Finance & Budget Assistant at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environment authority that sets the global environment agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. This position is located in the Programme Delivery & Management Unit (PDMU) of the Law Division in Nairobi, Kenya. Under the overall supervision of the Head of Unit, PDMU and the direct supervision of the Fund Management Officer, the incumbent will be responsible for the following:

Responsibilities

Budget:

• Assists in the preparation of supporting documents (narrative and supporting tables) with respect to finalization of cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements.
• Supports the Fund Management Officer in extracting information and generating expenditure reports from computerized information system databases; assists in preliminary analyses of the extracted
• information and the reports generated, and highlights areas of concern for the attention of the Fund Management Officer.
• Assists in the development of resource requirements for budget submissions and in the preparation of budget performance submissions.
• Researches/compiles data and other information required by the Fund Management Officer in the review and analysis of relevant proposals.
• Consolidates data and provides support to Fund Management Officer with respect to budget reviews of relevant intergovernmental and expert bodies.
• Assists the Fund Management Officer in the preparation/finalization of budget performance reports, performing preliminary analysis of variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Assist the Fund Management Officer in the preparation of budget performance reports, performing preliminary analysis of variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Assists the Fund Management Officer in the issuance of allotments and related staffing table authorizations.
• Verifies accuracy of input data, ensuring consistency of data in previous allotments to new allotments issued and reconcile Consumable Budget against cash received.

Finance:

• Prepares pre-commitments and commitments in UMOJA and review them to ensure that funds are available and the correct budgetline has been used.
• Assists in the financial backstopping of trust funds, including monitoring the status of voluntary contributions, generating expenditure reports from UMOJA and monitoring reporting requirements by donors. Reviews draft reports, verifying overall accuracy, consistency and uniformity in the presentation, and ensuring comprehensiveness and compliance with UMOJA; cross-checks consistency of figures in tables with the text of the reports, and verifies references to other reports and documents, bringing errors to the attention of the Finance/Budget Officers(s) concerned; ensures that all necessary corrections are incorporated in the reports; co-ordinates with other finance and budget staff on related issues during preparation of budget reports.
• •Tracking of invoices to ensure timely payments to vendors, •Assist in the start to end Grant Management actions, Donor reporting, closure and revision of Projects and Project structures.
• Processes payments to Implementing Partners (IP) and IP expenditure reports as submitted and certified by the Fund Management Officer
• Maintain an internal tracking tool for all legal agreements and ensure advances to implementing partners are cleared in time.
• Notifies payees of status of payments and follows up on rejected/unsuccessful payments
• Assists staff members, Fund Management Officers and donors regarding queries on payment and deposit-related issues.

General:

• Keeps up-to-date on documents/reports/guidelines that have a bearing on matters related to programme budgets, ensuring compliance with intergovernmental recommendations and decisions as well
• as with United Nations policies and procedures.
• Drafts routine correspondence with respect to enquiries related to relevant financial and budget matters.
• Maintains and keep up-to-date files and archives documentation as required.
• Provides administrative/ budget/ finance tasks to the Head of the organizational unit and/or Fund Management Officer, as required.
• Performs other related duties, as assigned.

Education

• High school diploma or equivalent is required. Excellent MS Excel Skills is desirable. Supplementary training in accounting is desirable.
• Passing the Global General Service Test (GGST) is a prerequisite for recruitment consideration in the General Services and related categories in the United Nations Secretariat. Successful passing of the Administrative Support Assessment Test (ASAT) in English at the United Nations Headquarters (UNHQ), Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) or International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) may be
• accepted in lieu of the GGST.
• The GGST is administered to applicants when required before the administration of a written assessment and/or interview.

Work Experience

• A minimum of five (5) years’ experience in finance, budget, accounting, administrative services or related area is required.
• Experience in working with Microsoft Word and Excel is desirable.
• Proven experience working with Enterprise Resource Platform (ERP) systems such as Systems Applications and Products (SAP) specifically on Grants, Funds Management Modules and Business Intelligence Reporting Tool is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage.