Financial Management Officer - UNOPS - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Vacancy code: VA/2013/B5501/1704

Position title: Financial Management Officer

Level: ICS-11

Department/office: APO, Bangkok

Duty station: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Contract type: Fixed Term

Contract level: P4

Duration: 1 year with possibility of extension

Application period: 11-Jan-2013 to 27-Jan-2013

Background Information - UNOPS

“UNOPS plays a critical role in providing management services for our life-saving, peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations. I have seen many examples of how these activities help suffering people in troubled parts of the world.”
-Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General

UNOPS mission is to expand the capacity of the UN system and its partners to implement peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations that matter for people in need.

Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, UNOPS vision is to always satisfy partners with management services that meet world-class standards of quality, speed and cost effectiveness.

By assisting UN organizations, international financial institutions, governments and other development partners, UNOPS makes significant, tangible contributions to results on the ground.

UNOPS employs more than 6000 personnel and on behalf of its partners creates thousands more work opportunities in local communities. With its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, a network of five regional offices and a further 20 operations and project centres, UNOPS oversees activities in more than 80 countries.

UNOPS is committed to achieving a truly diverse workforce.

 

Background Information - APO

Asia and the Pacific Regional Office
The Asia and the Pacific Regional Office is based in Bangkok, Thailand, and was established in 1995 to bring UNOPS closer to partners in the region. The regional office provides implementation support and project management services to operations throughout the region, supplying financial oversight of projects, procuring goods and services, and managing human resources. It helps ensure that projects are executed to the highest standards, ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are shared within the region and beyond.

Background Information - Job-specific

In December 2012, UNOPS was selected by the Cambodia Country Coordinating Mechanism for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS,Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) to become the Principal Recipient (PR) for the Single Stream of Funding (SSF) Malaria grant for Cambodia. The management responsibility for this grant will be handed over to UNOPS on April 1st 2013.
As the designated Principal Recipient for the Global Fund SSF Malaria grant, UNOPS is responsible for the quality financial management, timely procurement of supplies and service delivery as well as efficient monitoring and evaluation of grant implementation activities.  From early 2013 UNOPS will have to complete all the groundwork to start-up the Principal Recipient operations so that there is minimal lag between grant signature and full commencement of operations. 

 

Functional Responsibilities

Under the guidance and supervision of the Programme Coordinator for the Global Fund Cambodia Malaria grant, the Financial Management Officer is responsible for effective delivery of financial services, transparent utilization of financial resources.He/she analyzes and interprets the financial rules and regulations and provides solutions to a wide spectrum of complex financial issues. The Financial Management Officer promotes a collaborative, client-oriented approach consistent with UNOPS rules and regulations and shall focus on the following results outlined below:

Effective and accurate financial resources management and oversight:

• Elaboration on proposals for planning of financial resources of the GFATM grant, continuous analysis and monitoring of the financial situation and presentation of forecasts for development and management projects: provision of high-quality professional advice to the Programme Coordinator.
• Proper planning, expenditure tracking and audit of financial resources, in accordance with UNOPS financial rules and regulations, organizational directives and administrative instructions
• Organization and oversight of the PR grant management unit cash management processes,including liquidity management, management of in-country funds flow mechanisms,risk assessment, bank relationship management, timely accounting and reconciliation of all transactions, security for cash assets on site.
• Monitoring of financial exception reports for unusual activities, transactions and investigation of anomalies or unusual transactions. Provision of information to supervisors and other UNOPS staff at RO and HQ on the results of the investigation when satisfactory answers are not obtained.
• Identification of problems in financial and administrative areas, suggesting alternative solutions to resolve issues in compliance with broader UNOPS policies, rules and procedures.

Implementation of operational strategies and procedures:

• Full compliance of financial activities, financial recording/reporting system and audit follow up with UNOPS rules, regulations, policies and strategies;implementation of effective internal control, proper design and functioning of the financial resources management system.
• Elaboration/establishment of internal standard operating procedures and control of the workflows in the Finance Unit.
• Elaboration and implementation of cost-saving and reduction strategies.
• Up-to-date on policy developments on UNOPS financial management issues.

Timely budgetpreparation and effective monitoring and control:

• Coordination of the preparation of the field operating budget; review of budget submissions,regular analysis and reporting on the budget approvals and the delivery situation; monitoring of expenditures against budget allotments and reporting on variances
• Identification of administrative budgetary requirements; provision of guidance on guidelines for budget preparation, the format to be used in reflecting budget proposals and the procedures for submission to facilitate consolidation at the global level.
• Review,analysis and revision of data with respect to the finalization of cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements submitted by project managers; review of budget proposals for reasonableness,consistency with the organizational goals and priorities.
• Timely financial reports for submission to the funding agency in accordance with UNOPS rules, and in line with the established procedures.
• Review and appropriate recommendations with respect to the finalization of budget performance reports, analyzing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures
• Review and update of GF-specific guidelines, procedures in light of changing circumstances or for the purpose of complying, streamlining and/or strengthening of existing financial and budgetary procedures

Operations Centre cash management and treasury functions:

• Timely review of cash position for local accounts to ensure sufficient funds on hand for disbursements; identification and recording of receipts for income application.
• Timely review of bank statements in ATLAS to monitor cash levels; and for the identification and recording of receipts.
• Establishment of efficient local banking arrangements and compliance with local financial and banking regulations.
• Establishment and maintenance of local fund flow mechanisms for implementing partners and sub-recipients.
• Building of project capacity to effect payments using a financial management system(Atlas) or local bank accounts.
• Monitoring of the delivery and income of the portfolio; planning and adjustment of expenditures for the administrative budget
• Discussion and communication with the Portfolio Specialist the savings or potential concerns that may require further review.
• Analysis of trends and forecasting of income from projects and other sources.

Control of Operations Centre accounts and payments:

• Analysis and elaboration of proposals for the internal expenditures’ control system which ensures that vouchers processed are matched and completed, transactions are correctly recorded and posted in ATLAS; payrolls are duly prepared; travel claims and other entitlements are duly processed.
• Quality control of the account by performing ongoing review, analysis and reconciliation of accounts. Investigation of discrepancies and initiation of timely corrective actions on unposted vouchers, including the vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions, unapproved vouchers. Timely response to RO & HQ requests to resolve financial data issues.
• Control of the Accounts Receivables for UNOPS projects and follow up with partners on contributions, maintenance of the General Ledger.
• Ensuring proper maintenance of the field financial accounts; preparation of financial records, statements and reports as required or approval of the work of subordinates; coordination of field replies to internal and external audit queries;
• Ensuring proper receipt, management, safeguarding and disbursement of payments handled by the field; review, modification, initiation and implementation of internal control procedures in coordination with Headquarters;
• Proper control of the supporting documents for payments; preparation of all types of vouchers; Pay Cycle and payments execution.

• Other duties as may be assigned by the PR Programme Coordinator for UNOPS Cambodia.

The position will also include the oversight of the administrative function, including HR, ICT, security etc
Impact of results:

• Well-coordinated and supervised team of national and international UNOPS Financial Unit Staff.
• Annual Work Plan developed for all financial activities and timeframes.

• Technical guidance and on-the-job training provided whereby work standards are achieved,both in terms of quantity/quality of input/output processed.
• Synthesis of lessons learned and best practices in Global Fund financial management.
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

• Timely, thorough, accurate and high quality reports on the financial management by PRs and SRs using appropriate Global Fund tools. This includes comprehensive & informative reports readily available for monitoring & evaluation of grant financial management, including compliance requirements and/ or recommendations for strengthening measures, including a timeframe, to resolve identified problems.

Responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans andprocedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

• Advanced University degree in Business Administration, Finance, Accounting or related discipline
• Certification as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chartered Accountant (CA) or equivalent highly desirable.
• Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible, job related experience in administration or finance with greater independence and decision-making authority for more complex budgets.
• Experience in managing finance functions, units, and staff essential.
• Proven experience in a wide-spectrum of operations-oriented financial management,including financial forecasting for project acquisition, budgeting, and project monitoring.
• Fluency in English is a must and knowledge of Khmer language is desirable.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrated ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor own workplan and those under his/her supervision.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct financial and budget analysis and to apply basic cost accounting principles and practices.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate technical financial matters in a simple and clear mannerto individuals not well-versed in the intricacies of financial management.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain effective work relationships with financialcounterparts and substantive offices.
• Willingness to travel in area of responsibility, including to hazardous duty stations.
• Demonstrated ability to write in a clear concise manner and to communicate effectivelyorally.
• Demonstrated ability to seek and apply knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside of UNOPS.
• Demonstrated ability to work successfully in a challenging environment where resources are accounted for in a transparent manner.
• Demonstrated ability to work with minimum supervision in a decentralised environment.

Skills:

• Proven conceptual analytical and evaluative skills and ability to conduct independentresearch and analysis, identifying issues, formulating options and makingconclusions and recommendations. A complete in-depth grasp of financialprinciples and practices.
• Excellent interpersonal, co-ordination and negotiation skills, and the ability toestablish and maintain effective working relations with people in amulti-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect fordiversity.
• Experience in the implementation of complex projects. Priorexperience in South or South-East Asia would be a significant asset.
• Good knowledge of donor organizations, especially the GlobalFund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria highly desirable. Prior experience and familiarity with thePR would be a significant asset.
• Excellent command ofthe English language; verbal and oral;
• Sound knowledge of relevant UN financial rules, contracting and procurement modalities and procedures. Knowledge of UNOPS rules and policies is an asset.
• Excellent planning, organisation and problem solving skills;
• Computer literate including knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint &Access. Knowledge of other software applications (such asdatabases) and ERP would be desirable.

Contract type, level and duration

Contract type: Staff
Contract level: P4
Contract duration: one year initially, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability

For more details about United Nations staff contracts, please follow this link:
http://www.unops.org/english/whoweneed/contract-types/Pages/United-Nations-staff-contracts.aspx

Additional Considerations

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time (CET)
• 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.
• For staff positions UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

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