Finance Assistant
Organizational Context
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, dedicated to saving lives in emergencies and building pathways to peace and prosperity. WFP utilizes food assistance to support people recovering from conflict, disasters, and climate change impacts. The organization values diversity, inclusion, and a commitment to its mission, striving for a skilled and high-performing workforce.
Job Purpose
The Finance Assistant SC5 will provide essential procedural and technical support to the Finance Unit in the Djibouti Country Office. This role is crucial for ensuring the effective and efficient management of financial resources, supporting WFP's mission by assisting in the correct planning, disbursement, and tracking of funds. Key responsibilities include monitoring budgets, analyzing variances, processing vendor payments in compliance with WFP policies and donor requirements, and maintaining accurate financial records. The assistant will also manage petty cash, verify claims, and act as the travel focal point for finance-related settlements. This position contributes to strengthening internal controls and compliance frameworks, ensuring timely and accurate financial operations and reporting to support operational needs and resource optimization.
Responsibilities
The Finance Assistant plays a crucial role in supporting the Finance Unit by ensuring the effective and efficient management of financial resources. Key responsibilities include providing procedural and technical assistance to staff regarding finance and budget matters, ensuring strict adherence to WFP financial policies and regulations. This involves conducting thorough budget monitoring and variance analysis, comparing actual expenditures against approved budgets and forecasts, and offering recommendations for cost control and resource optimization. The role also entails developing and maintaining financial dashboards, management reports, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to facilitate performance monitoring and effective resource utilization. Furthermore, the Finance Assistant is responsible for monitoring petty cash accounts, verifying vendor claims and advances, and ensuring timely and compliant payments. They retrieve, format, and validate financial data from various systems, addressing any discrepancies. A significant aspect of the role is contributing to the strengthening of internal controls and compliance frameworks, maintaining organized financial records, and acting as a travel focal point for processing payments and settlements. The position also involves providing guidance and training to support staff to ensure consistent service delivery and adherence to required standards, high standards.
Work Experience
Requires at least 5 years of experience in finance, accounting, budgeting, management control, financial audit, or financial analysis. Experience in preparing management reports, financial dashboards, and KPIs is also desired, along with a background in reviewing financial transactions for compliance with policies and internal controls.
Skills
Financial analysis, Budget monitoring, Variance analysis, Financial reporting, Petty cash management, Vendor claim verification, Procurement procedures, Financial data validation, Internal controls, Invoice processing, Payment processing, Travel expense management, Cost control, Resource optimization, Dashboard preparation, Accounting principles, Data analysis, Compliance, Organizational skills, Attention to detail, Time management, Interpersonal skills, Communication skills, Training and guidance, Adaptability, Problem-solving