Finance and Budget Assistant

This position is located in the Capacity Development Programme Management Office (CDPMO) of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). The incumbent provides financial and administrative support for DESA's capacity development programmes and projects, including budget preparation, expenditure monitoring, and financial reporting under the supervision of the Finance and Budget Officer.

Responsibilities

• Prepares supporting documents (narrative and supporting tables) with respect to finalization of cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements.
• Assists managers in the elaboration of resource requirements for budget submissions.
• Undertakes research and provides support to Finance & Budget Officers with respect to budget reviews of relevant intergovernmental and expert bodies.
• Monitors expenditures and compares with approved budget; prepares adjustments as necessary.
• Review and process special service agreements, travel requests and requisitions for goods, services and stock items ensuring correct objects of expenditure have been charged and availability of funds.
• Assists in preparation of budget performance submissions and finalization of budget performance reports, analysing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Verifies accuracy of input data, ensuring consistency of data in previous allotments to new allotments issued.
• Coordinates with other finance and budget staff on related issues during preparation of budget reports.
• Keeps up-to-date on documents/reports/guidelines that have a bearing on matters related to programme, ensuring compliance with intergovernmental recommendations and decisions as well as with United Nations policies and procedures.
• Drafts or prepares correspondence to respond to enquiries in respect to relevant financial and budget matters.
• Maintain and keep up-to-date files.
• May be responsible for providing guidance, training and daily supervision to other general service staff in the area of responsibility.
• Performs other related duties, as assigned.

Requirements

• High school diploma or equivalent is required.
• A minimum of seven years of experience in finance, budget, accounting, administrative services or related area is required.
• Working experience in grants management, funds management and financial management modules using an Enterprise Resources Planning System such as SAP or other is required.
• Experience using Microsoft Excel and excel related formulas, including data analysis and reconciliation, is required.
• Experience working with extra-budgetary resources, including voluntary contributions, is desirable.
• Experience in preparation of financial statements is desirable.
• Experience in reviewing and certifying travel requests is desirable.
• Experience in the use of Business Intelligence (BI) and data analytics reporting tools, such as SAP Analytics Cloud, is desirable.

Skills

• Grants Management
• Funding Management
• Finance Management
• Enterprise Resource Planning
• SAP
• MS Excel
• Excel Formulas
• Data Analysis
• Data reconciliation
• Financial Reporting
• Budget Preparation
• Expenditure Monitoring

Languages

English