Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The Strategic Partnerships Division (SPD) works to strengthen UN Women’s position as a partner of choice for gender equality and the empowerment of women (GEWE) among governments and private sector actors around the world. The Division does this by positioning GEWE in the intergovernmental and multilateral fora, and engaging with governments and private sector corporations, foundations and individuals as policy, programme and resource partners.

The Communications and Advocacy Section at UN Women Headquarters in New York supports the positioning of women’s empowerment and gender equality as key issues on the international agenda and establishes UN Women’s role as the global authority in this context.

Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Director of Financial Management in Headquarters (HQ) and the daily supervision of the Chief of Communications and Advocacy, the Finance Associate is responsible for the execution of a wide range of financial services and administrative processes in the Communication and Advocacy section, ensuring timeliness, efficiency and transparent use of financial resources and delivery of services in accordance with organizational financial rules, regulations, policies, procedures and approved allocations. The Finance Associate promotes a client-oriented approach consistent with UN Women rules and regulations, standard practices, and guidelines. The Finance Associate works in close collaboration with the Operations and Programme teams in UN Women HQ for solving complex finance-related issues and information delivery.

Duties and Responsibilities

Implement financial strategies, in full compliance of UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and recording and reporting systems:

• Perform duties in full compliance with UN Women financial regulations and rules, policies, guidances and standard operating procedures, including internal controls;
• Review and verify financial transactions, activities, and supporting documentation; taking corrective actions as needed and reporting any unusual activities;
• Monitor financial exceptions reports for unusual activities or transaction, investigate anomalies and report to the supervisor conclusions and/or present recommendations for actions/decisions;
• Draft reports on financial status, procedures, exchange rates, costs and expenditures, actual and projected amounts;
• Follow-up on audit recommendations to monitor implementation of corrective actions;
• Collect, verify and present information and data for use in the planning of financial resources and the formulation of the Communication and Advocacy section, programme work plans, budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements and execution modalities;
• Provide assistance in Annual and Biannual Work Plan entries in Results Management System (RMS) as required;
• Provide advice and recommend solutions to a wide range of financial issues;
• Monitor the proper functioning of the financial resources management system for office and programmatic budgets and resources;
• Implement cost saving and cost reduction strategies.

Prepare and administer the Communications and Advocacy Section budgets in full compliance of UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and recording and reporting systems:

• Formulate the budget, control allotments and/or allocations, monitor expenditures, and prepare revisions according to the needs of the section;
• Track the appropriate and timely use of financial resources;
• Prepare cost recovery documents or bills for the services provided by UN Women to other programmes or organizations;
• Create projects and awards in the ERP System, prepare budget revisions, revise project awards and status; and determine unutilized funds;
• Implement and maintain control mechanism for development projects through monitoring budgets preparation and modifications and budgetary status;
• Maintain internal expenditure control system;
• Undertake corrective actions on un-posted payment vouchers / invoices, including vouchers / invoices with budget check errors, match exceptions and unapproved vouchers / invoices. Respond to HQ requests to resolve financial data issues and unreconciled amounts;
• Prepare VAT reimbursements with adequate documentation support;
• Input data in the ERP System and monitor status. Keep stakeholders and clients informed for timely action and/or decisions;

Provide finance support to the Programme and Operations team:

• Review accounts receivables for section projects and follow-up with project managers and finance section at headquarters on contributions, deposits creation in the ERP System and their application to account receivable (AR) pending items;
• Prepare PO and non-PO payment vouchers / invoices.;
• Record and post transactions in the ERP System, verify payroll postings, travel claims, and other entitlements;
• Monitor each month over-expenditure of budgets and follow up with Budget Owner;
• Complete Month-End and Year-End closure instructions required by finance section, taking correction action as required.
• Monitor regularly transactions posted to projects ensuring actual expenditure has been recorded against correct budget category and activity, take timely corrective actions as required;
• Monitor proper follow up of advances to implementing partners, review their financial reports together with project managers;
• Monitor the financial status and under the guidance of the Chief of the section, implement control mechanisms for management projects;
• Keep stakeholders and internal clients informed for timely actions/decisions and review status reports for quality control;
• Provide information inputs to financial reports for HQ Finance and stakeholders;
• Provide inputs and take necessary actions to facilitate timely financial project closure;
• Support financial donor reporting by providing timely information and taking necessary actions as required by UN Women Virtual Global Service Centre for financial donor reporting.
• Manage corporate credit cards transactions with proper filing of supporting documents.
• Coordinates operational oversight of the section with the SPD Business Center and implement agreed actions.

Provide procurement and Human Resources support:

• Prepares submissions to Procurement Section in HQ for required services and goods.
• Coordinates with Procurement Section different solicitations, informal and formal based on the needs of the section.
• Monitor and tracks receipts of goods and services against contract provisions.
• Monitor status of all generated purchase orders under the section cost center.
• Perform the role of travel processor making sure compliance with UN Women duty travel policy, including the monitoring of all travel cases until closure (pre and post travel).
• Prepares submissions to HR Division for extension of contracts for staff and non-staff members.
• Supports section chief in the monitoring of all procurement and HR contracts.

Provide general administrative support:

• Stands in for Administrative Assistant during her/his absence.
• Drafts letters, memos and other correspondence as required.
• Assists the Chief with any other tasks as required.

Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing:

• Conduct training and/or helping organize training events and activities; as well as participate in trainings;
• Collect and compile lessons learned and best practices in financial management and services. Disseminate to clients and stakeholders as appropriate to build capacity and knowledge;
• Contribute to financial business operational practices and management innovations.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Strong knowledge of financial rules and regulations and accounting principles;
• Strong knowledge and application skills of IT tools and understanding of management systems;
• Strong knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages;
• Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems;
• Ability to administer and execute financial and accounting processes and transactions.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Completion of secondary education is required.
• Specialized national or international certification in accounting and finance is an asset.
• A bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting is an asset.
• Successful completion of UN Women Accounting and Finance Test is required (to be conducted during the recruitment process).

Experience:

• At least 6 years of progressively responsible experience in administration and operations and/or in financial operations is required.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, e.t.c) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is required.
• Experience in the use of a modern ERP System (such as Oracle Cloud) is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another UN official working language is an asset (Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, Russian).

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.