Finance Assistant

Organizational Context

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is a specialized agency dedicated to achieving food security for all and making sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. This position is located in the FAO Shared Services Centre (SSC) in Budapest, Hungary. The SSC is responsible for process management, quality assurance, and service delivery, aiming for continuous improvement and cost reduction through standardization and automation.

Job Purpose

The Finance Assistant provides essential support for finance-related activities of medium complexity within the FAO Shared Services Centre. This role ensures the quality, transparency, and consistency of financial processes, requiring a strong understanding and application of financial policies and procedures. The incumbent will interpret financial regulations, provide procedural guidance to colleagues, and contribute to the efficient operation of the finance unit. The position involves autonomous work, requiring initiative, judgment, and responsibility in managing daily tasks and supporting service delivery objectives.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include reviewing source documents for accuracy and validity, extracting and analyzing transaction details from the integrated financial system, and investigating and correcting errors. The Finance Assistant will support continuous improvement initiatives by participating in the testing and implementation of new financial process automations. This role involves monitoring transactions, performing due diligence, preparing worksheets, and compiling data for reports. Additionally, the incumbent will draft correspondence, respond to queries, adapt service provision to meet evolving needs, and solve operational problems. The Finance Assistant will also provide procedural guidance and training to junior finance support staff, contributing directly to the efficiency, effectiveness, and timeliness of the team's services.

Work Experience

Requires four years of relevant experience in finance, accounting, cash management, and/or asset management support work. Experience with integrated ERP systems like Oracle and working in a Shared Services Centre environment is desirable.

Skills

Proficiency in financial rules, regulations, accounting policies, and practices is necessary to ensure strict adherence to processing controls. Strong understanding of transaction processing and approval procedures, maintaining audit requirements, and documentation standards. Competencies include Results Focus, Teamwork, Communication, Building Effective Relationships, and Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement. Working knowledge of English is mandatory.

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