Overview

The Senior Finance and Budget Assistant will be responsible for managing financial and budgetary tasks within the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Office in New York.

Tasks Summary

• Acts as Certifying Officer on behalf of and in the absence of programme managers.
• Undertakes reviews, analyses and preparation of the medium-term plan and its revisions.
• 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.
• Reviews, analyses and assists in the finalization of cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements, including programmatic aspects; ensures compliance with the medium-term plan and other legislative mandates.
• Assists managers in the elaboration of resource requirements for budget submissions.
• Undertakes research and provides support to higher level Finance & Budget Officers with respect to budget reviews of relevant intergovernmental and expert bodies.
• Provides input into the preparation of allotments, including redeployment of funds when necessary, ensuring appropriate expenditures.
• Monitors budget implementation/expenditures and recommends reallocation of funds as necessary.
• Reviews requisitions for goods and services to ensure (a) correct objects of expenditure have been charged, and (b) availability of funds.
• Monitors extra-budgetary resources, including review of agreements and cost plans, ensuring compliance with regulations and rules and established policies and procedures.
• Assists in the preparation of budget performance submissions.
• Assists in finalization of budget performance reports, analyzing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Monitors integrity of various financial databases.
• Verifies accuracy of input data, ensuring consistency of data in previous allotments to new allotments issued.
• Co-ordinates with other finance and budget staff on related issues during preparation of budget reports.
• Reviews, analyses and processes payments to third-parties, commercial entities, individuals and troop-contributing countries, with respect to settlement of certified death and disability, contingent-owned equipment, stores, pay and allowances, and letters of assist claims.
• Reviews incoming payment instructions with regard to banking details and sources of funds.
• Prepares payments for final disbursement by Cashier.
• Dispatches payment instructions and cheques to banks.
• Creates receipts and deposits for all incoming funds.
• Notifies payees of status of payments.
• Assists staff members, Fund Management Officers and donors regarding queries on payment and deposit-related issues.
• Liaises with banks worldwide regarding outstanding items and payment instructions.
• Investigates complaints on non-receipts.
• Reviews inter- and intra-unit processes with the aim to optimize workflow and customer orientation.
• Monitors/reviews methods used to remit payments.
• Assists in preparation of periodical reports: cash flow, contributions, etc.
• Follows up on audit recommendations.
• Follows up on fraud cases.
• Files and archives as required.
• Keeps up to date on documents/reports/guidelines that have a bearing on matters related to programme and/or peacekeeping budgets, 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.
• Provides assistance in drafting of host country agreements, budget agreements, or contributions for grants or other activities as appropriate.
• Provides guidance, training and daily supervision to other general service staff in the area of responsibility.
• Assists 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.
• Assists with visualizations and updating information material such as web pages or brochures.
• Performs other related duties, as assigned.

Experience Requirements

• A minimum of ten (10) years of experience in finance, budget, accounting, or related area is required.
• The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced to eight (8) for candidates who possess a first-level university degree or higher.
• At least five (5) years of experience in the administration and management of extra-budgetary resources from voluntary contributions is required.
• At least two (2) years of experience in trust-fund management and grant-management module in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems such as SAP, Umoja or similar systems is required.
• Experience in reviewing budget and finance components of project proposals is required.
• Experience in maintaining and ensuring financial data quality of complex project databases for programme management is desirable.
• Experience in the preparation of budget and performance reports is desirable.

Qualification Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent is required. Training in the field of accounting or finance is desirable.