Finance Associate, GS-6, Guatemala City, Guatemala

Contract

This is a G-6 contract. This kind of contract is known as General Service and related categories. It is normally only for nationals. It usually requires 6 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be more than 2,335 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Purpose for the job

The Finance Assistant will be responsible for providing a variety of specialized tasks in finance functions, ensuring accurate and timely delivery in compliance with UNICEF financial rules and regulations, whilst demonstrating the capacity to research and evaluate irregular cases, and to recommend improvements to process delivery and design.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

Ensures implementation of operational strategies, adapts processes and procedures focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Full compliance with rules and regulations of financial processes, financial records and reports and audit follow up; implementation of the effective internal control framework.
• CO Finance business processes mapping and elaboration of the content of internal Standard Operating Procedures in Finance in consultation with the direct supervisor and office management.
• Preparation of cost sharing/attribution for allocation of operating expenses.

Ensures Financial Reporting and performs quality assurance:

• Advise and assist on all aspects related to preparation of reports, compilation of data and answering queries on pledges recorded, funds received, adjustments made to ensure financial compliance, accuracy and completeness of data for its inclusion into statement of accounts and adjustment of budgets.
• Advise units of discrepancies and assist to resolve differences in their records. Selects and enters data from a wide variety of documents, verifying and ensuring accuracy by checking sources, making necessary calculations and assuring inclusion of all relevant data.

Ensures accuracy and timely maintenance of accounts:

• Maintain financial records and monitoring systems to record and reconcile expenditures, balances, payments, statements and other data for day-to-day transactions and reports.
• Initiate correspondence to verify data, answers queries and obtains additional information on accounts and financial transactions, as required.
• Close year-end account and assist in the preparation of year-end reports related to accounts receivable, accounts payable, prepayment, deposits, NEP and leave balances, etc.

Ensures Dashboards and Performance Reports are within agreed benchmarks:

• Prepare recurring reports as schedules and ad hoc reports, as required for budget preparation, audits or other reasons.
• Follow up InSight dashboards and Closure of Accounts status, flags discrepancies and seeks prompt resolution.

Supports staff on entitlements calculations and payments:

• Advise and assists staff, experts and consultants on all aspects of allowances, salary advances, travel claims and other financial matters, and calculate and prepare payments due for claims and services.

Ensures effective relations with banking officials and vendors

• Maintains liaisons with officials of local banks to obtain day-to-day information on exchange and interest rates, changes in procedures and regulations, and matters pertaining to maintenance of office bank accounts. This includes prepares recurring reports and bank reconciliation.

Performs costing and budgeting calculations:

• Prepares detailed cost estimates, and participates in costing, budget formulation and analysis exercises as required.

Facilitates knowledge building and knowledge sharing:

• Organization of learning sessions for staff on Finance.
• Systematic capturing of lessons learnt and good practices in Finance to share among LACR COs communities of practitioners.

Competencies and level of proficiency required

Core Values

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability Core competencies
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

Functional Competencies:

• Analyzing (II)
• Applying Technical Expertise (II)
• Planning & Organizing (II)
• Following Instructions and Procedures (II)

Qualifications

The efficiency and efficacy of the Finance assistant directly impacts on the optimum, appropriate and effective use of resources and efficient financial recording, accounting and reporting, which in turn facilitates management oversight, decision making and quality control.

Education: Completion of secondary education is required with professional/university level courses in Accounting and Finance/Business administration considered as a valuable asset.

Experience: A Minimum of six years of clerical experience in the area of finance and accounting is required. Solid experience with ERPs (SAP, Oracle) and Microsoft standard office suit (Excel, Word, PowerPoint medium level).

Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Spanish is required.

UNICEF es una organización sin fines de lucro y su mandato es promover la protección de los derechos de la niñez, ayudar a satisfacer sus necesidades básicas y aumentar las oportunidades que se les ofrecen para que alcancen plenamente su potencial, por lo que agradecemos los precios cotizados sean competitivos.

UNICEF tiene una política de "cero tolerancia" sobre conductas incompatibles con las metas y objetivos de las Naciones Unidas y UNICEF, que incluyen la explotación y el abuso sexuales, el acoso sexual, el abuso de autoridad y la discriminación. UNICEF también se adhiere a estrictos principios de protección infantil. Se espera que todos los candidatos se adhieran a estos estándares y principios, por lo tanto, serán sometidos a una rigurosa verificación de antecedentes y referencias. Las verificaciones de antecedentes incluirán las credenciales académicas e historial laboral. Es posible que se solicite a los candidatos que proporcionen información adicional para realizar una verificación.

En UNICEF tenemos un fuerte compromiso con la diversidad y la inclusión, sobre todo en nuestra fuerza laboral y alentamos a todos los candidatos, independientemente de su género, origen religioso y étnico, incluidas las personas que viven con discapacidad, a que se postulen para formar parte de la organización.