Accounts Specialist, Statutory Reporting Unit, Finance Branch, Division for Management Services, New York, P-4

UNFPA • New York, NY

4h

About The Position

The Accounts Specialist, based at UNFPA Headquarters (HQ) in New York, is responsible for leading the Finance Branch (FB) Statutory Reporting Unit (SRU) team. The incumbent reports to the Chief of Accounts, Finance Branch.
The Finance Branch is responsible for global finance and accounting including providing guidance and oversight for financial management to country, regional and headquarters offices. The Branch advances and owns key financial policies and processes, statutory and donor reporting, treasury services, ensuring the ERP and related systems are configured to implement, manage, and report on key financial processes, and that the organisation reports based on the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
The SRU is responsible for the establishing and maintaining the IPSAS environment within UNFPA, including strengthening policies and systems for IPSAS compliance. The unit coordinates annual accounts closure, prepares IPSAS-compliant financial statements and other UNFPA statutory reports and liaises with auditors on accounting related matters.
Under the overall supervision of the Chief Accounts, the Accounts Specialist supports continuous strengthening of UNFPA compliance with IPSAS, supports the transition to new IPSASs through policy, systems and operational processes and the preparation of UNFPA’s financial statements and other statutory and management reports.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree in Finance, Accounting or related fields.
• An internationally recognized professional accountancy qualification, combined with a bachelor’s degree in the above-mentioned fields, will be deemed equivalent to an advanced degree for this position.
• At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in accounting or financial auditing, with a minimum of 4 years of supervisory and coordination experience.
• Experience in both directly preparing and supervising the preparation of financial statements with global and complex datasets.
• Demonstrated experience in applying IFRS or IPSAS.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing accounting and/or financial policies and procedures and standard operating procedures.
• Demonstrated experience in the use of data reporting and analytics tools.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Exemplifying integrity,
• Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system,
• Embracing cultural diversity,
• Embracing change
• Achieving results,
• Being accountable,
• Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,
• Thinking analytically and strategically,
• Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,
• Communicating for impact
• Deep understanding of financial accounting and reporting,
• Deep understanding of International Public Sector Accounting Standards or International Financial Reporting Standards,
• Sound understanding of internal control and risk management frameworks and processes,
• Sound understanding of the financial management, accounting and reporting functions of ERP systems,
• Ability to analyze financial management, accounting and reporting issues, applying sound technical principles, data and informed professional judgment, and to present solution alternatives with a clear articulation of their risks and consequences,
• Excellent MS Excel skills and experience with ERP and database systems,
• Excellent written and spoken communications skills,
• Strong client service orientation,
• Ability to manage a diverse team with a strong drive for excellence and results
• Providing strategic focus,
• Engaging internal and external partners and stakeholders,
• Leading, developing, and empowering people/creating a culture of performance,
• Making decisions and exercising judgment.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting financial systems implementations, including development of business requirements, data conversion and migration, testing and user training, an advantage.
• In-depth understanding of financial management and operations processes in the United Nations an advantage.
• Experience working with the Oracle ERP system is a significant advantage.
• Working knowledge of other official UN languages is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Serve as UNFPA’s lead technical resource on IPSAS matters.
• Support the Chief, Accounts and Financial Management and represent UNFPA in inter-agency accounting forums, including preparation of technical inputs, analyses and briefing materials for the United Nations Task Force on Accounting Standards.
• Stay abreast of the work performed by the IPSAS Board, analyzing the impact of proposed new or updated standards on UNFPA operations, and contributing to the development of joint UN positions in response to issued consultation papers and exposure drafts.
• Lead UNFPA efforts to adopt new or updated standards once issued by the IPSAS Board.
• Lead the development and update of accounting policies, procedures and guidance documents, working closely with key internal stakeholders and business process owners, to sustain and improve IPSAS compliance at UNFPA.
• Periodically review the processes put in place for sustaining IPSAS compliance and introduce enhancements and innovative solutions to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.
• Lead the review and analysis of complex, new and/or non-standard contractual arrangements and projects to determine their IPSAS-compliant accounting treatment, and document the review results in position papers and operational guidance documents.
• Supervise accounting in selected specialized areas, including employee benefits, intangible assets, leases, financial instruments and other areas. This includes developing and implementing systems and procedures to achieve IPSAS-compliant accounting, ensuring the timely completion of periodic account balance analyses and reconciliations, valuations and adjustments; and performing data collection, validation and correction activities. Provide technical input to other business units, such as SCMU that lead on material account balances.
• Develop and implement second line controls within the purview of the SRU. Monitor compliance with the applicable corporate policies and procedures; identify and enquire about potential exceptions, and support and supervise the implementation of corrective actions.
• Support and supervise the annual closure of accounts, including issuance of closing instructions and associated schedules, and putting in place remedial actions in case of delays or unforeseen events affecting the closure.
• Lead the preparation of IPSAS-compliant financial statements ensuring they are accurate, complete, adequately supported and timely finalized.
• Support the preparation of other statutory financial reports assigned to the SRU, such as the annual Statistical and Financial Review submitted to the UNFPA Executive Board.
• Ensure the provision of timely and accurate financial information to other HQ units for inclusion in the reports for which they are responsible.
• Develop and oversee the implementation of quality assurance controls over the information included in the financial statements and other statutory reports. This includes in-depth financial information analyses, periodic enquiries of high risk areas / transactions, development of lessons learnt analyses and implementation of improvement activities; providing support to business units in clean-up activities; and developing measures for minimizing user errors.
• Support and supervise the development of financial management performance reports in selected areas highlighting main financial results and trends; key risks, instances of noncompliance and other issues affecting the areas covered; and provide recommendations for management action.
• Act as the primary technical focal point for statutory reporting and IPSAS related external and internal audit matters, coordinating responses and remediation actions for identified audit recommendations.
• Serve as functional subject matter expert and delegated business owner for SRU-related financial accounting and reporting solutions, including the development and quality assurance of business requirements and system specifications; testing; data migration; user training and other project activities. Act as the owner of the General Ledger module.
• Champion implementation of the new ERP modules to achieve business process transformations and gain operational efficiencies in the areas under SRU purview such as annual closure of accounts, and accounting areas under SRU purview.
• Serve as a business owner for the portfolio of key financial reports to be built in the new ERP environment for sustaining IPSAS compliance in UNFPA, including the financial statements; lead preparation of business requirements and the reports testing and roll-out.
• Continuously review and improve the processes and activities under the purview of the SRU, with the ultimate goals of increasing effectiveness and efficiency, integrating lessons learnt and best practices, and addressing new risks.
• Organize, prepare materials, and facilitate training sessions and webinars to support the rollout of system changes and process enhancements.
• Identify field office and HQ unit capacity development needs in areas under the purview of the SRU.
• Organize, prepare materials, and facilitate training sessions and webinars to address the needs identified.
• Actively maintain the content of the Financial Management Community as regards financial accounting and reporting areas under the purview of the SRU.
• Ensure the work of the SRU staff is properly planned, coordinated, and supervised.
• Develop and sustain a rigorous professional environment and support the acquisition of requisite skills by the team through coaching, on-the-job training, and continuous learning.
• Act as approving officer for selected transactions.
• Represent the FB in corporate initiatives, special projects and assignments, and interagency activities as assigned.
• Perform any other activities assigned by the Chief, Accounts and the Chief, FB.

Benefits

• This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.
• UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance.
• We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply.
• Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply.
• Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process.
• UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees