Finance Assistant, G4

The Finance Assistant will provide finance and administrative support within the Regional Office for Central America and the Caribbean (ROPAN) of UNODC in Panama City. Responsibilities include processing payments, financial data analysis, petty cash management, and administrative support for project implementation and office operations.

Responsibilities

• Provide all service payments for goods and services to third parties, consultants, individuals, vendors, United Nations service providers, implementing partners and reimbursement to staff.
• Support in the review and process of payments in a timely and accurate manner, in accordance with UN Financial Regulations and Rules, and monitor open vendor items to ensure timely recovery of payments and assist in analysing relevant accounts receivables and payables.
• Prepare Fund Commitments for services, UN agencies or required payments, and reconcile the related inter-office vouchers (eIOVs) as required.
• Monitor payment statuses, identify exceptions or rejected payments along with the possible underlying causes, and take corrective actions. Notify payees on the status of payments.
• Serve as the Petty Cash Custodian in accordance with the Delegation of Authority, ensuring timely replenishments and accurate reporting.
• Liaise with counterparts at the UN Financial Services to clear receivables and net payments.
• Compile data extracted from the financial system and from other relevant source documents to review the outstanding commitments, advances, Goods Receipt/ Invoice Receipt balance using financial systems such as SharePoint Financial Dashboard, Analytics and Umoja; assist in preparation of year-end reports and various financial exercises.
• Assist with the review and analysis of ROPAN accounts by extracting data from the accounting system, investigating financial records and preparing accounting vouchers and corrections.
• Conduct financial data analyses using various data sources and prepare information using advanced financial office software solutions.
• Assist in the preparation of non-core yearly cost estimates and allotments for the ROPAN Office in Panamá.
• Assist with the collection and analysis of data as well as preparation of data presentations and reports for information sharing, responding to queries, knowledge management, planning and decision making.
• Perform other work-related duties as assigned.
• Support with administrative and logistical services for the office.
• Provide administrative and operational support for the implementation of project obligations and activities and monitor deadlines, pending actions and follow-up activities.
• Provide support with the preparation of Field Office Budget procurement plans.
• Draft routine correspondence, memoranda and reports.
• Maintain administrative and financial files and records, both electronic and in hard copy.
• Assist in the preparation of presentation materials using appropriate technology/software.

Requirements

• High school diploma or equivalent is required.
• A minimum of three (3) years of progressively responsible work experience in finance, accounting, budget, administrative services, procurement support, or related area is required.
• The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced to one (1) for candidates who possess a first-level university degree or higher.
• Work experience with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is required.
• Work experience using SAP-databased financial systems (such as Umoja), including processing payments, reviewing payments, financial data, preparing financial reports, and performing accounts reconciliations is desirable.
• Work experience in general office support or related area is desirable.
• One (1) year or more of experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.
• Work experience within the UN Common System or a similar International Organization is desirable.
• English and Spanish are required at UN Level II for reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Skills

• Finance Support
• Accounting
• Budgeting
• Administrative Services
• Procurement Support
• Enterprise Resource Planning
• SAP Financial Systems
• Payment Processing
• Financial Reporting
• Account Reconciliation
• Data Analytics
• Office Support
• Petty Cash Management

Languages

English, Spanish