Finance and Budget Assistant at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Responsibilities

This position is located in the UNEP Africa Office at the Nairobi Duty Station. Under the direct supervision of the Senior Finance and Budget Assistant, the incumbent will perform the following duties:

• Finance and Budget:
• Assist in creation of new grants based on approved project or Program of work (POW) budgets and requesting for their approval in Umoja Creates new project grants in Umoja based on approved projects or donor agreements.
• Creates Work Breakdown Structure Elements (WBSEs) based on approved project and Program of work budgets.
• Assists in the end-to-end processing of grants management actions.
• Supports the Finance/Budget Officers(s) in extracting information and generating expenditure reports from computerized information system databases; assists in preliminary analyses of the extracted information and the reports generated, and highlights areas of concern for the attention of the Finance/Budget Officer(s).
• Assists in the development of resource requirements for budget submissions and in the preparation of budget performance submissions.
• Creates Fund management budget distribution and adjustments based on Budget officer/ Fund Management Officer (FMO) instructions.
• Creates Pass-through grants in Umoja based on signed legal agreements (Small Scale Funding Agreements (SSFAs), Project Cooperation Agreements (PCAs), Letters of Agreement (LOA), UN-UN agreements).
• Processes payments to Implementing Partners (IP) against approved pass-through grants as certified by the Budget officer/Fund management officer.
• Maintains an internal tracking tool for all signed Legal agreements in Africa Office.
• Creates funds pre-commitments, commitments against certified and approved requests.
• Provides support with respect to the review and analysis of budgetary elements on project. Also supports preparation and revision of project documents.
• Prepares supporting documents with respect to new project budget submissions and UNEP Programme of Work.
• Assists in preparation of budget performance submissions and finalization of budget performance reports, analyze variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures and bring anomalies to the attention of the Finance and Budget Officer.
• Sets up and monitors integrity of various financial databases for accuracy and completeness.
• Co-ordinates with Project teams, other finance, and budget staff, on related issues during preparation of budget reports.
• Processes IP expenditure reports pursuant to financial reports submitted by IPs and certified by the Budget Officer / Fund management Officer.
• Assists the Finance/Budget Officer(s) in the preparation/finalization of budget performance reports, performing preliminary analysis of variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Assists in the financial backstopping of trust funds, including monitoring the status of voluntary contributions, generating expenditure reports from Umoja and monitoring reporting requirements by donors.
• Assists the Finance/Budget Officer(s) in the issuance of allotments and related staffing table authorizations.
• Verifies accuracy of input data, ensuring consistency of data in previous allotments to new allotments issued.
• Reviews draft reports, verifying overall accuracy, consistency and uniformity in the presentation, and ensuring comprehensiveness and compliance with the format prescribed by the Editorial and Documents control of General Assembly and Conference Management (GACM); cross-checks consistency of figures in tables with the text of the reports, and verifies references to other reports and documents, bringing errors to the attention of the Finance / Budget Officers(s) concerned; ensures that all necessary corrections are incorporated in the reports; co-ordinates with other finance and budget staff on related issues during preparation of budget reports.
• Tracking of invoices to ensure timely payments to vendors; receivables monitoring to ensure down payments are made.
• Assists project teams, Fund Management Officers and donors regarding queries on IP payments and deposit related issues.
• General Administration:
• Keeps up to date on documents/reports/guidelines that have a bearing on matters related to programme budgets, ensuring compliance with intergovernmental recommendations and decisions as well as with United Nations policies and procedures.
• Drafts routine correspondence with respect to inquiries related to relevant financial and budget matters.
• Maintains and keep up-to-date files.
• Assist in designing and creation of new project structures in Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing (SAP) for different activities, outputs and expected accomplishments.
• Closure and revision of the projects and project structures.
• Post-implementation data clean up and validation of Umoja financial data Donor Reporting.
• Assist in creation of donor reports against approved projects, grants and donor agreements.
• Follows-up on administrative/budget/finance tasks related to official travel of staff such as certification of travel plans.
• Provides guidance, training to staff within the Africa Office.
• Data:
• Assists with the collection and analysis of data as well as preparation of data presentations and reports for information sharing, responding to queries, knowledge management, planning and decision making.
• Assists with visualizations and updating information material such as web pages or brochures.
• Perform other duties as may be assigned.

Competencies

PROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge of, and ability to apply financial rules, regulations and procedures in the UN environment. Knowledge, skills and ability to extract, interpret, analyse and format data across the full range of finance and budget functions, including programme development and database management, claims and treasury operations. Ability to identify and resolve data discrepancies and operational problems. Ability to perform analysis, modeling and interpretation of data in support of decision-making. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Commitment to implementing the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of work.

PLANNING & ORGANIZING: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.

ACCOUNTABILITY: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.

Education

• Completion of a high school diploma or equivalent is required. Supplementary training in accounting, and finance is required. Holder of CPA certificate is desirable.
• Passing the Global General Service Test (GGST) is a prerequisite for recruitment consideration in the General Services and related categories in the United Nations Secretariat. Successful passing of the Administrative Support Assessment Test (ASAT) in English at the United Nations Headquarters (UNHQ), Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) or International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) may be accepted in lieu of the GGST.
• The GGST is administered to applicants when required before the administration of a written assessment and/or interview.

Work Experience

• A minimum of seven (7) years of experience in finance, budget, accounting, and administrative services is required.
• Experience with Enterprise Resource Planning Systems especially Umoja is desirable.
• One (1) year or more of experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.
• Experience working at the United Nations or other international organization is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable.