Overview
The Finance Manager, Awards Management Unit is responsible for managing the Awards Management Unit, providing leadership in financial donor reporting, awards financial oversight, revenue recognition, project financial closure, fund monitoring, and related financial processes.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the preparation, quality assurance and timely submission of all certified, interim, final and ad hoc donor financial reports.
- Establish donor reporting schedules, procedures and quality assurance mechanisms.
- Oversee donor reporting obligations, monitor reporting risks, and ensure timely corrective actions.
- Oversee UN-Women's responses to donor enquiries related to financial reporting.
- Establish, document and continuously enhance donor financial reporting policies, procedures, guidance materials and standard operating procedures.
- Drive the continuous improvement and automation of donor financial reporting processes.
- Continuously enhance donor financial reporting content and presentation.
- Coordinate capacity development and provide technical guidance to Headquarters, regional and country offices on donor financial reporting requirements and practices.
- Lead the financial closure of projects across UN-Women.
- Establish procedures for the timely resolution of outstanding earmarked fund balances.
- Establish and maintain project financial closure policies, standard operating procedures and business processes.
- Monitor project financial closure performance across Headquarters, regional and country offices.
- Issue instructions and oversee financial adjustments required to facilitate project closure.
- Develop automated tools, management reports and performance indicators supporting project financial closure.
- Coordinate organizational capacity-building initiatives and provide technical guidance on project financial closure.
- Lead fund monitoring to ensure the integrity of earmarked resources financial management and compliance with UN-Women financial regulations, rules, policies, procedures and donor requirements.
- Review requests for prefinancing of earmarked contributions and recommend approval or rejection.
- Establish and oversee control procedures to ensure the overall accuracy, at material level, of General Ledger budgetary control cash balances for earmarked resources.
- Establish and oversee procedures for the timely identification and resolution of expenses incurred in excess of contributions received.
- Oversee due application of fund accounting in UN-Women.
- Supervise transfer of funds between projects, funds, cost centers and donors.
- Develop and oversee implementation of procedures to ensure accuracy of corporate fund balances.
- Oversee the review of adjustments and corrections to transactions and balances initiated by the budget-holding offices.
- Prepare management reports highlighting key performance indicators on fund management.
- Develop and maintain policies, procedures, business processes and standard operating procedures on fund monitoring and awards management issues.
- Drive automation initiatives and ERP system enhancements supporting awards management, fund monitoring and related business processes.
- Coordinate capacity-building initiatives and provide technical advice to headquarters, regional and country offices on fund monitoring and awards management matters.
- Ensure the timely completion of Awards Management Unit responsibilities related to interim and annual financial closing processes.
- Oversee the timely review, reconciliation and cleansing of assigned balance sheet, net assets and revenue General Ledger accounts.
- Prepare the budget to actual statement in the financial statements.
- Oversee the preparation and quality assurance of other select statements, notes, schedules and indicators assigned to the Awards Management Unit.
- Coordinate the Awards Management Unit's participation in internal and external audits.
- Review and provide inputs to non-standard donor agreements.
- Perform delegated approval functions in Quantum.
- Oversee timely and accurate processing of revenue-related transactions.
- Oversee the approval of new and modification of existing awards.
- Oversee the timely and accurate processing of support costs.
- Ensure revenue accounting results comply with IPSAS 47.
- Supervise the review of contributions related to direct funding of Strategic Notes.
- Oversee the completeness and accuracy of corporate records relating to signed contribution agreements and future contribution instalments.
- Oversee the preparation of periodic management reports on contributions.
- Develop and automate of financial reports, dashboards and performance indicators relating to contribution agreements.
- Lead the day-to-day management of the Awards Management Unit.
- Develop the Unit workplan and establish priorities, service standards, key performance indicators and monitoring mechanisms.
- Manage staff performance, workload distribution, recruitment, coaching and mentoring.
- Foster a culture of excellence, collaboration, knowledge sharing, innovation and continuous improvement.
- Oversee the timely billing, charging and recovery of costs for global enabling services.
- Contribute to the DFA risk register for areas under Awards Management Unit’s responsibility.
- Monitor operational and financial risks in awards and fund management, revenue and related reporting areas.
- Assess and report to Chief, Financial Reporting, the effectiveness or weaknesses of internal controls.
- Drive continuous improvement of business processes, automation and service delivery.
- Represent the Awards Management Unit in corporate initiatives, inter-divisional working groups and inter-agency forums.
Required Experience
- At least 7 years of extensive and progressively responsible experience in financial management, accounting, financial donor reporting or grants management in a large multi-national organization is required, at least 4 years of which should be at the supervisory level.
- Experience leading financial operations within a defined functional area, including establishing priorities, managing multiple concurrent workstreams, and delivering results within demanding deadlines, is required.
- Experience supervising teams, managing staff performance, allocating resources, and fostering collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement is required.
- Experience managing competing priorities and balancing operational service delivery with process improvements while maintaining high standards of quality, compliance, and client service is required.
- Experience developing, implementing and strengthening financial policies, internal controls, business processes and standard operating procedures is required.
- Experience in preparing and overseeing financial donor reporting for multi-donor programmes and projects within the United Nations system or another international organization is highly desirable.
- Experience managing revenue recognition, project financial closure and year-end financial reporting processes within the United Nations system is highly desirable.
- Experience working with financial ERP system/s (preferably Oracle Cloud) is required.
- Experience preparing IPSAS- or IFRS- compliant financial statements is highly desirable.
- Experience in the United Nations system and its organizations with a complex portfolio of voluntary funded contributions is an asset.
Qualifications
- Master’s Degree (or equivalent) in Finance/Accounting, or a Professional accounting qualification from an internationally recognized institute of accountancy (Chartered Accountant or Certified Public Accountant).
- Professionally qualified accountants from an internationally recognized institute of accountancy will have a distinct advantage.
