This vacancy is open to nationals of EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland.
Background
The Bureau for Management Services’ Office of Financial Resources Management (BMS/OFRM) supports the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the implementation of the 2030 agenda and UNDP’s Strategic Plan. It achieves this by developing and making fully operational a dynamic and harmonized integrated resource management framework based on comprehensive analysis that enhances UNDP’s financial and administrative performance, as well as facilitating UN reform and coherence. The primary role of BMS/ OFRM is to maintain the financial integrity of UNDP through providing functional leadership, supporting the efficient and effective management of its financial resources, promoting financial sustainability and responsible resource allocation. This is accomplished by the development and implementation of sound financial policies and practices, oversight of corporate financial management performance, and flexible scalable support to resource allocation. BMS/OFRM serves as a business partner to Bureaux and Country Offices, providing sound financial management, advisory and analytical services, with a view to continuously improve the financial management performance of business units and support Bureaux in the exercising of their oversight functions.
Within OFRM, the Treasury Division oversees cash, currency and banking risks globally in over 130 countries and over 100 currencies, managing the organization’s liquidity with centralized investment of excess cash balances to meet its liabilities. Treasury Division maintains policy and oversight of global payments and receivables, cash management, manages banking relationships, compliance, and KYC. The Treasury Division safeguards UNDP’s financial assets and ensures efficient, transparent global payments supporting programme delivery. As digital technologies transform global finance, Treasury is accelerating modernization to enhance speed, cost efficiency, transparency, and automation.
Scope of Work
Reporting to the Treasury Specialist, Country Office (CO) Cash Management, Treasury Division, Office of Financial Resources Management, the Treasury Officer is responsible for providing analytical support in the modelling and formulation of CO imprest cash levels, conducting compliance oversight, providing policy guidance under the direction of the supervisor, and problem-solving for local cash management, cash replenishment from HQ, and banking operations. The incumbent works closely with the Investment Specialist in the Investment unit to CO replenishment through FX, repatriation of excess funds, and to support the Investment unit with global currency forecasting and cashflow hedging processes, to ensure a resilient, flexible, and scalable global support model. Key functions for this position are as follows.
Duties and Responsibilities
Enable Country Offices to have adequate local and hard currency balances to optimally meet operational needs.
- Establishes financial models to help Country Offices forecasting and establishing imprest balances of each country office,
- Oversee and establish an efficient process for the Direct Replenishment requests submitted by specific Country Offices
- Collaborates with the Investment Specialist in the Investment unit to provide adequate funding to Country Offices through the FX Optimization program, with the objective of managing currency risk, enhancing funding efficiency, and generating value within approved risk parameters.
- Actively monitor cash receipts in Country Offices, identify excess liquidity available, and collaborate with the Investment Specialist in the Investment unit to repatriate the excess fund to HQ through the transfer or foreign exchange transactions.
- Conduct periodic analysis of efficiency gained through the FX Optimization program to Country Office cash management, imprest efficiency, cost optimization, through the analysis of the pre and post-migration to FX optimization to support continuous improvement.
Oversight and support to Country Office Bank Management
- Provide Treasury support in reviewing the TOR and RFP process for the selection of a banking partner for CO operations.
- In collaboration with the supervisor and guidance from the Chief, Treasury Operations, and Business Specialist, establish assessment tools, evaluation metrics, and technical configuration on the key parameters to select a banking partner and establish efficient electronic connectivity with the bank for UNDP operations.
- Monitor early warning of Bank failure, systemic risk, and evolving crisis impacting CO banking operations, identify the risk, and recommend the measures.
- Oversee the process and ensure bank account opening and closing processes are completed within the established timeline and in compliance to Financial Rules and Regulations; and ensure that country offices do not maintain any dormant bank accounts.
- Maintain, review, and periodically monitor CO banking agreement, ensure adequate and updated use of the approved template, and provide support to CO in review of banking services and renewal of the agreements.
- Oversee bank signatory updates processed by COs; monitor discrepancies, and ensure the accuracy of the signatory records to comply with the UNDP Financial Rules and Regulations and Internal Control Framework.
Manage and monitor Treasury tools to provide Treasury services to Country Offices
- Establish the benchmark, oversee and monitor incoming requests for quicker and more efficient of service delivery to Country Offices for their queries,.
- Collaborate with internal teams, ITM, and other stakeholders to review SharePoint templates, enhance and automate the routine processes, through the automation, such as Power BI, SharePoint, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), AI, BOT to ensure quick, accurate service delivery to CO.
- Support on enhancement of Quantum (Oracle ERP)/FIS report for Banking and Cash management support, monitor exceptions, and track recommendations.
Monitor country office compliance with the Internal Control Framework, cash management procedures and policies on an ongoing basis.
- Establish proactive measures and controls to ensure compliance by Country Offices to imprest management, cash forecasting, and optimal liquidity management by protecting UNDP against the Counterparty, liquidity, and Foreign Exchange risk.
- In collaboration with the supervisor establish an early warning system to quickly identify the CO cash risk, and recommend measures to the Chief of Treasury Operations and the Treasurer.
- Review requests and monitor local investments where authorised; review compliance to imprest levels and cash balance thresholds; escalation and resolution of aged petty cash and cash arrangement exceptions; ensure completion of year-end Treasury certification review.
Provide periodic country office/ Bureau Cash Management Review and Operational support
- Establish enhanced reporting tools, a dashboard to provide updated visibility of CO cash and liquidity, bank and signatory management, and cash arrangement.
- Produce periodic review of each country office and Bureau with an assessment of cash management and banking area, identify key risk areas, and ensure compliance by CO to the recommendations.
- Provide operational backup and cross-coverage to Treasury Specialist and Treasury Associates as required.
- Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, data usage, and workflow effectiveness, and provide cross-training and knowledge sharing to strengthen institutional capability and operational resilience across Treasury functions.
Ensure facilitation of knowledge building and sharing
- Synthesize lessons learned and best practices in Finance.
- Provide sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.
The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.
Institutional Arrangement
The position is part of a team of four members, including the supervisor, and has no direct reports.
Competencies
- Core Competencies:
Achieve Results: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline
Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements
Learn Continuously: LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback
Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible
Act with Determination: LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident
Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships
Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination
- Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:
Business Management-Customer Satisfaction/Client Management: Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs. Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients’ immediate requests Ability to anticipate client’s upcoming needs and concerns.
Business Direction & Strategy-System Thinking: Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system
Business Management-Communication: Communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience. Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels.
Finance Treasury-Cash Management: Ability to manage organization's cash and investment holdings with the ultimate goal of maximizing liquidity and mitigating risks. Understands the economic environment, interest rates and the importance of economic forecasting. Understands and can implement a treasury management strategy, including cash flow management, debt management and investment strategies.
Finance-Anti-fraud and anti-bribery and corruption: Anti-bribery and corruption: Understands the policy and best practice relating to anti-bribery and corruption controls and ensures these are implemented and widely understood within the organization. Anti-fraud: Understands the fraud risks faced by public bodies and is able to effectively analyse data to support fraud identification and fraud risk management; understands the fraud risks faced by public bodies and is able to conduct fraud risk assessment and response plan.
Finance-Banking and cash management: Ability to collect, handle, and manage cash, which involves assessing market liquidity, cash flow, and investments.
Finance-Finance Business Partnering: Able to support business units and add value by innovating and providing solutions to financial issues/queries, including through FAQs, financial tools, advisory, etc. Influences and appropriately challenges non-finance colleagues for whom the service is being provided. Understands the operations, opportunities and challenges of the organization. Holds a commercial outlook, demonstrating accountability towards organizational goals.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Finance, Business Administration, International Economics, or a directly related field is required Or
- A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree)in the areas stated above in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.
- Specialized certification in Accounting, Finance or Treasury, (ACT, CFA), or qualified accountants, will have a distinct advantage.
- Candidates with no professional accountancy qualifications, but with degrees that major in accountancy and/or finance must complete UNDP Finance Training and Certification Programme (FTCP), if recruited. However, no UNDP Advanced Accountancy and Finance Test (AAFT) is required.
- Candidates with no professional accountancy qualifications but with relevant experience must successfully undertake UNDP Advanced Accountancy and Finance Test (AAFT) before shortlisting, and must complete the UNDP Finance Training and Certification Programme (FTCP), if recruited.
Professional Certificates:
Distinct Advantage: ACT, CFA, ACCA, CPA, CIMA, CIPFA, or other internationally recognized accounting certifications.
Experience:
- Minimum of two (2) years (with master’s degree) or four (4) years ( with Bachelor degree )of relevant experience in corporate treasury, FX operations, banking, or financial analytics.
- Experience with ERP financial systems (e.g., Oracle) is required.
- Experience and understanding of banking, cash management, global payments system is required.
- Advanced proficiency in Excel, BI and database packages is required.
- Experience in strong quantitative and analyticals, with experience in financial modeling, forecasting, and variance analysis is required.
- Proven track record of sound knowledge of IPSAS, IFRS and/or GAAP is required.
- Demonstrated interest in AI, digital transformation, and process automation. Eager to explore and apply new technologies is required.
- Experience as a collaborative team player with flexibility to work across global time zones is required.
- Prior experience in organisation with global financial operations is desirable.
- Hands-on experience with Treasury Management Systems (TMS), including transaction processing, reporting, or system administration is desirable.
- Demonstrated experience in cash management, including liquidity management, forecasting, and reconciliation activities is desirable.
- Proven ability to serve and communicate effectively with clients from diverse and multicultural backgrounds, demonstrating cultural sensitivity and adaptability is desirable.
Language:
- Proficiency in oral and written English language is required.
- Working knowledge of another official UN Language is desired.
Equal opportunity
As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.
UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.
Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority
UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.
Right to select multiple candidates
UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.
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