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 of the Chief of Accounts in Headquarters (HQ) and the daily supervision of the Operations Manager, the Finance Associate is responsible for the execution of a wide range of financial services and administrative processes in the Sudan Country Office, ensuring timeliness, efficiency and transparent use of financial resources and delivery of services in accordance with organizational financial rules, regulations, policies, procedures and approved allocations.

The Finance Associate promotes a client-oriented approach consistent with UN Women rules and regulations, standard practices and guidelines.

The Finance Associate works in close collaboration with the Operations Team in the Regional Office as well as with the Operations and Programme teams in UN Women HQ for solving complex finance-related issues and information delivery

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Implement financial strategies, in full compliance of UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and recording and reporting systems

• Review and verify financial transactions, activities, and documentation;
• Monitor financial exceptions reports for unusual activities or transaction, investigate anomalies and report to the supervisor conclusions and/or present recommendations for actions/decisions;
• Draft reports on financial status, procedures, exchange rates, costs and expenditures;
• Follow-up on audit recommendations to monitor implementation of corrective actions;
• Collect, verify and present information and data for use in the planning of financial resources and the formulation of the Sudan Country Office program work plans, budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements and execution modalities;
• Provide advice and recommend solutions to a wide range of financial issues;

2. Prepare and administer Sudan Country Office budgets in full compliance of UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and recording and reporting systems

• Formulate the budget, control allotments, monitor expenditures, and prepare revisions according to the needs of the Sudan Country Office;
• Track the appropriate and timely use of financial resources; 
• Prepare cost recovery documents or bills for the services provided by UN Women to other programmes or organizations;
• Implement and maintain control mechanism for development projects through monitoring budgets preparation and modifications and budgetary status;
• Maintain internal expenditure control system;
• Undertake corrective actions on un-posted vouchers, including vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions and unapproved vouchers. Respond to RO/HQ requests to resolve financial data issues;
• Prepare VAT reimbursements with adequate documentation support;
• Input data in Atlas and monitor status. Keep stakeholders and clients informed for timely action and/or decisions;
• Verify accuracy of Combined/Programme Delivery Reports. Take appropriate action to ensure accuracy of information;
• Manage petty cash fund, cash impress level and other temporary General Ledger accountsMonitor the proper functioning of the financial resources management system for office and programmatic budgets and resources;

3. Provide finance support to the Programme team

• Review accounts receivables for UN Women projects and follow-up with project managers and finance section at regional office and/or headquarters on contributions, deposits creation in Atlas and their application.
• Record and post transactions in Atlas, process payroll, travel claims, MPOs, and other entitlements;
• Monitor proper follow up of advances to implementing partners, review their financial reports together with project managers;
• Monitor the financial status and under the guidance of the Country Representative and implement control mechanisms for management/development projects;
• Keep stakeholders and clients informed for timely actions/decisions and review status reports for quality control;
• Provide information to the executing agencies on routine implementation of projects;
• Prepare accurate and timely mandated financial reports to donors and other clients and stakeholders;

4.  Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing

• Conduct training and/or helping organize training events and activities; as well as participate in trainings;
• Collect and compile lessons learned and best practices in financial management and services. Disseminate to clients and stakeholders as appropriate to build capacity and knowledge;
• Contribute to financial business operational practices and management innovations.

Competencies

Deliverable:

• Timely, complete and accurate financial transactions/activities/documentation;
• Timely and accurate advice on UN Women financial rules and regulations;
• Timely and regular monitoring of financial resources management system and timely expenditure of financial resources;
• Timely and accurate support to budget formulation and controlling allotments;
• Timely and accurate monitoring of internal expenditures control systems;
• Timely and accurate drafting of financial reports;
• Timely provision of reports and samples RO/CO operations review.

Competencies

• Core values;

  Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

  Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

  Respect for Diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

  CORE COMPETENCIES:

  Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity

  Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment

  Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative

  Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

  Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication

  Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others

  Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

  Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge

  Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making

  FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Strong knowledge of financial rules and regulations and accounting principles;
• Strong knowledge and application skills of IT tools and understanding of management systems; knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages;
• Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems;
• Ability to administer and execute financial and accounting processes and transactions;
• Client oriented approach to work.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Accounting or Public Administration;
• Specialized national or international certification in accounting and finance is an asset.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in financial management and administration;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web based management systems.