Senior Finance Assistant

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

Under the overall authority of the Director & Representative of the UNESCO Regional Office in Jakarta, the guidance and direct supervision of the Finance and Administrative Officer (AO), the Snr. Finance Assistant shall undertake administrative & financial tasks ensuring adherence to UNESCO financial rules, policies and controls. S/he shall work closely with other team members to ensure to ensure effective and efficient service delivery. The incumbent shall perform the following duties and responsibilities:

FINANCIAL: 

• Responsible for the processing of financial transactions in line with established financial rules and regulations.  Co-ordinates with others on related issues during transactional processing.
• Reviews incoming payment requests, scrutinizes supporting documents for relevancy, completeness & accuracy in line with applicable policies, procedures, rules and regulations.
• Conduct pre-qualification of payment request posting eligibility reviews within delegated authority in accordance with established financial rules and policies ensuring due diligence, adherence and compliance to controls.
• Verifies accuracy of payment/wire postings.  Audits transactional activity to ensure accuracy of disbursement postings and adherence to relevant financial regulations and internal practices.
• Conduct pre-periodic reviews and analysis of accounting data.  Identifies anomalies and initiates corrective action as appropriate. Flags complex matters and issues that may impact financial risks/liability to the supervisor for guidance.
• Analyzes and monitors open Outstanding items (ULOs) in travel, FRN, Contracts, SES, & unposted payments.  Initiates corrective action.

BUDGETING: 

• Assists Administrative Officer (AO) in budget preparations. Undertakes research and consolidates cost estimates for Budget proposals development.
• Assists  AO in budget execution and expenditure monitoring/reporting.
• Ensures procurement requisitions are in line with authorized budgets and agency financial rules and regulations.
• May certify financial commitments and payments (where applicable) within delegated authority ensuring adherence to established Controls & budget availability.
• Assists in cash flow computations to guide periodic replenishment.
• Liaises with BFM/AP and other units on outstanding payment items and rejected payment instructions.

GENERAL: 

• Extracts financial data from SAP. Runs various reports for management review as requested.
• Responds to queries. Drafts correspondence in relation to budgetary and financial matters for management review and/or internal clients/stakeholders.
• Supports AO office in enforcing quality assurance standards particularly with regard to IPSAS financial accounting transacting, ensuring adherence to established checks & controls.
• Ensures all relevant supporting records are maintained online in SAP and DUO backend for audit trail.
• Drafts or prepares correspondence to respond to inquiries in respect to relevant financial and budgetary matters. Maintains up to date e-files.
• Assists with data collection and analysis, preparation of data presentations and reports for information sharing.  Responds to queries and contributes to knowledge building and management.
• Supports review of travel & procurement requests in accordance with ADMIN manuals and agency financial rules.
• May provide logistical and administrative backstopping support as necessary.
• Performs other related duties as required by Unit Chief.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

• Bachelors degree in the field of Finance or Accounting. Business Administration degree may be considered with course work in finance and/or accounting.

Work Experience:

• 5 – 8 years progressive experience in finance, budget or accounting or business administration.
• Demonstrated knowledge of accounting principles with experience in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) financial systems.
• Progressive experience in payment and payroll posting, accounts reconciliations and financial reporting.
• Ability to interpret financial and administrative policies to guide accurate application.
• Ability to extract, interpret, analyze, and format data across all finance & budget functions.

Skills:

• Good negotiating skills to resolve conflict. Ability to shape and influence agreements with requisitioning units.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks simultaneously. Ability to work under stress and manage competing priorities.
• Ability to listen effectively, correctly interpret messages/queries from others and respond appropriately providing accurate guidance.
• Ability to work collaboratively with others in a team environment to achieve organizational goals ensuring confidentiality and discerning sensitive data.

Languages:

• Ability to speak and write clearly in English.

Source: https://careers.unesco.org/job/Jakarta-Senior-Finance-Assistant/803005002/