Finance Specialist

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

The Shared Services Centre (SSC) recommends and administers process management and procedures that need to be executed effectively; ensures the management of quality assurance activities associated with the transactional processes and implementation of service delivery; continuously improves the satisfaction of its customers, internal or external, while pursuing a continuous improvement agenda that will drive up service excellence while driving down the costs of service delivery through process standardization, process automation and self-service capabilities.

Reporting Lines

The Finance Specialist will report to the Finance Officer. The incumbent will work closely with the Finance Unit team as well as FAO Decentralized Offices. 
 

Technical Focus  

Delivery of financial services to FAO Decentralized Offices.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Act as a point of contact for CSF and Decentralized Offices for matters related to invoice booking and payments.
• Perform routine financial administration support and transaction processing tasks including calculating, inputting and checking information for correctness and communicating discrepancies to supervisor(s);
• Monitor the workload and track the progress of tasks assigned to the Finance Team, and report the updates to supervisor
• Verify accuracy of data including researching and reporting any irregularities, discrepancies or processing issues to supervisor(s);
• Assist with reviewing transactions, investigating errors and taking corrective accounting actions;
• Extract details of transactions from the accounting system to support the analysis and verification of accuracy and validity;
• Participate to continuous improvement efforts by acting as focal person for the Continuous Improvement Team for the analysis, testing and implementation of new financial process automations;
• Ensure smooth processing of invoices, payments, returns and payment rejections;
• Support senior colleagues in liaising with FAO’s corporate banks in case of payment issues;
• Draft and prepare correspondence to respond to queries;
• Create and maintain standard operating procedures in the area of work;
• Provide procedural guidance to managers and staff; provide communication and advice to other finance support personnel, as needed;
• Perform other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements  

• Secondary School Education
• Four years of relevant experience in finance, accounting, cash management and/or asset management related support work.
• Working knowledge (level C) of English
• National of Hungary or resident of the country with valid work permit.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Extent of knowledge of financial rules and regulations, accounting policies and practices;
• Extent of knowledge of the processing and approval process of a variety of transactions;
• Familiarity with ERP corporate financial systems;
• Knowledge of the communication and documentation standards;
• Knowledge of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) would be an asset;
• Knowledge of the MS Office applications and Oracle ERP application or similar ERP system.