Finance Associate

Organizational Context

The Finance Associate is supervised by a senior finance colleague, following UNHCR manuals and policies. The role involves processing financial transactions and maintaining contact with internal staff and bank officials. The incumbent may supervise support staff, contributing to UNHCR's mission by ensuring accurate financial operations and adherence to regulations.

Job Purpose

The Finance Associate's primary purpose is to assist in the processing of financial transactions, ensuring accuracy and compliance with UNHCR rules and procedures. This involves maintaining financial records, monitoring systems, and reconciling expenditures, balances, and payments. The role supports budget preparation, audits, and financial reporting by preparing recurring and special reports. Additionally, the Finance Associate advises staff, experts, and consultants on financial matters, calculates and authorizes payments, and liaises with banks for daily financial information. A key aspect is verifying the correctness of financial transactions and contributing to risk management by identifying and reporting issues impacting financial objectives.

Responsibilities

The Finance Associate is responsible for maintaining comprehensive financial records and monitoring systems, ensuring accurate recording and reconciliation of expenditures, balances, payments, and other financial data for daily operations and reporting. This includes selecting and entering data from various documents, verifying its accuracy against sources, performing necessary calculations, and ensuring all relevant information is included. The incumbent prepares scheduled recurring reports and ad-hoc special reports for budget preparation, audits, and other purposes. They provide guidance and assistance to staff, experts, and consultants on financial matters such as allowances, salary advances, and travel claims, calculating and authorizing due payments. Maintaining liaison with local bank officials to obtain current exchange and interest rates, procedural changes, and account maintenance information is crucial. The role involves preparing detailed cost estimates and participating in budget analysis and projections. Initiating correspondence to verify data, respond to queries, and gather additional information on accounts and transactions is also a key duty. Ensuring all financial transactions are correct and comply with UNHCR rules and procedures is paramount. Furthermore, the Finance Associate supports risk management by identifying and managing risks and seizing opportunities that impact their area of responsibility, ensuring risk-based decision-making and reporting concerns to supervisors.

Work Experience

3 years of relevant experience with a High School Diploma, or 2 years of relevant experience with a Bachelor's degree or higher. Essential: High IT affinity (MS Office, PeopleSoft). Desirable: Cloud ERP knowledge, UN/UNHCR financial rules, and completion of relevant UNHCR learning programs.

Skills

Financial Record Maintenance Financial Monitoring Systems Reconciliation of Expenditures Data Entry and Verification Financial Reporting Budget Preparation Support Payment Calculation and Authorization Bank Liaison Cost Estimation Budget Analysis Risk Management IT Literacy (MS Office, PeopleSoft)

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