Senior Finance Assistant Job in Nairobi Kenya

Vacancy Announcement No.ODN/006/2012

VA issued on 25 April 2012

Closing date 09 May 2012

Post Title: Senior Finance Assistant

Grade: Service Contract SC6 (G 6 equivalent)

Duty Station: Regional Bureau for East & Central Africa, based in Nairobi

Salary: As per UN Salary Scale

This vacancy announcement is open to both male and female candidates.

Qualified female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is looking for a qualified candidate to fill the post of Senior Finance Assistant in support of the Regional Bureau for East & Central Africa (ODN), based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Duties and Responsibilities: 

Under the supervision of the Senior Regional Finance Officer, the incumbent will be responsible for the following duties:

• Guide, train and supervise more junior staff engaged in the processing of financial reports and returns from country offices and regional bureaux;
• Participate in providing procedural and technical support to the staff elsewhere in the Programme;
• Analyse, control and accurately maintain relevant General Ledger Accounts and initiate corrective action as necessary;
• Initiate payment processing according to WFP financial rules and regulations and ensure that payments are made to vendors in a timely manner;
• Liaise and follow up with the Kenya and Uganda COs to ensure timely processing of RB transactions including timely recovery of amount owing by staff to the Programme;
• Assist in preparation, implementation and monitoring of budgets; prepare funds consumption and other budget related reports, including donor reports;
• Brief/debrief staff members on issues relating to financial transactions;
• Prepare periodic financial and statistical reports;
• Follow up and monitor timely submission by ODN COs of the monthly financial reporting packages and assist in their review and consolidation for onward transmission to HQ;
• Assist in the monitoring and analysis of financial accounts of ODN COs ensuring that accounts are accurate and outstanding items cleared or settled in a timely manner.
• Initiate follow up actions to concerned ODN CO Finance Officers in relation to the RB review of the ODN COs’ financial transactions and accounts.
• Oversee the data input into financial related databases by finance assistants and provide guidance on data input and validation;
• Prepare bank reconciliations, review locally recoverable items, Imprest summaries and funding sheet summaries;
• Monitor WFP local bank accounts and keep track of balances to ensure that there are sufficient funds; prepare requests for replenishment of the Imprest Account(s) whenever necessary;
• Assist in setup and implementation of proper accounting procedures, systems and internal controls;
• Participate in development and implementation of new financial policies and procedures; interpret and assess the impact of changes and make recommendations on follow up actions;
• Draft or prepare correspondence to respond to enquiries in respect to relevant financial matters; review correspondence drafted by other assistants prior to clearance by Officer or Chief, as appropriate;
• Perform other related duties as required.

Expected Results: 

• Well organised, reports and/or records, put together independently with only general guidance.
• Well organized work with accurate information and databases; efficiently supervised team of clerical staff or work unit.

Critical Success Factors: 

• Sound judgment; ability to extract, interpret, analyse and format data and to resolve operational problems.
• Ability to work with minimum of supervision; to supervise and train support staff; and to work effectively with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Ability to work with accuracy under time constraints and pressure; to deal patiently and tactfully with staff members and others and to have a high sense of confidentiality, initiative and good judgment.

Education: Diploma including or supplemented by courses related to Finance and/or Accounting.

Experience: At least five years of progressively responsible work experience, including at least three years in the field of finance, accounting, budget, audit or other related field and at least one year at G5 level or equivalent.

Knowledge:

• Experience utilising computers, including word processing, spreadsheet and other WFP standard software packages and systems.
• General knowledge of UN system financial policies, rules, regulations and procedures.
• Specialized knowledge of WFP financial and administrative rules and regulations and policies and practices in the specific area of work.

Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English; knowledge of French language is an added advantage

Desirable skills: Knowledge of WFP manuals in the area of human resources administration and finance. Working knowledge (level C) and/or limited knowledge (level B) of other WFP official languages depending on area of work. Formal training in administration.

Closing Date: 09 May 2012.

Applications must be received by the deadline.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Interested persons meeting the above qualifications are requested to submit their applications by e-mail, together with detailed curriculum vitae, copies of education certificates, names and telephone numbers or email addresses of three work referees.

Please send your application to: WFP.ODNHR@WFP.ORG

Please quote the vacancy No. and the title of the position in the subject line.

Candidates should also complete and submit a Personal History form (P.11) available on the following link http://www.unon.org/docs/P11.doc.

Please Note: WFP does not charge fees from applicants at any stage during the recruitment process.