Accounts Specialist

Background

The Office of Financial Resources Management (OFRM), Bureau of Management, supports the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the promotion of its sustainable human development agenda. 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 facilitates UN reform and coherence. To these ends, the framework addresses strategically critical financial resource planning and management issues, including results based budgeting; the integration of the Programming Arrangements and the Institutional Budget within the context of the integrated budget from 2014 onwards; enhanced cost classification and cost recovery; capital budgeting; adherence to IPSAS; foreign exchange and investment activities; corporate reporting of organizational assets; performance management tools and initiatives; and support to UN harmonization.

Effective and efficient integrated resources management is enabled through a continuous and robust process comprising:

• Formulation and implementation of corporate financial and administrative strategies, policies and procedures;
• Formulation, alignment, documentation and implementation of UNDP’s funding frameworks, assuring their integrity, viability and alignment with the Strategic Plan;
• Provision of policy guidance, advisory services and operational support to strengthen client capacities and help them achieve results, seeking to build consensus within UNDP and with key stakeholders on critical budgetary related matters requiring Executive Board legislation;
• Administration of the organization’s internal control framework, overseeing and monitoring financial management of all global UNDP offices, including through formulation/implementation of resource planning, management and oversight tools and reports;
• Promoting clear accountability for financial transactions and producing financial statements, including financial reporting to donors and the UNDP Executive Board.
• Providing corporate reporting guidance to ensure that fixed assets are adequately recorded in all locations.

Accounts and Client Service Division provides accounting, resource management and financial services. The Corporate Financial Reporting (CFR) promotes clear accountability for financial transactions and produces corporate financial statements. The Client Service Team (CST) provides advisory services and operational support to strengthen client capacities The GSSC provides transactions services to UNDP offices and other ad-hoc services to OFRM.

Under the overall supervision and guidance of the Manager, Corporate Financial Reporting (CFR), Accounts Specialist is the finance lead for procure to pay expenses; assists with the preparation of the UNDP Financial Statements and other Reports; executes closure processes; maintains master data elements, controls accounting periods and undertakes financial analysis for Global process owners and senior management.

Duties and Responsibilities

Finance lead for procure to pay expenses.

• Develop accounting policy - reviews business practice, researches accounting literature and applies technical standards.
• Advises GSSC on complex or non-recurring business issues ( including SLAs) and transactions.
• Functional lead on select business process design and execution within corporate tools, including update of POPP and SOPs.
• Monitors practices and provides advisory services to Global Process owners and Senior Management.
• Prepares and interprets statutory/corporate reports and information required for decision making.

Prepares the statutory/corporate reports including Financial Statements, Trust fund statements, Executive Board reports, Financial Statements for other Agencies and other corporate reports required for decision making.

Ensures that the data presented in the reports is accurate and appropriately supported.

• Coordinates data collection and preparation of the non-financial sections of the reports.
• Performs monthly/quarterly analysis of accounts, ensuring significant issues are identified and escalated when necessary.
• Undertake financial analysis for Global process owners and senior management.

Ensures effective and timely execution of closure processes:

Controls module closure.

Runs revaluation, receipt accrual, GMS, and other corporate accounting processes.

Coordinates sequencing with Global process owners and OIST.

Establishes and maintains the master data elements and controls of accounting periods:

• Creates and maintains account codes for UNDP and partner agencies.
• Reviews, approves and creates fund codes, in consultation with the Global Process owners.
• lifts and places the control flag on account codes.
• controls opening and closing of accounting periods.

Supports other Finance/Accounting functions as necessary.

Competencies

Core

Innovation

• Ability to make new and useful ideas work.

Leadership

• Ability to persuade others to follow.

People Management

• Ability to improve performance and satisfaction.

Communication

• Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform.

Delivery

• Ability to get things done.

Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis

• Strong understanding of accounting principles and ability to evaluate financial data, derive relevant findings and present them in a meaningful manner.

Resource Management

• Ability to articulate how resource availability affects organization’s business and analyzes and facilitates application of improvements.

Leverage Technology to Develop Broad Business Perspective

• Recognizes business opportunities to uses technology to develop and present strategic information.

Relationship Building

• Ability to maintain strong and productive business relationship with management, staff and clients.

Leadership and Self-Management

• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexity and has ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, prioritize issues and handle potentially stressful situation.

Secondary

Knowledge Management

• Ability to efficiently handle and share information and knowledge.

Innovative design in training manual

• Ability to design, construct and transform information to train others.

Audit

• Have relevant audit experiences.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced (Master’s) University Degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a relevant discipline or a professional accounting qualification certificate from an internationally recognized institute of accountancy. Those with professional accounting qualification certificate from an internationally recognized institute of accountancy will have a distinct advantage.
• Long-listed candidates will be required to undergo the UNDP Advanced Accountancy & Finance Test.

Experience:

• Minimum five years of practical experience in producing finanacial statements and providing financial accounting advisory services at national and/or international settings
• A sound and detailed understanding of the UN environment, and the Finance and Accounting policies of UNDP
• Familiar with the complexity of client relationships among international organisations national governments and civil society
• Hands-on experience with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), preferably with ATLAS (PeopleSoft) is desirable.
• Experience of IPSAS and/or IFRS required for external candidates.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English. Working knowledge of another UN language is an advantage, particularly Spanish or French.

Disclaimer

Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.

UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: 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.

Workforce diversity

UNDP is committed to achieving diversity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified applicants, irrespective of gender, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation, culture, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

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