Finance Associate
ABOUT WFP
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the World’s largest international food assistance agency. WFP works to eradicate hunger and poverty and above all, ensure food security, that is, the ability of all people at all times to lead an active and healthy life. WFP is seeking a qualified and dynamic candidate to fill the vacant position, which exists in the country office under Finance.
JOB PURPOSE
To coordinate and provide finance, budget and administration support services involving the recording and interpretation of financial and budgetary information to ensure the efficient functioning of the support services and inform decision-making.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)
- Provide the procedural and technical support to staff within the areas of finance and budget, to ensure compliance with WFP financial policies, rules and regulations.
- Support the development and implementation of financial policies and procedures, and assist in setup and implementation of proper accounting procedures, systems and internal controls.
- 3. Monitor the daily cash position in order to optimize the use of surplus cash and maximize returns on investment through the liquidity portfolio.
- Monitor the centralised registry system in order to process all payments to internal staff and invoices to external suppliers in a timely manner and in accordance with WFP standards.
- Contribute to the preparation, implementation and monitoring of budgets, monitor expenditure and budget forecasts, to ensure that relevant future funding requirements are met.
- Co-ordinate with other teams in order to ensure that all financial and administrative services are being performed efficiently and in line with the needs of the wider team.
- Monitor account balances and process financial transactions in an accurate and timely manner, to avoid the occurrence of an overdraft.
- 8. Monitor and analyse general ledger accounts in order to initiate and achieve corrective actions.
- Compile data from the WFP database and systems in order to assist in generating and analysing financial reports on a monthly basis.
- Allocate tasks to other support staff, provide guidance and on-the-job training in management of financial resources (e.g. managing the petty cash/sub-imprest account, review and analyse vendor and balance sheet accounts, etc.), to ensure services are delivered consistently and to the required standards.
- Remain on stand-by and follow standard emergency preparedness practices in order to meet immediate emergency requirements for further service on the job and in the field.
OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS
- Sound judgment;
- Ability to extract, interpret, analyse and format data and to resolve operational problems.
- Ability to work with minimum of supervision; to supervise and train support staff; and to work effectively with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
- Ability to work with accuracy under time constraints and pressure; to deal patiently and tactfully with staff members and others and to have a high sense of confidentiality, initiative and good judgment.
- Good financial and supervisory skills;
4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES
Purpose
- Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Coaches team in the most effective ways to communicate WFP’s Strategic Objectives to WFP team and partners in the field.
- Be a force for positive change: Implements new methods or tools to improve team’s work processes and productivity.
- Make the mission inspiring to our team: Maps team’s activities and tasks to specific successes in beneficiary communities to showcase positive impact.
- Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Explains to teammates how each unit contributes to the overall WFP mission.
People
- Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Identifies skill development opportunities such as training modules or on-the-job experiences for self, colleagues and direct reports.
- Create an inclusive culture: Facilitates team building activities to build rapport in own unit.
- Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Facilitates the pairing of junior colleagues with coaches within own team.
- Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Proactively anticipates potential challenges and develops mitigation plans to ensure that team meets goals and targets.
Performance
- Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Identifies opportunities to be creative in own work and to help team be more innovative and accurate in their respective tasks and areas of work.
- Focus on getting results: Monitors team’s deliverables and provides feedback to ensure outcomes are delivered consistently and accurately.
- Make commitments and make good on commitments: Provides accurate guidance to team on expected responsibilities and tasks, whilst also upholding own commitment to the team.
- Be Decisive: Sets an example and provides guidance to junior team members on when to escalate issues when faced with challenging issues in the workplace or in the field.
Partnership
- Connect and share across WFP units: Facilitates partnerships with other WFP units to accomplish missions in the field.
- Build strong external partnerships: Sets an example and provides guidance to team on how to build relationships with external partners.
- Be politically agile & adaptable: Articulates to colleagues or direct reports the value of contributing to other WFP teams and agency partnerships in fulfilling WFP’s goals and objectives.
- Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Organizes, monitors, and prioritizes own and team’s efforts to ensure that they will fulfill the needs of internal and external partners.
STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education: Advanced Diploma in Accounting, Finance or Business Management. Those with a Bachelor’s Degree will have an added advantage.
Language: Fluency in both oral and written English and other local languages
Language: Fluency in both oral and written English and other local languages
Knowledge:
- Excellent knowledge of financial and budgetary principles and practices and understanding of financial planning, monitoring and reporting including the linkages to operational effectiveness.
- Training and/or experience utilising computers, including word processing, spreadsheets and any major ERP systems.
- Good knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures will be an added advantage.
Experience: minimum five years experience in the areas of accounting and financial management, budgeting and reporting acquired in a busy office
COMPETENCIES
FINANCE-Financial Mgmt. & Accounting Principles
FINANCE-Internal Controls & Compliance
FINANCE-Performance Budgeting, Reporting & Analysis
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
Closing Date for receiving applications is 6 April 2017
