Finance and Budget Assistant

The Finance and Budget Assistant supports all initiatives of the UN Partnerships by assisting in budget and finance functions including preparation of budget proposals, monitoring expenditures, trust fund management, and general administrative duties. The role reports to the Chief of Operations and works closely with other team members.

Responsibilities

• Prepares supporting documents (narrative and supporting tables) with respect of the finalization of cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements.
• Assists in elaboration of resource requirements for budget submissions.
• Monitors expenditures and compares with approved budget; prepares adjustments as necessary.
• Assists in the preparation of budget performance submissions and finalization of budget performance reports, analyzing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Reviews and processes special service agreements, travel requests and requisitions for goods, services and stock items ensuring consistency in the application of UN rules and procedures.
• Provides quarterly status of funds’ reports to substantive officers, responds to queries and provides information regarding administrative procedures, processes and practices.
• Provides a full range of assistance in trust fund management and implementation at all phases of the cycle of trust fund projects; ensuring compliance with regulations and rules and established policies and procedures.
• Grants Management functions in Umoja include ensuring the correct structure for grants, releasing budgets and recording implementing partner expenditures.
• Keeps up to date on documents/reports/guidelines that have a bearing on matters related to the programme, ensuring compliance with intergovernmental recommendations and decisions as well as with United Nations policies and procedures.
• Assists in the establishment, closure of trust funds, and projects.
• Assists in finalization of project documents and Board documentation.
• Maintains tracking of project documents throughout the whole life cycle, and communicate with relevant stakeholders.
• Drafts or prepares correspondence to respond to inquiries with respect to relevant programmatic, financial and budget matters.
• Maintains and keeps up-to-date files and databases.
• Serves as the IT focal point in the work unit.
• 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, or administrative services is required.
• The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced to five years for candidates who possess a first-level university degree or higher.
• Experience in the administration and management of extra-budgetary resources from voluntary contributions is required.
• Experience in trust-fund management and grant-management module in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems such as SAP, Umoja or similar is required.
• Experience in reviewing budget and finance components of project proposals is desired.
• Knowledge, skills and ability to extract, interpret, analyze and format data across the full range of finance and budget functions (e.g., budget/work programme development, database management, etc.).
• Knowledge and application of relevant administrative and financial rules and procedures.
• English language proficiency at UN Level II for reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Skills

• Finance Management
• Budget Preparation
• Accounting
• Administrative Services
• Extrabudgetary Resource Management
• Trust Fund Management
• Grant Management
• ERP Systems
• SAP
• Umoja
• Budget Review
• Project Proposal Budgeting
• Data Extraction
• Data Analysis
• Database Management
• Financial Rules Analysis
• Administrative Procedures
• Financial Reporting

Languages

English