Finance Officer

The Finance Officer ensures effective delivery of financial management, monitoring and compliance services in accordance with UNOPS financial rules and regulations, policies and procedures. The role leads budget preparation and monitoring, treasury and liquidity management, accounting oversight and financial reporting, providing analytical and advisory support to management to ensure financial integrity, cost efficiency and timely decision-making across the portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Ensure full compliance with UNOPS financial rules, regulations, policies and procedures as well as donor and audit requirements.
• Implement and maintain effective internal control systems and risk management frameworks to safeguard financial resources.
• Support deployment and continuous improvement of financial standard operating procedures (SOPs), ensuring consistency and accuracy of financial processes.
• Monitor financial exception reports, identify and analyze anomalies, and recommend corrective actions.
• Advise management on cost savings, financial efficiency and expenditure optimization in collaboration with operational teams.
• Support internal and external audit exercises, coordinate responses and follow up on audit recommendations.
• Lead preparation, consolidation and monitoring of project and administrative operation budgets, ensuring alignment with UNOPS and donor requirements.
• Review and analyze budget proposals for accuracy, consistency and alignment with strategic and financial objectives.
• Perform variance analyses and monitor expenditure levels against approved budgets, providing early alerts on deviations and advising corrective measures.
• Coordinate project budget revisions and ensure timely re-phasing and approvals in the integrated management system (ERP).
• Provide financial planning support to project managers including forecasting, scenario analysis and financial risk assessment.
• Contribute to development and improvement of budgeting tools and systems to enhance transparency and performance-based budgeting.
• Oversee treasury operations to ensure liquidity and accurate fund allocation.
• Review daily and monthly cash positions to maintain sufficient balances for disbursements and manage zero balance and advance accounts.
• Prepare cash forecasts for operational and project needs, ensuring alignment with budget projections.
• Maintain strong relationships with local banking institutions and ensure compliance with national financial and banking regulations.
• Monitor operational advances, collections and petty cash accounts ensuring timely reconciliation and closure.
• Conduct periodic cash analyses and revenue and expenditure trend forecasts to guide financial planning and risk management.
• Ensure accuracy, validity and compliance of financial transactions, commitments and payments against budget allocations and contractual terms.
• Review and approve payment requests verifying completeness of supporting documents and proper use of accounting codes.
• Ensure transactions are properly recorded, reconciled and reported in the ERP system.
• Control accounts receivable and payable ensuring prompt recording and follow-up with clients, partners and donors.
• Support establishment and implementation of effective expenditure control framework ensuring vouchers are reconciled, verified and liquidated in accordance with financial rules.
• Manage financial data quality through continuous review, reconciliations and corrective actions for unrecorded or exception items.
• Supervise timely accounting closure including accruals, provisions and adjustment entries.
• Coordinate with headquarters and regional office on complex payment or compliance issues and resolve financial data discrepancies.
• Prepare, review and analyze monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports for management and donors ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
• Support preparation of client financial statements, interim financial reports (IFR) and performance reports in compliance with contractual and audit requirements.
• Develop and maintain financial dashboards and tracking tools for portfolio oversight and performance analysis.
• Contribute to annual financial closing process ensuring all accounts are reconciled and adjustments made in accordance with UNOPS standards.
• Provide financial data and analysis for strategic reports, audits and evaluations.
• Lead or support implementation of audit recommendations and contribute to internal and external financial reviews.
• Support organization, facilitation and delivery of training and learning sessions on financial topics.
• Participate in knowledge sharing initiatives and communities of practice (CoP) providing perspectives and feedback.
• Conduct research on finance-related topics and contribute to report writing, briefs and information notes.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in finance, accounting, business administration or other relevant discipline with 2 years of appropriate professional experience OR Master's degree (or equivalent) in one of the above disciplines without prior experience.
• Professional certification (e.g. CPA, ACCA, CA, CIMA) is desirable.
• Knowledge of IPSAS standards or other international accounting standards is desirable.
• Relevant experience in financial management of projects, budgeting, treasury management and financial reporting or related areas.
• Demonstrable proficiency with collaboration and productivity tools (e.g. MS Office, G Suite, etc.) and online management systems.
• Experience working in multicultural environments or within the United Nations system in a developing country is desirable.
• Experience in development or humanitarian contexts is desirable.

Skills

• Finance Management
• Budget Preparation
• Budget Monitoring
• Treasury Management
• Financial Reporting
• Accounting Oversight
• IPSAS Accounting Standards
• International Accounting Standards
• Project Financial Management
• Cost Efficiency Analysis
• Financial Compliance
• Analytical Support
• Advisory Support
• Microsoft Office Suite
• G Suite
• Online Management Systems

Languages

French, English, Malagasy