Finance Associate (UNHAS) - G6 at World Food Programme (WFP)

Requisition No: 102001

Organizational Context

• This job is found in Country Offices (COs), Regional Bureaux (RBs), and Headquarters (HQ), and report to the Head of Unit, Chief, or Finance Officer.
• At this level job holders are expected to demonstrate responsibility and initiative to respond independently to queries with only general guidance. There is a requirement to use judgment in dealing with unforeseen problems on a daily basis. Job holders are expected to manage resources and coach and coordinate a team of support staff, or specific support service(s).

Job Purpose

• To coordinate and provide finance, budget and administration support services involving the recording and interpretation of financial and budgetary information to ensure the efficient functioning of the support services and inform decision-making.

Key Accountabilities (not all-inclusive):

• Provide the procedural and technical support to staff within the areas of finance and budget, to ensure compliance with WFP financial policies, rules and regulations.
• Support the development and implementation of financial policies and procedures, and assist in setup and implementation of proper accounting procedures, systems and internal controls.
• Monitor the daily cash position in order to optimize the use of surplus cash and maximize returns on investment through the liquidity portfolio.
• Monitor the centralised registry system in order to process all payments to internal staff and invoices to external suppliers in a timely manner and in accordance with WFP standards.
• Contribute to the preparation, implementation and monitoring of budgets, monitor expenditure and budget forecasts, to ensure that relevant future funding requirements are met.
• Co-ordinate with other teams in order to ensure that all financial and administrative services are being performed efficiently and in line with the needs of the wider team.
• Monitor account balances and process financial transactions in an accurate and timely manner, to avoid the occurrence of an overdraft.
• Monitor and analyse general ledger accounts in order to initiate and achieve corrective actions.
• Compile data from the WFP database and systems in order to assist in generating and analysing financial reports on a monthly basis.
• Allocate tasks to other support staff, provide guidance and on-the-job training in management of financial resources (e.g. managing the petty cash/sub-imprest account, review and analyse vendor and balance sheet accounts, etc.), to ensure services are delivered consistently and to the required standards.
• Remain on stand-by and follow standard emergency preparedness practices in order to meet immediate emergency requirements for further service on the job and in the field.

Standard Minimum Qualifications

• Education: Completion of secondary school education. A post-secondary qualification in Finance & related areas a requirement.
• Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in the UN language in use at the duty station and in the duty station’s language, if different.
• Experience: Six years of progressive work experience in Finance, Accounting and/or other related fields.

4Ps Core Organisational Capabilities
Purpose:

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Coaches team in the most effective ways to communicate WFP’s Strategic Objectives to WFP team and partners in the field.
• Be a force for positive change: Implements new methods or tools to improve team’s work processes and productivity.
• Make the mission inspiring to our team: Maps team’s activities and tasks to specific successes in beneficiary communities to showcase positive impact.
• Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Explains to teammates how each unit contributes to the overall WFP mission.

People:

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Identifies skill development opportunities such as training modules or on-the-job experiences for self, colleagues and direct reports.
• Create an inclusive culture: Facilitates team building activities to build rapport in own unit.
• Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Facilitates the pairing of junior colleagues with coaches within own team.
• Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Proactively anticipates potential challenges and develops mitigation plans to ensure that team meets goals and targets.

Performance:

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Identifies opportunities to be creative in own work and to help team be more innovative and accurate in their respective tasks and areas of work.
• Focus on getting results: Monitors team’s deliverables and provides feedback to ensure outcomes are delivered consistently and accurately.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Provides accurate guidance to team on expected responsibilities and tasks, whilst also upholding own commitment to the team.
•  Be Decisive: Sets an example and provides guidance to junior team members on when to escalate issues when faced with challenging issues in the workplace or in the field.

Partnership:

• Connect and share across WFP units: Facilitates partnerships with other WFP units to accomplish missions in the field.
• Build strong external partnerships: Sets an example and provides guidance to team on how to build relationships with external partners.
• Be politically agile & adaptable: Articulates to colleagues or direct reports the value of contributing to other WFP teams and agency partnerships in fulfilling WFP’s goals and objectives.
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Organizes, monitors, and prioritizes own and team’s efforts to ensure that they will fulfill the needs of internal and external partners.

Functional Capabilities
Capability Name:

• Internal Controls & Compliance: Demonstrates basic knowledge of internal controls, risk management, and monitoring mechanisms and their applicability to WFP's critical activities.
• Performance Budgeting, Analysis & Reporting:     Demonstrates participation in business planning efforts by developing basic project-level budgets and forecasts, incorporating information from various sources as appropriate to monitor KPIs.
• Resource Management: Demonstrates ability to track and compile reports on HQ and Field staffing and resource usage on a project-level basis.
• Financial Mgmt. & Accounting Principles: Applies knowledge of financial and accounting principles and practices to ensure compliance with WFP policies, applicable procedures and accounting standards.
• Supply Chain and Operations Knowledge:Demonstrates basic understanding of WFP programme, implementation, and supply chain principles (including project modalities & structures).

Desired Experiences for Entry Into the Role:

• Has experience assessing financial health and stability of C&V projects and other programming initiatives to verify compliance with in-country local laws.
• Has experience working with auditors and other third party vendors.

Terms and Conditions

• Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply.
• Only Nigerian nationals or holders of valid residence and work permits are eligible to apply for this position
• Applications are to be submitted and recieved online and in English language only.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.  Canvassing is strictly prohibited. Canvassing of any sort will lead to automatic disqualification of the concerned applicant.
• Selected candidate will be employed on a fixed-term contract with a probationary period of one year. WFP offers an attractive compensation package. For more details please visit International Civil Service Commision website: http://icsc.un.org  (link: http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/salaries_allowances/salaries/nigeria.htm).