Job Opportunity at UNHCR

Position Available: Finance Associate

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Finance Associate is normally supervised by a more senior finance colleague who defines general work objectives and provides necessary advice and guidance. The incumbent also refers to UNHCR Manuals and relevant policy papers on financial issues. The incumbent assists with the processing of financial transactions. S/he keeps frequent contact with staff at various levels in the office and with bank officials to exchange information. The incumbent may supervise some support staff.
All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial
competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity

Operational Context
The Finance Associate will be based in Bangkok, with UNHCR Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, under the direct supervision of the Regional Controller. The incumbent will be assisting the Bureau on two distinct areas:
1. Since the August 2021 events in Afghanistan, the Regional Bureau (RB) has been providing considerable support to the Afghanistan Operation to carry due diligence activities to ensure that the funds entrusted by donors to UNHCR are used for the right purpose and no diversion of resources is taking place. With the recent Security Council resolution 2615 (2021) the operation is required to make sure there are sufficient efforts on its part to ensure the funds are not diverted and no entities or individuals on the UN Sanctions list benefit from financial payments. Currently any payment that
UNHCR makes to partners, vendors are first reviewed in detail to make sure that individuals collecting those payments do not appear on the UN Sanctions lists. These screenings are performed through UNHCR’s Regional Bureau for Asia and Pacific to ensure segregation of duties and also to prevent any undue influence or security risks. Bureau uses special tool for those screening. The incumbent of this position will dedicate 50% of her/his time to this exercise.
2. The Regional Bureau (RB) is starting a small-scale pilot of providing remote support to one of its operations to process the financial transaction from Bureau. Development of centralized capacity at regional level for financial operational support offers a unique opportunity to the Bureau to focus the scarce resources on core activities and lower the operational support cost to programme implementation, strengthening internal controls, particularly in operations which are small; and where ensuring internal controls (such as segregation of duties) is a challenge. Following the recent OIOS
audit of MCO Australia, one of the audit findings pointed out the lack of sufficient controls in the operation in the financial management linked to the small size of the operation and limited number of administrative/finance staff. Bureau will be testing the business model of running the financial transactions of the MCO Australia centrally from Bureau. Operationalization of this pilot requires to increase the capacity of the Bureau regional finance team. The incumbent of this position will dedicate 50% of her/his time to this exercise.
Degree in Financial management and/ or accounting is required. Prior experience in project management and business analytics would be preferred.

Duties
– Support country operations in the region by conducting due diligent search requests against the UN Sanction list.
– Maintain financial records and monitoring systems to record and reconcile expenditures, balances, payments, statements and other data for day-to-day transactions and reports.
– Select and enter data from a wide variety of documents, verifying accuracy by checking sources, making necessary calculations and assuring inclusion of all relevant data.

– Prepare recurring reports as scheduled and special reports as required for budget preparation, audits or other reasons.
– Advise and assist staff members, experts and consultants on all aspects of allowances, salary advances, travel claims and other financial matters, calculate and authorize payments due for claims and services.
– Maintain liaison with officials of local banks to obtain day-to-day information on exchange and interest rates, changes in procedures and regulations and matters pertaining to maintenance of office bank accounts.
– Prepare detailed cost estimates and participate in budget analysis and projections as required.
– Initiate correspondence to verify data, answer queries and obtain additional information on accounts and financial transactions, as required.
– Verify that the financial transactions are correct and in accordance with UNHCR rules and procedures.
– Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For G6 – 3 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 2 years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher
Field(s) of Education
Degree in financial management, accounting is required*.
Certificates and/or Licenses
Accounting; Business Administration, Finance;
Relevant Job Experience
Essential
High level of IT affinity (MS Office applications, People Soft).
Desirable
Knowledge and work experience of MSRP Finance applications. Good knowledge of UN/UNHCR Financial rules and procedures.
Completion of UNHCR learning programmes or specific training relevant to the functions of the position.
Functional Skills
IT-Computer Literacy*;
FI-PeopleSoft Financial Management;
UN-UN/UNHCR Financial Rules and Regulations and Procedures;
IT-Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP);
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Language Requirements
Fluent in English and Thai

Core Competencies
Accountability
Communication
Organizational Awareness
Teamwork & Collaboration
Commitment to Continuous Learning
Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies
Managing Resources

Cross-Functional Competencies
Analytical Thinking
Technological Awareness
Planning and Organizing