About the Role

This position is located in the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) team of UNEP's Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in Nairobi. Under the overall supervision and guidance of the Coordinator, MIKE Programme, the Finance & Budget Assistant will be responsible for the following duties.

Responsibilities

Budget:

• Prepare supporting documents (narrative and supporting tables) with respect to finalization of cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements.
• Assist managers in the elaboration of resource requirements for budget submissions.
• Undertake research and provide support to higher-level Finance & Budget Officers with respect to budget reviews of relevant intergovernmental and expert bodies.
• Monitor expenditures and compare with approved budget; prepares adjustments as necessary, with a particular focus on implementing partner expenses, including reviewing financial reports submitted, identifying adjustments needed, and verifying expenses reported and supporting evidence submitted.
• Prepare and/or review requisitions for equipment, goods and services to ensure (a) correct objects of expenditure have been charged, and (b) availability of funds.
• Assist in preparation of budget performance submissions and finalization of budget performance reports, analyzing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures for submission to donors and UNEP or UNON as required.
• Monitor cash balances within the CITES MIKE Programme and retained by implementing partners, to ensure, and request, review and process advance requests by implementing partners in accordance with UN procedures.
• Verify the accuracy of input data, ensuring consistency in previous allotments to new allotments issued, with a particular focus on the billing and reporting of staff time costs (including CITES staff, consultants and any implementing partner staff time recorded and billed).
• Co-ordinate with other finance and budget staff on related issues during the preparation of budget reports

Treasury:

• Identify and annotate bank account movements.
• File and archives as required.

General:

• Keep up to date on documents/reports/guidelines that have a bearing on matters related to the programme, ensuring compliance with intergovernmental recommendations and decisions as well as with United Nations policies and procedures.
• Monitor, maintain and manage records of implementing partner procurement and equipment management, and verify the processes and procedures followed to ensure they are in line with the required standards.
• Draft internal correspondence and external correspondence with implementing partners to respond to enquiries in respect to relevant financial and budget matters.
• Maintain and keep up-to-date files on the MIKE Programme shared filing system, including records provided by implementing partners in the fulfilment of their financial and procurement related reporting specified in legal agreements.
• Assist with the logistical and travel arrangements for meetings and conferences relating to CITES or MIKE Programme activities, including raising travel requests, researching accommodation, and liaising with participants;
• Review various reports in the ERP system to identify inaccurate balances, initiate and follows up on any necessary adjustments, independently interprets and troubleshoot any system errors encountered during review or processing of transactions and performs basic data analysis to inform donor and other reports.
• May be responsible for providing guidance, training and daily supervision to other general service staff in the area of responsibility.
• 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 related duties, as 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, analyze 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 AND 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

• High school diploma or equivalent is required. Additional training or qualification in finance, budget or accounting 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 progressively responsible experience in finance, budget, accounting, administrative services or related area is required.
• Experience of the UN Financial Rules and Regulations or similar organization is desirable.
• Experience working with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system such as Systems, Applications and Products (SAP) is desirable.
• One (1) year or more of experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.

How to Apply

https://careers.un.org/lbw/jobdetail.aspx?id=205602&Lang=en-US&utm_source=MyJobMag