibility of expenses incurred by PMOs for the works, goods, and services, administrative expenses, and salaries financed from the projects’ advance accounts
• Preparation of reconciliation statement, including reconciling physical amounts available in the banks, check if there was any cash withdrawals after freeze periods and any cash movements in the advance accounts.
• Identify unliquidated amounts from the advance accounts and ineligible payments in close coordination with ADB, obtain a certification of the unliquidated amounts and other supporting documents from the EA/IAs, obtain bank statements for each advance account to confirm the outstanding amounts in the bank accounts per project, and contribute to securing EA/IAs confirmation that the unliquidated amounts will be returned
• Obtain confirmation from the EA/IAs that there are no pending payments for the works and services, or ineligible payments (if identified).
• Review and verify the documentation available (including Third-Party Monitor report) across stakeholders related to the payments of the eligible compensation made and to be made to the affected people for land acquisition and resettlement (LAR) payments, health and safety issues
• Contribute to the assessment of the eligible outstanding compensations to be paid to the projects affected people, to bring the projects back into compliance

Management and Knowledge Sharing:

• Advise the Senior Project Manager and the Deputy Project Manager, on management of the team in order to:
• lead the provision of “financial related aspects” to be transferred to the team as necessary for the team in order to understand the main aspects of contract management and claims management,
• ensure that team absorb knowledge related to the specific claims from a “financial related aspects” point of view and critical elements to be verified in the field or through other means of verification
• Interact with local team to explain, in conformity to Contracts, what data/type of informations/documentation is necessary to support the substantiation of the financial component of the claims
• Interact with local team in order to explain the process to follow, in order to properly address the financial related aspects of the claims for payment
• Brainstorm and collaborate with the team in the creation of “alternative” ways of producing the evidence or another necessary documentation (financial related aspects) to the claims verification when the usual evidence and documentation are not available
• Provide risk analysis and contingency options if possible when the “alternative” ways of producing the evidence or another necessary documentation are adopted
• When required and appropriate, train team members so to progressively delegate on future claims verification (financial related aspects)
• Participate when necessary to the negotiations meetings with suppliers/contractors
• If required, along with teams coordinators, support in the planning and coordination activities, and follow up on progress and quality of the products provided by the team members
• Support the SPM in the production of reports and other documentation necessary both internally at UNOPS and for external stakeholders management and updates
• Participate in effective recruitment, work planning, performance management, coaching, and promotion of learning and development.
• Organize, facilitate and/or deliver training and learning initiatives for personnel on finance related topics. Guide team’s collection of feedback, ideas, and internal knowledge about processes and best practices and utilize productively.
• Communicate financial information in a clear and understandable manner to non-financial stakeholders.
• Facilitate the engagement and provision of high quality results and services of the team supervised through effective recruitment, work planning, performance management, coaching, and promotion of learning and development
• Please note that the nature of this role requires flexibility in adapting to the needs of the team since the objective of alignment of Contracts details, local situation and habits, local law and other factors might generate unexpected needs.

Education/Experience/Language requirements:
Education:

• Advanced University Degree (Master Degree or equivalent) in Finance, Management, Business/Public Administration, or other relevant discipline First level University degree (Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent) in Finance, Management, Business/Public Administration, or other relevant discipline in combination with  additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree
• Professional qualifications such as CPA or CA would be a strong asset                                  

Work Experience :

• A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in finance and accounting is required.
• Experience in the financial accounting component of claims, contract variations, liquidation of expenses, certification of works or equivalent is required
• Experience in implementing projects funded by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) is required.
• Financial management experience and use of electronic systems is required.
• Experience of FIDIC Conditions of Contract is an asset
• Skills in budget preparation, financial reporting, coordination, and report writing is an asset.
• Experience in developing countries or post-conflict environments is an asset.
• Familiarity with the country context and programme/project regions is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluent in English (read, write and speak) is required.

Source:  https://jobs.unops.org/Pages/ViewVacancy/VADetails.aspx?id=27597#1