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WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.
About WFP
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide 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.
Standard Minimum Qualifications
Education: Advanced University degree in Finance, Business Administration, Accounting, or related fields, or First University degree in the same subject(s) with additional years of related 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.
Language: International Professional: Fluency (level C) in English language. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or WFP’s working language, Portuguese.
National Professional: Fluency (level C) in English language and the duty station’s language, if different.
Organizational Context
The selected candidate will report to a more senior Finance Officer, providing general financial support. Depending on the size and needs of the office or unit, the job may cover all aspects of finance, budget, and administration, or it may emphasize finance or more of these aspects. Job holders at this level operate with minimal supervision, and provide guidance to junior staff to ensure that operation and project objectives are achieved. They are heavily involved in day-to-day activities and analytical work, and provide advice on less complex issues, applying rules and regulations and expertise in making determinations and recommendations across a range of activities.
Job Purpose
To 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.
Key Accountabilities (not all-inclusive)
- Support corporate finance and resource management strategies and major ongoing programmatic initiatives, participating where appropriate using finance and resource management expertise;
- Contribute towards the development of country specific plans and processes, aligned with Regional and wider WFP strategy, policies and processes to meet the food assistance needs of beneficiaries within the Country;
- Analyse and report on key data for financial status and outcomes of projects in accordance with corporate governance requirements, ensuring accuracy, deadlines, and accounting processes are complied with;
- Monitor and analyse budgets for new and ongoing projects according to established corporate procedures and requirements;
- Perform bank reconciliations, disbursements, clearance of receivables, overall cash management and monthly financial closures on a regular basis in accordance with corporate requirements;
- Where necessary, deliver core administrative services, working with contractors and following standard processes to provide cost-effective, quality and timely services to WFP staff;
- Where necessary, undertake basic human resource functions related to staff benefits, recruitment of local staff, and training;
- Collate and analyse data for the preparation of accurate and timely reporting, in order to provide management with financial, accounting and budgetary information to enable them to make informed decisions;
- Track and analyse data to identify opportunities for improvements to policies, systems and procedures in order to minimise financial risks, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations, and ensure services are aligned with business objectives;
- Deliver financial controls and insight into WFP performance, undertaking periodic risk and internal control assessments to identify areas which may present potential audit, compliance or financial risks;
- Guide and supervise more junior staff, acting as a point of referral and supporting them with more complex analysis and queries;
- Represent unit/CO at internal meetings, external meetings and events with other UN agencies, banks and other financial institutions, or other partners and entities as required;
- Follow standard emergency preparedness practices to ensure WFP is able to quickly respond and deploy food and needed resources to affected areas at the onset of the crisis;
- Other as required.
4Ps Core Organizational Capabilities
Purpose
- Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Understands WFP’s Strategic Objectives and the link to own work objectives;
- Be a force for positive change: Flexibly adapts individual contributions to accommodate changes in direction from supervisors and internal/external changes (such as evolving needs of beneficiaries, new requirements of partners);
- Make the mission inspiring to our team: Recognizes and shares with team members the ways in which individual contributions relate to WFP’s mission;
- Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Sets own goals in alignment with WFP’s overall operations, and is able to communicate this link to others.
People
- Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Assesses own strengths and weaknesses to increase self-awareness, and includes these in conversations on own developmental needs;
- Create an inclusive culture: Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinion of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment;
- Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence, and develop and improve individual skills;
- Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.
Performance
- Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Shows willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work;
- Focus on getting results: Consistently delivers results within individual scope of work on time, on budget and without errors;
- Make commitments and make good on commitments: Commits to upholding individual accountabilities and responsibilities in the face of ever-changing country or functional priorities;
- Be Decisive: Makes rational decisions about individual activities when faced with uncertain circumstances, including in times of ambiguity regarding information or manager direction;
Partnership
- Connect and share across WFP units: Seeks to understand and adapt to internal or cross-unit teams’ priorities and preferred working styles;
- Build strong external partnerships: Demonstrates ability to understand and appropriately respond to and/or escalate needs of external partners;
- Be politically agile & adaptable: Portrays an informed and professional demeanor toward internal and external partners and stakeholders;
- Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Provides operational support on analyses and assessments that quantifies and demonstrates WFP’s unique value as a partner;
Functional Capabilities
| Capability Name | Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level |
| Internal Controls & Compliance | Utilizes understanding of risk management approaches and internal controls to monitor projects and programmes to confirm regulatory compliance and ensure data integrity. |
| 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 analyze effectiveness and financial viability. |
| Resources Management (People, time, assets, etc.) | Monitors trends in staffing and resource usage to anticipate and escalate potential issues to programme leaders. |
| Financial Management and 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. |
| Supply Chain and Operations Knowledge | Demonstrates thorough understanding of WFP programme and financial policies, business processes and applies these in the implementation or support of WFP programme interventions. |