Are you dedicated and motivated by helping those in need? Join our global mission as a Finance Assistant (G5) in the WFP Office in Budapest. This is an excellent opportunity to kickstart your career in finance, gain valuable experience and thrive in a dynamic, multicultural environment.

The vacancy is created to build a roster (talent pool) of pre-qualified candidates to fill future Finance Assistant positions in Budapest. This call for applications will remain open for continuous submissions until the roster is filled.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The Global Payments Solution Centre centralizes WFP’s accounts payable functions, alleviating the workload of Country Offices and enhancing efficiency, data quality, and service delivery. This strategic initiative is key to improving our financial operations. View our introductory video about the Budapest Global Payments Solutions Centre.

ABOUT THE ROLE

As a Finance Assistant, you will work under the supervision of the Finance Officer, contributing to the efficient delivery of finance services and the transparent utilization of financial resources. Finance Assistants provide support in the areas of:

• Accounts Payable: Support timely and accurate payments.

• General Accounting: Quarterly and annual financial statements preparation, development of IPSAS-compliant accounting policies, technical support on accounting issues, corporate financial oversight and coordination of external financial audits.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES (not all-inclusive, nor exhaustive):

Accounts Payable

• Assist in providing procedural and technical support to staff within the areas of finance and budget, to ensure compliance with WFP financial policies, rules and regulations.

• Verify vendor claims, advances and other receivables and observe appropriate procurement procedures, to ensure that suppliers are paid in a timely manner and in conformance with WFP finance rules and regulations.

• Ensure case and transactions accuracy, alignment with internal controls (eligibility, policy compliance and duplicate checking) and report any discrepancies to supervisors.

• Receive and open cases in the Case Management Platform, review relevant documentation for completeness, validity and conformity with current rules and regulations.

• Process transactions in SAP as initiated by case requests or regularly scheduled activities. This includes parking and processing various payable documents, offsetting of receivables and verifying the net liability.

• Ensure case and transactions accuracy, alignment with internal controls (eligibility, policy compliance and duplicate checking) and report any discrepancies to supervisors.

• Respond to customer cases status and other questions and escalate inquiries requiring more extensive research to the supervisor to determine the appropriate action based on case details.

• Update and close cases to reflect accurate status.

General Accounting

• WFP Headquarters (HQ) Bank Accounts Management: upload HQ bank statements and clear transactions in the General Ledger; perform reconciliations and prepare relevant reports; regularly monitor and clear treasury clearing accounts; meet regularly with concerned stakeholders on outstanding open items under treasury clearing accounts.

• Other Accounts Payable and Receivable: process outgoing invoices (prepare, facilitate signatures, and park accounting entries); manage Value Added Tax receivables, including uploads, adjustments, and reconciliations; support UNDP, FAO and UN New York payables, including troubleshooting; process expense accrual adjustments quarterly; manage UNDP service clearing accounts related tasks and transactional workload; regularly monitor assigned accounts and escalate issues to the supervisor; initiate adjustments for quarterly and year-end financial statements related adjustments; draft disclosure notes.

• Donor receivables and payables: regularly analyze open donor receivables and payables, follow up on overdue items with the concerned stakeholders; allocate donor contribution receipts to relevant grants; facilitate actualization of in-kind contributions with the concerned stakeholders and clear related donor open items; contribute to preparation of annual country reports with regard to donor receivables information; prepare quarterly donor contributions related treasury clearing account aging reports and acknowledgments of payments receipts to donors; facilitate refunds to donors.

• Fixed and intangible asset accounting and reporting: support in oversight acquisitions, disposal and transfers of fixed and intangible assets; process monthly amortization and depreciation; facilitate capitalization of intangible assets in cooperation with the concerned stakeholders; analyze supplies, consumables, and other expenses for potential errors and inconsistencies; assist in processing adjusting entries and draft disclosure notes for financial statements.

• Leases accounting and reporting: support in analyzing, accounting and reporting of leases in line with IPSAS 43 requirements; facilitate periodic reconciliations and agreement analyses; monitor automated processing in the concerned accounting systems; assist in preparing disclosure notes for the financial statements.

• Other accounting, system and compliance tasks: monitor parked documents and send alerts to the concerned users; act as vendor and customer master data focal point for the Branch and conduct annual master data review; support in processing of accounting transactions for WFP Global Offices; provide guidance on the financial and accounting topics to the users worldwide; support in addressing of internal and external audit queries.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Experience and education: At least 1 year of relevant work experience in a related business stream with experience in finance and accounting work.

For High School Diploma Holders: A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in finance and/or in a service center is required.

For University Degree Holders: A completed degree from an accredited institution in fields such as finance, project management, business studies, accounting, economics, mathematics, statistics, management information systems (MIS), industrial engineering, international relations, public administration, or social sciences will be considered equivalent to 4 years of work experience.

Language: Fluency (level C) in English language. Fluency (level C) or intermediate knowledge (level B) of another UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or Portuguese (a WFP working language) is desirable.

Essential Requirements:

• Strong focus on accuracy and consistency, while processing large volume of transactions.

• Experience in processing accounting and financial transactions and supporting in preparation of financial reports.

• Experience in monitoring, analyzing, interpreting and reporting data, using Excel and at least one of the following SAP ERP modules: Financial Accounting, Grants Management, Materials Management, Assets Accounting, and Funds Management.

• Knowledge and experience in the application of financial and accounting policies, IPSAS/IFRS/US GAAP or other accounting standards.

• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook).

• Good attention to details, teamwork, communication and client orientation skills, and ability to work in a multicultural environment.

Desirable Requirements:

• Experience in liaising on financial and accounting aspects with stakeholders from various functions and geographical locations.

• Experience in preparation of financial statements.

Discover Our Salaries and Benefits

When you join us, you will be employed on a fixed-term contract, initially for two years with a one-year probationary period.

We offer an attractive compensation and benefits package in line with ICSC standards, including:

• Hybrid working arrangement: Employees will have the option to work from home up to 2 days per week. Full office presence is required for the first month to ensure thorough training and onboarding.

• Competitive Salary: WFP offers an attractive remuneration package including a tax-free base salary starting at 9 208,000 HUF

• Annual Leave: 30 days

• Parental leave

• Child Allowance: Starting from 793,476 HUF per child

• Social Security Benefits: enrollment in the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF)

• Professional Development: Access to learning programs and professional development opportunities.

For more details about salary and benefits visit: Salary scale for General Service category, Budapest

TERMS AND CONDITIONS and ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Please note that this is a local recruitment for General Service staff.

• Applicants must reside within commuting distance (100 km or 1.5 hours travel time) of the WFP Budapest office (Central Udvar, Wesselényi u. 16, 1077 Budapest), or be willing to relocate at their own cost before taking up the assignment.

• Applicants must be nationals of Hungary or other EU/Schengen country OR in the possession of a valid long-term Hungarian residency and work permit. Temporary and/or sponsored visas are not accepted. WFP does not facilitate MFA accreditation for locally recruited staff. WFP shall not accept responsibility or liability to act as a sponsor or to otherwise facilitate the issuance, maintenance, renewal, extension, or conversion of the candidate's residency and/or work permit for employment with WFP. Please attach a copy of your work permit to your application submission (if applicable).

• Please attach at least 1 (one) recent performance appraisal form.

• Hybrid working arrangements are available and are subject to change based on operational needs and management discretion.

SELECTION PROCESS

This call for applications will remain open for continuous submissions to build a roster of prequalified candidates for future opportunities at the same level in Budapest. We review applications on an ongoing basis, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Only applications received in English will be considered.

Our selection process follows a structured approach and includes the following steps:

• Application to vacancy announcement

• Technical assessment

• English language assessment

• Competency-based interview

• Background check