Finance Specialist, Banda Aceh

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)

Major provider of project management and implementation services to the United Nations System and developing countries

Location: Indonesia (Banda Aceh)
Closing date: 06 Feb 2008

Job Description

UNOPS helps its partners in the United Nations system meet the world?s needs for building peace, recovering from disaster, and creating sustainable development. UNOPS is known for its ability to implement complex projects in all types of environments around the globe. In an effort to promote organizational excellence, UNOPS seeks highly qualified individuals for the following position:

Vacancy Details:
Vacancy Code: IDOC-08-APO-VA01;
Post Title: Finance Officer;
Post Level: ALD A-3 (equivalent to P-3);
Org Unit: 44648- UNICEF Reconstruction of Schools in Aceh and Nias, Indonesia;
Duty Station: Banda Aceh, Indonesia;
Duration: 12 months, renewable;
Closing Date: 6 February 2008.

Background:
The ongoing UNICEF/UNOPS School Construction Project is involved in construction of primary schools in Banda Aceh, Calang, Meulaboh and Nias in response to devastating Tsunami and Earthquake of 2004 & 2005 respectively. The Project Management Unit is responsible to provide services which include procurement, financial management, logistics, human resources and administration. As a part of the support services the UNOPS Indonesia Operations Centre needs a Finance Officer to provide financial management services.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Finance Officer?s responsibility will mainly focus on managing the project budget, making payments, accounting of the expenditure and financial monitoring & reporting. The incumbent will work closely under the supervision of the IDOC Director and on the other hand, the incumbent will also provide leadership to a group of support staff involved in the area of finance and its 4 (four) field offices. Within the delegated authority, the Finance Officer will be responsible, but not limited to, for the following functions:

I) Budget Management:
- Prepare draft operational budget for the Project management Unit (PMU) and the 4 (four) Field Offices (FO) in accordance with UNOPS rules & procedures and budgetary guidelines;
- Review for reasonableness and process ?Requests for Funds? for FOs from approved PIP budget bearing in mind FO budget submissions and allotments for their respective operational budgets and monitor expenditure levels against allotments;
- Play an active role in the preparation of the Programme Implementation Plan taking a lead in the finalizing the budget for submission to UNICEF;
- Prepare periodic budget revisions in light of changing expenditure patterns.

II) Payments:
- Approve payments to all vendors dependent on payments from the IDOC Imprest Account on a timely and orderly manner bearing in mind UNOPS financial rules and regulations;
- Pay particular attention and ensure the timely processing of payments due to contractors once the ?completeness? of their interim certificates is verified and found to be satisfactory;
- Whenever possible curtail the turn around time for processing contractors? payments to the extent that improvement on ?turn around time? of payments to contractors should be institutionalized as a ?performance indicator? for Finance Assistants and Associates.

III) Accounting of the Expenditure:
- Oversee the timely and proper processing and inputting of expenditure data into Peoplesoft thus reflecting real time delivery on the project;
- Ensure periodic replenishment and whenever necessary ?Special Replenishments? of the Imprest Account are prepared on a timely basis thus putting in place a system that would engender a regular and sustainable flow of funds to sustain project activities;
- Ensure timely preparation and maintenance of accounting records and financial statements in accordance with UNOPS financial rules and regulations;
- Lead the reconciliation of BRIO and Imprest account statements to check for consistency and whenever necessary take remedial action to correct irreconcilable variations in figures and transactions;
- Carry out periodic review of PO balances and undertake necessary corrective actions;
- Institutionalize quality control by reviewing, analyzing and reconciling project accounts.

IV) Treasury Function:
- Oversee finance office staff undertake monthly bank reconciliation;
- Liaises and resolves with the bank any discrepancies found in the reconciliation;
- Prepare cash flow projections and analyses cash requirements of the PMU and FOs.

V) Financial Monitoring & Reporting:
- Prepare periodic Imprest returns and replenishment requests for submission to UNOPS Asia and the Pacific Regional Office (APO);
- Prepare monthly, quarterly, six-monthly or yearly reports to track budget, expenditures and balance in formats as determined by IDOC or UNICEF;
- Put in place adequate internal controls and ensure compliance to these internal control mechanisms;
- Identify weaknesses in IDOC financial management systems and recommend appropriate controls to strengthen processes and procedures to mitigate risk.

VI) Others:
- Prepare draft documents for internal & external audit and respond to audit queries & observations;
- Perform duties of the Verifying/Alternative Verifying Officer of the Imprest Account;
- Any other duty as requested by the Director of IDOC.

Required Selection Criteria:

Competencies:
- Sound knowledge in the field of financial management of UN/UNOPS;
- Ability to quickly respond to the needs of the client within the permissible financial rules and regulations of UNOPS;
- Knowledge of Peoplesoft is a requirement. Knowledge of FASS is an advantage;
- Ability to work under difficult conditions;
- Ability to understand local cultural sensitivities and to adjust to the situation;
- Dynamic and creative, using innovative approaches to overcome locally generated challenges;
- Demonstrated behavior of professional and personal ethics, transparency and openness;
- Proven ability as self-starting team player, able to take appropriate initiatives to further team interests.

Education/Experience/Language:
- Advance University Degree in accounting, finance or other related field from a recognized university;
- At least five years progressive experience in project accounting and financial reporting in a computerized environment;
- Working experience with UNOPS or any other UN organ?s financial rules & regulations is an asset;
- Understanding of IFRS/IPSAS/IAS/GAAP desirable;
- Very good understanding of double entry accounting and preparation of financial statements;
- Fluency in English is highly required.

Additional Considerations:
- Applications received after the closing date will not be considered;
- Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified;
- Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply;
- UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a level below the advertised level of the post.

For more information on UNOPS, including its core values and competencies, please visit the UNOPS website at www.unops.org.

Vacancies Contact

Qualified candidates may submit their application, including a letter of interest, complete Curriculum Vitae and an updated United Nations Personal History Form (P.11), to:
Siamak Moghaddam, Portfolio Manager, via e-mail to vacanciesbkk@unops.org
Kindly indicate the vacancy number and the post title when applying (in the subject line by e-mail).