Finance Associate

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

Under the overall guidance and functional supervision of the Finance Specialist in Headquarters in the areas of project closure and financial donor reporting and the daily supervision of the Panama Regional Office Finance Specialist, the Finance Associate provides financial services ensuring effective and transparent utilization of financial resources and integrity of work. The Finance Associate promotes a client-oriented approach consistent with UN Women rules and regulations.

The Finance Associate is part of UN Women´s Virtual Global Service Center (VGSC), which reports to the Deputy Director of Financial Management, and deals with cases related to the Americas and the Caribbean Region and, whenever regional demand is met or as required, attends cases submitted by other regions in coordination with the Finance Section in Headquarters. The Finance Associate also works in close collaboration with the staff of other areas of the Division of Management and Administration, Programme Division, Regional Offices and Country Offices, as well other UN entities in HQS and COs for resolving complex finance-related issues and information delivery.

Duties and Responsibilities

Administer and implement financial strategies, adapt processes and procedures focusing on supporting project closure:

• Support project managers and finance staff of the Americas and the Caribbean region to perform financial project closure;
• Provide input to the training and documentation of the project closure process;
• Monitor, reconcile and follow up with Country Offices (COs) on status of closed projects not yet financially closed;
• Prepare various reports on project closure status and initiate follow-up actions;
• Ensure proper control of the supporting documents for refunds to donors and general ledger journals;
• Follow up on errors in chart fields or over expenditures and ensure proper adjustments are made;
• Assist in the maintenance of the General Ledger, analyzing and reconciling accounts with supporting modules;
• Respond to requests to resolve financial data issues;
• File and archive supporting work papers and documents.

Administer UN Women's financial resources focusing on supporting financial donor reporting and other management activities and reports:

       Financial Donor Reporting:

• Prepare financial reports for donors for UN Women offices of the Americas and the Caribbean region and submit to VGSC Finance Specialists for review;
• Monitor outstanding donor reports to donors and initiate follow-up actions with COs.  

       Management Activities and Reports:

• Follow up on errors in chart fields or over expenditures and ensure proper adjustments are made;
• Assist in the maintenance of the General Ledger (GL), analyzing and reconciling particular accounts with supporting modules;
• Respond to requests to resolve financial data issues;
• Prepare other regular finance indicators or management reports regarding as requested;
• File and archive supporting work papers and documents.

Provides accounting, financial and administrative support to the Finance team focusing on achievement of the following results for Regional Office support:

• Review and monitor month-end and year-end closure checklists and reports submitted by M/COs to ensure completeness, correctness, and timeliness as requested;
• Provide support, technical advice and assistance to M/COs on finance-related processes, activities and reports facilitating sharing of good practices among offices;
• Support the finance team in the internal and external audits of UN Women offices, as requested;
• Prepare and review payment vouchers based on proper supporting documents authorized by the budget owners and project managers;
• Prepare various reports on incomplete/unpaid vouchers and initiate follow-up actions;
• Ensure proper control of the supporting documents for payments, accounts receivable and General Ledger journals;
• Approve vendors in Atlas (for offices that you are not a delegated payment voucher preparer);
• Maintain the internal expenditures control system which ensures that vouchers processed are matched and completed, transactions are correctly recorded and posted in Atlas; and other entitlements are duly processed;
• Take corrective actions on unposted vouchers, including the vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions, unapproved vouchers.

Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Build and strengthen the capacity of UNW offices in project closure and financial donor reporting, including conducting trainings in your region;
• Assist with the organization of training materials for the operations / project staff on financial donor reporting and project closure and other related finance items;
• Participate as a member UN Women's team in the ATLAS and IPSAS or other system development of UNDP and other UN (Atlas) agencies;
• Actively participate in knowledge sharing and changes of duties with other staff in Finance team, as requested by Panama RO Finance Specialist, to ensure that all duties have back-up staff assigned and trained;
• Ensure full compliance with amendments to International Public-Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).  Inform other UNW Finance Users to ensure IPSAS compliance and currency; 
• Ensure full compliance with all UNW Financial Regulations and Rules, Operations manuals, Internal Control policies and procedures, Standard operating procedures, Finance manual, and Delegations of Authority to ensure consistency across UNW and harmonization with other UN Agencies.  Provide recommendations to Unit head for proposed amendments.

Perform other duties from time to time as requested by Finance Specialist, Panama RO.

Impact of Results:

The key results have an impact on the overall efficiency in financial resources management and success in implementation of operational strategies.  Accurate analysis and presentation of financial information enhances UN Women's credibility in use of financial resources and proper financial process management. The information provided facilitates management decision making.

• Timely and accurate financial project closure;
• Timely and accurate financial donor reports;
• Timely response to requests to resolve financial data issues;
• Timely, completes and accurate financial transactions/activities and documentation;
• Timely and accurate advice on UN Women financial rules and regulations;
• Propper control of supporting documents.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to perform a broad range of specialized activities related to financial resources management, including project closure and donor reporting;
• Knowledge of financial rules and regulations, and accounting; strong IT skills;
• Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new system.
• Ability to administer and execute financial and accounting processes and transactions
• Results orientation;
• Client oriented approach to work;
• Strong communication skills;
• Strong relationship management skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Completion of High School (Secondary Education) is required;
• University Degree in Accounting or Finance is an advantage. 

Experience:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in financial management is required;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and knowledge of database packages, working experience in web based ERP financial systems (i.e. SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle, etc);
• Knowledge of IPSAS and/or IFRS is desirable;
• Completion of UN Women Accountancy & Finance Test required.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Spanish.  Knowledge of any other UN language is an advantage.