Senior Finance and Budget Officer Job, P5 at United Nations Environment Programme

• Carry out strategic financial planning and management of UNEP financial resources in accordance with UNEP and UN financial rules.
• Coordinate submission of biennial Programme of Work (PoW) budget and Regular Budget to the UNEP Governing Council and General Assembly.
• Ensures legislative mandates are accurately translated into programme budgets; plans and co-ordinates review of budget submissions.
• Reviews, analyses and finalizes cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements; ensures compliance with the medium-term plan and other legislative mandates.
• Manages/issues allotments, authorizes sub-allotments, including redeployment of funds when necessary, ensuring appropriate expenditures.
• Monitors expenditures to ensure that they remain within authorized levels.
• Administers and monitors extra-budgetary resources, including review of agreements and cost plans, ensuring compliance with regulations and rules and established policies and procedures.
• Oversees the review and finalization of budget performance reports; monitors variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Prepares/finalizes reports for intergovernmental bodies and for management on budgetary issues, and correspondence, including guidelines, instructions.
• Acts as Certifying Officer under Financial Rules to ensure that proposed obligations and expenditures are in accordance with budgets and established regulations and rules.

Finance & Accounting

• Oversees the financial function of the Organization which includes a number of different and diverse operations and interrelated accounts of the financial system. The incumbent is expected to review the operational objectives and related financial policies and procedures affecting the Organization’s accounting and financial systems. S/he also takes the lead in designing and implementing required changes.
• Ensures that UNEP’s financial statements are International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) compliant.
• Directs the agile implementation of upgrades to the various modules the system.
• Keeps up to date with new IPSAS policies and implements in conjunction with UNON.
• Liaises with UNON, Administrative/Fund Management Officers (A/FMOs), and auditors as required to identify and resolve finance issues. Provide support and guidance on financial aspects of legal agreements.
• Ensures the financial data integrity of Umoja and the controls that underpin them.
• Reviews UNEP financial statements and provides authoritative advice to UNEP Senior Management including financial interpretations, adaptations and corrective actions in response to audits and other queries to ensure adherence to Financial Regulations and Rules, Staff Rules, Administrative Instructions, Bulletins and Circulars.

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in business administration, finance, accounting or related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• Certification as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chartered Accountant (CA), Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) or equivalent is desirable.

Work Experience

• A minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in finance, administration, budget, business administration or related area is required.
• Extensive experience in implementing and applying IPSAS standards is required.
• Experience with preparing annual financial statements for large international organisations is required.
• Experience with use of finance modules in ERP system to perform analysis and produce reports is desirable.
• Experience with developing and reviewing financial and legal arrangements with project implementing partners is desirable