Finance Officer - World Food Programme

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency, fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to end global hunger. Every day, WFP works around the globe to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

We are building a Finance Officer Talent Pool that will be comprised of highly competent professionals who can play a key role in helping achieve zero hunger. All applicants will go through a comprehensive selection and assessment process to demonstrate their technical and organisational capabilities and the potential to grow and work across different field locations. Successful applicants will remain in the Talent Pool for 12 months, and can be considered for short or long-term international professional employment opportunities at entry and mid-management levels (P2, P3 and P4), in Country Offices, Regional Bureaux and Headquarters.

Strategic Purpose of the Function

The WFP Finance Function supports WFP’s mission through effective and efficient stewardship of and accountability for the organization’s resources. This extends not only to maintaining the highest standards of financial and budgetary management and financial reporting, but also to effective and strategic business partnership with other functions to provide innovative systems and solutions for WFP’s changing needs and operational contexts.

Job Purpose

· P2 level: Depending on the size and needs of the office or unit, the Finance Officers at the P2 level cover all aspects of finance, budget, and administration. They operate with minimal supervision, and provide guidance to junior staff to ensure that operation and project objectives are achieved. They support the stewardship of WFP’s resources, monitoring budgets, forecasting, analysing, reporting and providing core administrative support to enable effective management of funds, and ensure assistance to beneficiaries is undertaken in the most efficient and effective way possible.

· P3 level: Depending on the size and needs of the office or unit, Finance Officers at the P3 level cover all aspects of finance, budget, and administration. They work independently, using technical knowledge and expertise to analyse data, prepare reports, provide advice and solutions to problems, and identify opportunities for improvements. They develop core processes and procedures and manage the stewardship of WFP’s resources through monitoring financial and accounting data, analysing, and reporting and providing technical advice to enable effective management of funds, and ensure assistance to beneficiaries is undertaken in the most efficient and effective way possible. They establish team priorities and work plan.

· P4 level: Depending on the size and needs of the office or unit, Finance Officers at the P4 level cover all aspects of finance, budget, and administration. They have technical knowledge and experience required to identify, analyse and resolve more complex financial issues and provide technical expertise, advice and solutions that support strategic results, and formulate new strategies and technical approaches where appropriate. They manage the stewardship of WFP’s resources, coordinating the work of their team and/or managing the financial management and reporting requirements of regional operations. They leverage expertise to provide innovative strategies and technical approaches to financial matters, in order to ensure that assistance to Beneficiaries is undertaken in the most efficient and effective way.

Qualification Requirements

Education:

· Advanced University degree in Finance, Business Administration, Accounting or related fields, or First University degree in the same subject(s) with two additional years of relevant work experience plus membership in an international recognized professional accountancy body such as Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Institute of Certified Public Accounts (ICPA) or equivalent.

Experience:

· P2 level: At least three years of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience in the relevant field.

· P3 level: At least five years of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience in the relevant field.

· P4 level: At least eight years (of which three international) of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience in the relevant field.

Functional Capabilities*(scope of capabilities will vary by grade level)*:

· Internal Controls & Risk Management - Demonstrates in-depth knowledge of internal controls and proper accounting procedures and systems to recommend improvements where necessary to address current weaknesses and mitigate risks to mission-critical WFP operations.

· Performance Budgeting, Reporting & Analysis - Manages budget, business planning, and forecasting discussions on a programme-wide level, integrating financial resource information from a portfolio of projects to analyse effectiveness and financial viability.

· Resources Management (People, time, assets, etc.) - Oversees staffing for HQ and Field resources at the programme level, taking resource usage trends and forecasting data into account.

· Performance Management - Demonstrates thorough understanding of WFP’s performance management system and ability to manage resources and relationships to lead monitoring actions or deliver complex evaluations (including joint & inter-agency) of a variety of WFP programmes, processes or policies to WFP monitoring and/or evaluation quality standards.

· Financial Management & Accounting Principles - Monitors and advises senior leaders on the financial status of projects and programmes, tracking outcomes to ensure transparent and effective utilization of resources.

Organisational Capabilities:

· Purpose – ability to align individual purpose to WFP’s mission.

· People- support our people to be the best equipped to serve our beneficiaries.

· Partnership – lead across boundaries to deliver the best for our beneficiaries.

· Performance – deliver practical, sustainable, solutions to achieve WFP’s mission.

Language:

· Fluency in oral and written English.

· Although intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is mandatory for fixed-term posts, for some roles exceptions may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Desirable Requirements*(scope of requirements will vary by grade level)*:

· Experience in specialized finance area in Country Office settings.

· Experience in developing financial policies and procedures.

Terms and Conditions

For fixed-term appointment, WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package, including basic salary, post adjustment, relocation entitlement, travel and shipment allowances, 30 days’ annual leave, home leave, an education grant for dependent children, pension plan and medical insurance. For more details about the UN grading system and the compensation package, please visit icsc.un.org

HOW TO APPLY:

ApplicationProcedures:

Go to: http://bit.ly/1tbxqO6

Step 1: Click on “Description” to better understand the actual accountabilities and requirements at different levels.

Step 2: Click on “Apply” to create an online CV and answer application questions to submit your application.

Deadline for applications:31 January 2015