Associate Budget Officer (P2)

Background:

The OSCE has a comprehensive approach to security that encompasses politico-military, economic and environmental, and human aspects. It therefore addresses a wide range of security-related concerns, including arms control, confidence- and security-building measures, human rights, combating human trafficking, national minorities, democratization, policing strategies, counter-terrorism and economic and environmental activities. All 57 participating States enjoy equal status, and decisions are taken by consensus on a politically, but not legally binding basis.

The OSCE Secretariat in Vienna assists the Chairpersonship in its activities, and provides operational and administrative support to the field operations, and, as appropriate, to other institutions.

The Department of Management and Finance (DMF) is responsible for managing the material and financial resources of the Organization. The objective of DMF is to provide efficient and effective management of non-staff resources in support of OSCE programmatic activities. It provides policy guidance on the management of OSCE financial and material resources and develops and maintains OSCE Financial Regulations and Rules and Financial Administrative Instructions. DMF consists of Budget, Finance and Compliance Section, Mission Support Services Section and Information and Communication Technology Services Section.

The Budget, Finance and Compliance Section is responsible for co-ordinating and supporting the programme planning and budgeting process in general, including providing policy guidance and support to the OSCE Secretariat, Institutions and Field Operations, and for management of the Organization’s finances. The Budget, Finance and Compliance Section consists of the Accounts and Treasury Unit, the Integrated Resource Management Unit and the Compliance and Management Support Unit. The position belongs to the Integrated Resource Management Unit.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

The Associate Budget Officer is a financial analyst, reviewing cost and programme data, analyzing and interpreting financial information and preparing reports; a liaison, co-ordinating and co-operating with programme managers to ensure the effective monitoring of budget implementation and the consistent application of financial rules, regulations, policies and procedures, and a team member, working together with other members of the Unit and Section to implement improvements in the Unified Budget processes with the use of new technology and best practices.

The Associate Budget Officer reports directly to the Chief, Integrated Resource Management Unit. The second level supervisor is the Director for Management and Finance.

Within the assigned Main programmes and Funds, throughout the year, the Associate Budget Officer provides support and guidance, exchanges information and discusses proposed amendments with Section Heads and Programme Managers in the Secretariat, as well as Finance and Budget Officers in other executive structures in the context of budget preparation and programme implementation as well as the forecasting process.

More specifically, the Associate Budget Officer will perform the following tasks:

1. Participating in formulating, analyzing, verifying and consolidating budget proposals, as well as in drafting and revising budget texts. This includes Programme Outline, Unified Budget, Programme Budget Performance Report, Supplementary Budgets, Mid-Year and Year-End Revisions;

2. Ensuring that the budget proposals received from Directors of Departments and Heads of Institutions and Missions adhere to Permanent Council Decisions, Financial regulations, Financial Instructions, Budget Guidelines and other formal documents;

3. Analysing budget proposals to ensure that standard costs are consistently applied and verifying that over-budgeting is avoided; liaising with the Mission/Institutions and the respective sections in the Secretariat in the process of finalizing the budgetary submission;

4. Undertaking continuous and thorough review of the implementation of the Unified Budget to ensure that expenditures are in line with approved activities and that no over-expenditures are likely to occur; periodically reviewing the status of allotments and initiating revisions as required; informing the supervisor on a timely basis;

5. Overseeing and co-ordinating the monthly forecasting of the Unified Budget implementation across all OSCE executive structures to allow for early identification of possible resource allocation issues and areas where additional resources would be required to meet the operational needs;

6. Drafting relevant financial reports to Senior Management and delegations of OSCE participating States and providing the necessary analysis to support the reports;

7. Acting as the focal point for technical issues, and maintaining and updating the Hyperion system (Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service) to enable proper budgeting and forecasting;

8. Certifying expenditures against the approved budgets, including the availability of funds for non-post table staff costs; advising on the availability of funds in-line with the Financial Regulations and Instructions;

9. Making proposals for streamlining the budget process, operational procedures and workflows.
   

For more detailed information on the structure and work of the OSCE Secretariat, please see https://www.osce.org/secretariat

Necessary Qualifications:

• First-level university degree in financial management, accounting, business administration or other related field; certification from a recognized international professional accountancy body would be an asset;
• At least four years (two years with a relevant second-level degree) of professional experience in budgeting, accounting or finance in an international governmental or commercial organization;
• Extensive experience with the budget module of ERP systems such as Oracle or SAP;
• Computer literate with extensive experience of computer applications, particularly Excel spreadsheets; 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English. Knowledge of at least one other language from the OSCE region is desirable;
• Demonstrated gender awareness and sensitivity, and an ability to integrate a gender perspective into tasks and activities;
• Ability and willingness to work as a member of team, with people of different cultural, and religious backgrounds, different gender, and diverse political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity.

Remuneration Package:

Monthly remuneration is around EUR 6,100, with the actual monthly salary depending on post adjustment and family status. OSCE salaries are exempt from taxation in Austria. Social benefits will include possibility of participation in the Cigna medical insurance scheme and the OSCE Provident Fund. Other allowances and benefits are similar to those offered under the United Nations Common System.

Appointments are normally made at Step 1 of the applicable OSCE salary scale. In exceptional cases, an initial appointment at up to Step 3 may be considered. This depends on factors such as relevant experience exceeding minimum requirements or higher previous remuneration. Any such request by a candidate must be reviewed and approved by the OSCE before the appointment

If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE's online application link found under https://vacancies.osce.org/. 

The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise/re-post the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment, to offer an appointment at a lower grade or to offer an appointment with a modified job description or for a different duration. 

Only those candidates who are selected to participate in the subsequent stages of recruitment will be contacted.

Candidates interviewed and found suitable in the recruitment process for this vacancy notice will be placed on a roster of suitable candidates (valid for three years) for fixed-term posts, should a suitable opportunity arise. The placement on a roster does not guarantee a future appointment or assignment.

Please note that vacancies in the OSCE are open for competition only amongst nationals of participating States, please see https://www.osce.org/participating-states.

The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply to become a part of the Organization.

Candidates should be aware that OSCE officials shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting the status of an international civil servant. This includes avoiding any action which may adversely reflect on the integrity, independence and impartiality of their position and function as officials of the OSCE. The OSCE is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. For more information on the values set out in OSCE Competency Model, please see https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model.

The OSCE is a non-career organization committed to the principle of staff rotation, therefore the maximum period of service in this post is 7 years.

Please be aware that OSCE appointments are subject to medical clearance. 

The mandatory retirement age at the OSCE is 65 years for contracted positions at the general service, professional and director level. The Organization shall apply an age limit of 62 years at the time of appointment as the incumbent selected is normally expected to carry out the contractual obligation of two years. 

Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process.