Finance and Budget Assistant
Organizational Context
This position is within the One Executive Office (OneEO) of the Department of Operational Support (DOS) at UN Headquarters in New York. OneEO consolidates common administrative functions as part of the UN80 reform. DOS provides operational support across the Secretariat. OneEO delivers comprehensive administrative services, including finance, to New York-based entities. The role is in Specialized Desk 4, reporting to the Associate Administrative Officer.
Job Purpose
The Finance and Budget Assistant supports the financial administration and budget management within the One Executive Office (OneEO) at UN Headquarters. This role is crucial for ensuring the effective financial operations of New York-based Secretariat entities. The assistant will prepare financial statements, assist in budget proposals and performance reports, monitor expenditures against approved budgets, and ensure the integrity of financial databases. They will also review requisitions, coordinate with finance staff, and maintain financial records. The position contributes to the accurate and compliant management of financial resources, supporting the delivery of mandates by client entities and upholding UN financial regulations and procedures. The role may involve providing guidance to other general service staff and assisting in data analysis and reporting.
Responsibilities
The Finance and Budget Assistant is responsible for preparing interim and final financial statements for trust fund contributions, ensuring compliance with reporting requirements. They will prepare supporting documents for cost estimates and budget proposals, and assist managers in elaborating resource requirements. The role involves monitoring expenditures against approved budgets, making necessary adjustments, and reviewing requisitions for goods and services to ensure correct expenditure objects and fund availability. The assistant will also contribute to budget performance submissions and reports, analyzing variances. They will monitor the integrity of financial databases and extra-budgetary resources, verifying input data accuracy and consistency. Coordination with other finance and budget staff is essential. Additionally, the role includes keeping updated on relevant guidelines, drafting correspondence on financial matters, maintaining files, and potentially providing guidance and training to other general service staff. Assisting with data collection, analysis, presentations, and updating information materials are also key duties.
Work Experience
A minimum of seven years of experience in finance, budget, accounting, or administrative services is required. This can be reduced to five years for candidates with a first-level university degree. Experience with finance and grants management modules in Umoja or a similar ERP system is mandatory, along with at least one year of experience in data analytics. Experience in managing extra-budgetary resources is also required.
Skills
Professionalism, teamwork, and client orientation are key competencies. Specific skills include knowledge of UN financial rules and procedures, ability to extract, interpret, and analyze financial data, identify and resolve discrepancies, and perform data modeling. Strong teamwork and collaboration skills are essential, as is the ability to understand and meet client needs.