Job Description
Empower finance operations with compliance, strategic budgeting, and robust financial controls.
Under the direct supervision of the Finance Specialist and the overall supervision of the Head of Support Services, the Finance Senior Associate is responsible to provide advisory, management support, and planning services to ensure compliant planning, administration, and management (including budget, treasury and cash management) of the business units’ financial resources; and support the oversight and control of project financial activities, providing value-added advisory services. S/he shall foster collaboration within the team, with project staff, and with other stakeholders with a client-oriented approach.
The Finance Senior Associate participates in day-to-day finance operations, ensures compliance with UNOPS and donor/partner financial rules and regulations, and assists with strengthening internal controls, budgeting, treasury, accounting and reporting.
Finance Operations
- Ensure full compliance with UNOPS rules, policies, IPSAS, and audit recommendations. Assist in maintaining an effective internal control framework.
- Contribute to drafting and updating Finance Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and propose cost-saving/efficiency measures.
- Promote a client-focused financial services culture across projects and support units.
Budgetary and Monitoring Control
- Set up accounts from project agreements.
- Compile data for budget estimates and revisions, and approve budgets (as delegated) in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
- Monitor allotments, commitments, and expenditures. Analyze variances and agree on corrective actions with project teams/ partners.
- Maintain budget controls to keep spending within approved limits and support project closures.
Treasury Functions
- Review and monitor cash positions for local accounts to ensure sufficient funds for operational disbursements.
- Operate and control bank accounts.
- Maintain cashbooks, and perform account analyses and reconciliations.
- Review and clear payment requests. Verify funding availability, coding and documentation. Process payroll/ travel/ vendor disbursements.
- Manage petty cash and operational advances. Liaise with banks on rates/ procedures. Prepare cash-flow forecasts and initiate transfers.
Accounting Support
- Maintain ledgers and accounting records. Ensure timely, accurate ERP posting and month/ quarter close.
- Review vouchers/ supporting documents, GR/ IR and accruals. Resolve unposted items, match exceptions, and coding errors.
- Prepare bank reconciliations (segregated from payment operations). Respond to internal/ external audit queries.
Financial Reporting and Control
- Prepare expenditure schedules, IFRs, donor statements, and management reports (delivery, aged items, receivables, value added tax, advances).
- Reconcile balance-sheet accounts. Investigate discrepancies and post general ledger (GL) adjustments.
- Coordinate with projects/ regions/ HQ to improve data quality, ensure audit readiness, and meet reporting deadlines.
Knowledge Building and Sharing
- Support the organization, facilitation and delivery of training and learning sessions on finance topics.
- Participate in knowledge-sharing initiatives and Communities of Practice (CoPs), contributing insights and lessons learned.
- Conduct research on finance-related topics and contribute to the drafting of reports, summaries and briefing notes.
