Finance Associate at World Food Programme (WFP)

Organizational Context

• World Food Programme/United Nations Humanitarian Air Services (WFP/UNHAS) is mandated to procure, on behalf of all accredited User Organization of the Humanitarian Community safe, reliable, economical and efficient air services for passengers and cargo to, from and inside the respective Country/Countries.
• The Finance Associate reports to the Chief Air Transport Officer (CATO) with technical supervision by the Country Office (CO) Finance Officer. The incumbent is responsible for performing effectively and efficiently, financial management activities for WFP/UNHAS operations in Nigeria.

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.
• To efficiently manage UNHAS SO/CPB budget;
• To organize reports and/or records, put together independently with only general guidance, and with accurate information;
• To efficiently manage customer accounts, and UNHAS-customer interface.

Key Accountabilities (Not All-Inclusive)
Financial Management and control:

• Monitor and advise the UNHAS management on financial status of UNHAS project including pending approved budgets, forecasts contribution, contributions expenditure, cost recovery income, budget expenditure plans and fund reservations plans
• Perform bank reconciliations of WFP accounts and regularly review with the designated personnel.
• Ensure proper penitence of customer accounts and timely clearance of the outstanding advances and other receivables.
• Prepare monthly MMC Report for CO Finance Officer
• Participate in preparing budget revisions, budget implementation and budget monitoring and closure for UNHAS.
• Provide regular and ad-hoc financial information to the Finance Unit of the Country Office and the Aviation Business Unit in HQ.
• Ensure data integrity and consistency in WFP financial and accounting systems.

Management of Customers and Cost Recovery:

• Manage the Flight Management Application (e-FMA) and any other tools to manage users’ accounts.
• Register users and manage customer accounts
• Record customer deposits daily and issue regular users’ invoices and statements along with all relevant documents
• Ensure appropriate tracking and recording of charter flights in e-FMA and WINGS
• Record invoices and recognize cost recovery income and subsequent programming
• Perform monthly reconciliation of customer accounts between WINGS and e-FMA
• Maintain proper records of customer documents and files.
• Address users’ inquiries on finance issues and provide timely feedback.

Administration Management:

• Support in the management of UNHAS procurement in coordination with the Country Office Procurement Unit
• Monitor and ensure payment of Aviation Special Account MCR invoices
• Ensure appropriate administrative support for UNHAS operations.
• Perform any other related duties assigned by the UNHAS CATO and the Head of Finance in support of WFP operations.

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

Standard Minimum Qualifications

• Education: A University Degree in Business Management, Accounting, Commerce, and/or Finance or being a Certified Public Accountant or equivalent certification. A University degree in a related functional area.
• Language: Fluency (level C) in English language, and/or Intermediate knowledge (level B) in French is desirable.
• Experience: A minimum of 3 years of professional experience as an Accountant or in a Financial role.

Other Specific Job Requirements:
Additional responsibilities, knowledge & skills required for this job:

• Experience utilizing computers, including spreadsheets and other WFP standard software packages and systems.
• General knowledge of UN financial policies, rules, regulations and procedures.
• Basic knowledge of internal controls, risk management and monitoring mechanisms and their applicability to UNHAS/WFP Finance

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.

Additional Competencies:

• Organizational and coordination skills.
• Action management and Risk management.
• Maintain effective work relationships within UNHAS, the Country Office (CO) and the Aviation Service Business and IM units in HQ