UN Women Chief, Financial Reporting

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The Division of Management and Administration is responsible for the planning, allocation and management of financial, administrative resources including information communications and technology, the effective and efficient delivery of essential operations services in UN Women, continuous development and improvement in operations, policies, and methods to align with UN Women and stakeholders’ evolving business needs and advisory support to the Executive Director in the formulation and implementation of the UN Women overall mission, strategy and plans of actions. The UN Women Financial Management Section is responsible for proactively ensuring accurate, timely and relevant financial management of all UN Women’s resources and funding.

The Chief, Financial Reporting reports to the Deputy Director of Financial Management for guidance and supervision and is responsible for the management, oversight and effective control and financial reporting of UNW regular and non-core financial resources, timely and effective delivery of a whole range of financial services ensuring compliance with UNW Internal Control Framework, financial rules, regulations, policies, procedures and approved allocations. The Chief, Financial Reporting contributes to the development of financial policies, rules, procedures, systems and tools to ensure efficiency and efficacy in financial management and operations.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Oversee and lead on Financial Reporting:

• Manage the monthly and annual closure of accounts and the preparation of UN Women monthly, yearly and quarterly financial statements and reports. Review and approve the Statutory Financial Statements, reports and ensure Financial Donor Reports are reviewed and cleared before submission to Deputy Director.
• Ensure financial reporting team analyzes and monitor the financial status of financial resources and keep stakeholders and clients informed for timely actions/decisions to ensure optimum utilization of regular and non-core resources and donor funding.
• Prepare and issue guidelines for interim and annual donor reports in accordance with required timelines, donor agreements and any other financial reports required by Trust Funds and other cost sharing arrangements.

2. Ensure effective planning, monitoring and management of financial resources:

• Review, on a regular basis, all financial accounts relating to UN Women’s financial operations to ensure correctness thereof, identify problem areas and inform responsible offices – to take corrective action as required and highlight issues identified to the Deputy Director.
• Lead professional and support staff in processing, validating, recording, reviewing, analyzing, and reconciling accounting entries, data and balances relating to UN Women’s financial transactions.
• Ensure efficient processes are in place for award creation and management with focus on enabling offices to deliver on the programmatic objectives.

3. Lead the provision of capacity building support to CO, RO and HQ clients:

• Provide authoritative advice to field offices on all developments and changes within the organization regarding accounting policies, procedures, systems, and instructions.
• Create proposals for and assist with the development of appropriate training materials and activities for HQ and field office staff involved in accounting regarding all such developments and changes.

4. Lead continuous business process improvements related to financial management:

• Develop, review, update and recommend for approval accounting policies, procedures, systems and accounting instructions in conjunction with the other relevant sections and departments in response to business requirements and as required to improve and promote the standard of financial accounting.
• Manage and oversee the financial business processes mapping and elaboration of the content of internal standard operating procedures and use of Quantum ERP to ensure proper management of financial transaction by UNW staff and the timely flow of financial information in UNW for management, monitoring, and oversight purposes.
• Recommend and/or implement cost saving and reduction strategies including cost recovery strategies and cost-effective financial arrangements. Work collaboratively with the payment team and regional finance specialists as well as other sections and departments in achieving this objective.

5. Ensure effective audit support and quality assurance of external reports:

• Co-ordinate audit responses related to Financial Management and ensure quality and consistency of responses to audit queries and observations.
• Ensure that appropriate audit recommendations on accounting matters accepted by management are implemented as appropriate and included in the formulation of policies and procedures as well as in the development of new systems.
• Review the financial reports which are required for external purposes (e.g. UN Women Annual Report, Executive Director’s Annual Report, CEB, OECD reporting etc.) and clear financial information shared externally e.g. in transparency portal, IATI etc. for consistency with UN Women’s audited financial statements.

6. Lead and manage people:

• Prepare the work plan for the Financial Reporting team. Establish priorities, timelines, targets and standards for monitoring results.
• Manage the performance of personnel under their supervision by provide managerial direction, guidance and leadership as well as performance feedback and coaching.
• Ensure performance assessment are completed on time and identify learning and development opportunities to support personnel’s engagement.
• Ensure all personnel under their supervision are fully aware of UN Women’s workplace relations policies.

7. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities:  

The incumbent will lead a team of 10, with three direct staff (one P4 and two P3). The team in addition includes the Virtual Global Service Center with 7 staff members with 80% their time working in donor reporting and benefits from support from regional NOBs that contribute 20% of their time to award management.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Strong knowledge and expertise in preparation of financial statements, financial planning and management principles and approaches;
• Strong knowledge of International Public Sector Accounting standards (IPSAS) or International Financial Reporting Standard
• Solid knowledge of complex financial rules and a regulations, preferably UN/UNDP/UN Women Financial Rules and regulations;
• Demonstrated business acumen and judgment;
• Conceptual/strategic skills and success in implementing financial re-engineering, management systems development, policy design, innovation and knowledge product development.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s Degree (or equivalent) in Finance/Accounting, or a Professional accounting qualification from an internationally recognized institute of accountancy, Chartered Accountant, or Certified Public Accountant is required.
• Successful completion of the UN Women Accounting Technical Test, as part of the selection process.

Experience:

• A minimum of ten (10) years of extensive and progressively responsible experience in financial management and operations, at least 3 years of which should be at the supervisory level, in a large international and/or corporate organization is required.
• Experience of IPSAS or IFRS environment with experience in producing financial statements and notes is required.
• Experience in the application of complex financial ERP systems and modules (preferably Oracle Cloud) is required.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is required.
• Experience leading and coaching staff in international settings is required.
• Experience with IT development automation of financial systems and reports is highly desirable.
• Experience in the UN system and its organizations is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

Application: 
 
All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. 
 
Note: 
 
In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment. 
 
At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need. 
 
If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application. 
 
UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)