Finance Associate, Global Monitoring and Advisory Team (GMAT), Finance Branch, Division for Management Services, New York, G6

Job Description

The Position:

The Finance Associate position is located within the Global Monitoring and Advisory Team (GMAT), Finance Branch of the Division for Management Services. 

The Finance Branch is responsible for global finance and accounting including providing guidance and oversight for financial management to country, regional and headquarters offices. The Branch advances and owns key financial policies and processes, statutory and donor reporting, treasury services, and ensuring the ERP and related systems are configured to implement, manage, and report on key financial processes. The incumbent will report to the Finance Specialist, under the overall supervision of the Head of GMAT. 

The Global Monitoring and Advisory Team is responsible for providing guidance and support to UNFPA field offices (FOs) in the areas of financial management and accounting. This function includes monitoring financial performance on an exception basis, and providing guidance and training to maintain and improve global financial management practices, especially in the areas of management of cash disbursements through third parties, petty cash and advances to implementing partners for programming. As part of these functions, GMAT also oversees the accurate recording of general ledger information for these areas and ensures financial data quality.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Job Purpose:

The Finance Associate provides support, guidance and oversight to UNFPA field offices and Headquarter Units in the areas of financial management and accounting. The Finance Associate adopts a client-oriented approach and contributes to implementation of the Finance Branch workplan.

You would be responsible for:

1. Partnerships, Knowledge management, Communication and Training

• Actively participate in Finance Branch and team meetings
• Maintain active and positive relationships with key partners for GMAT, including the field and headquarters operations staff the position works with. 
• Provide financial training and facilitate knowledge transfers with the global community based on financial/operations procedures or guidance notes, which may be delivered remotely or in the field.
• Contribute to the global financial management community facilitated by the Finance Branch

2. Business continuity activities

• Review and process reports received from implementing partners engaged by Headquarters units and International NGOs in the field, to ensure reporting requirements have been met. 
• Maintain the register of Reimbursable Loan Agreements and issue invoices for service of UNFPA staff on loan to other UN Agencies.  

3. Support and guidance to offices on financial management 

• Monitor dashboards for assigned financial accounts to determine when financial management issues need to be communicated with offices.
• Monitor projects for closure, ensure requirements have been met and close projects in the ERP.
• Prepare ERP based information to assist internal and external audits of field offices; and support field offices in the implementation of procedural based audit recommendations.
• Analyze asset transactions and requests to write off assets prior to submission for approval.
• Review red flags identified by the data integrity and completeness tools and support offices in their resolution.

4. Accounting, Statutory Reporting, Period end and year end closure activities

• Review accounting adjustments proposed by field offices through General Ledger Journal Entries (GLJEs) and submit for approval.
• Monitor and analyze balances in the Operating Fund Account used for cash transfers to implementing partners.
• Identify and support the resolution of exceptions and data entry errors.
• Prepare reconciliations and ageing analyses for balance sheet accounts.
• Review accounting transactions to ensure they are correctly coded. 
• Support periodic and year end accounts closure activities, such as review and processing of year-end accounts certifications, clean-up of pending transactions and balances, recording of year-end accruals, etc. 

5. Business process and systems efficiency 

• Contribute ideas towards (i) improving policies and procedures under Finance Branch purview; (ii) designing implementation and monitoring tools or improving existing processes that enhance process efficiency and accounting quality. 
• Participate in testing of new IT tools and reports, or business processes, documenting feedback.
• Provide guidance to staff in field and headquarter locations on the best application of various reporting tools for financial management and/or accounting 

6. Other

• Carry out any other duties as may be required by your supervisor and/or UNFPA leadership. 

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education:  

• Completion of secondary level education with supplemental training in accounting is required. 
• First level University degree and/or accounting qualification from a recognized body is desirable.  

Knowledge and Experience: 

• Six (6) years of relevant finance and/or accounting related experience is required, such as accounts receivable, accounts payable, general ledger maintenance. 
• Strong attention to detail and data analysis skills; ability to use large and imperfect datasets for meaningful analysis identifying key trends, data integrity gaps, and performance issues.
• Good writing, communication and presentation skills.
• Proficiency in the use of spreadsheets, word processing and computerized accounting systems.
• Previous experience with the UN system organizations is desirable.
• Previous experience with a major ERP system, preferably Oracle cloud is required. 

Languages: 

• Fluency in English is required.
• Proficiency in French and/or Spanish is a distinct advantage.

Required Competencies: 

Values:

• Exemplifying integrity.
• Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system.
• Embracing cultural diversity.
• Embracing change.

Core Competencies: 

• Achieving results.
• Being accountable.
• Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen.
• Thinking analytically and strategically.
• Working in teams/managing our relationships and ourselves.
• Communicating for impact.

Functional Competencies:

• Sound understanding of financial management, accounting, and reporting activities and controls
• Sound understanding of the financial management and control functions of ERP systems
• Excellent data analysis skills
• Excellent MS Excel skills
• Strong attention to detail 
• Good writing, communication and presentation skills
• Strong client service orientation

Compensation and Benefits:

This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.

Disclaimer: 

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Fraudulent notices, letters or offers may be submitted to the UNFPA fraud hotline http://www.unfpa.org/help/hotline.cfm

In accordance with the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations, persons applying to posts in the international Professional category, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.