FINANCE AND BUDGET ASSISTANT

The Department of Operational Support (DOS) was established to provide end-to-end operational support, advisory services, and other solutions to operating entities across the Secretariat, including departments, offices away from headquarters, peace operations, and regional commissions. The Division of Administration (DOA) in New York provides administrative support functions (human resources, budget, finance, and general administration) and facility management and commercial services to entities at United Nations Headquarters. It also provides financial operational services to entities across the globe. As Common Administrative Platform, the Division comprises the OneEO, the Financial Operations Service (including OnePayroll), and the Facilities and Commercial Activities Service. The CAP started its transition phase on 1 January 2026 as part of the UN80 reform initiative, which aims to consolidate common administrative functions across Secretariat entities into unified service platforms. This position is located within the Financial Operations Service of the Common Administrative Platform (CAP) at United Nations Headquarters, under the Division of Administration (DOA) in the Department of Operational Support (DOS).

Within delegated authority, the Finance and Budget Assistant will be responsible for the following duties: Budget:

• Provides support with respect to the review, analysis and preparation of the medium-term plan and its revisions.
• Prepares supporting documents (narrative and supporting tables) with respect to finalization of cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements.
• Assists managers in the elaboration of resource requirements for budget submissions.
• Undertakes research and provides support to higher level Finance & Budget Officers with respect to budget reviews of relevant intergovernmental and expert bodies.
• Monitors expenditures and compares with approved budget; prepares adjustments as necessary.
• Reviews requisitions for goods and services to ensure (a) correct objects of expenditure have been charged, and (b) availability of funds.
• Assists in preparation of budget performance submissions and finalization of budget performance reports, analysing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Monitors integrity of various financial databases.
• Verifies accuracy of input data, ensuring consistency of data in previous allotments to new allotments issued.
• Co-ordinates with other finance and budget staff on related issues during preparation of budget reports.
• Prepares requests to the Controller’s Office on redeployment of funds and to the Finance section on movement of funds.
• Reviews the monthly Troop Strength on uniformed personnel (military contingent, United Nations police (UNPOL) and Formed Police Unit (FPU) upon receipt from military and police components
• Reviews data on monthly staffing complement. Finance:
• Reviews monthly payroll of assigned staff to ensure accuracy of entitlements and deductions, and to avoid overpayments and underpayments.
• Prepares, audits, and ensures the accuracy of final payments to separating staff.
• Assists in the processing and review of vendor payments and/or travel claims.
• Scrutinizes source documents for completeness, accuracy and validity of charges.
• Investigates erroneous charges and takes appropriate corrective accounting actions as part of the review of rejected payments in the payroll liability account and rejected GL.
• Communicates with field offices regarding missing documentation or any other issues related to discrepancies between their accounts and those maintained at Headquarters.
• Reconciles and reviews suspense accounts and ensures proper clearance procedures have been followed.
• Extracts details of income, expenditure, assets, and liabilities from the accounting system in order to analyse and verify accuracy and validity.
• Consolidates the review, the monthly global payroll vendor account posting, and updates the payment details prior to disbursement.
• Assists with the monitoring and review of the open items in the payroll accounting GL accounts;
• Investigates and processes the relevant journal voucher to clear the open items in these accounts.
• Prepares worksheets and assists with the preparation of financial statements.
• Audits various accounting transactions, e.g., payroll, education grants, final payments, income tax returns, travel claims, etc., to ensure correctness of disbursements and adherence to relevant staff rules, financial regulations and rules, ST/AI issuances or practices.
• Serves as Approving Officer for disbursements up to an authorized level.
• Provides guidance and training to colleagues as required. General:
• Keeps up-to-date on documents/reports/guidelines that have a bearing on matters related to programme, ensuring compliance with intergovernmental recommendations and decisions as well as with United Nations policies and procedures.
• Drafts or prepares correspondence to respond to enquiries in respect of relevant financial and budget matters.
• Maintains and keep up-to-date files.
• May be responsible for providing guidance, training and daily supervision to other general service staff in the area of responsibility.
• Provides administrative support to the Head of the organizational unit, including assisting in the filling of posts, job classifications, and other staffing matters. Researches a range of HR related issues and assists in the preparation of notes/reports.
• Performs other related duties, as assigned.

High school diploma or equivalent is required.

Not available.

A minimum of six years of experience in finance, accounting, payroll, human resources, budget, or a related area is required. The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced to four years for candidates who possess a first-level university degree or higher. At least five of the years of experience in transactional-based payroll activities, or the administering of staff benefits and entitlements is required. Experience in the use of Enterprise Resource (ERP) systems, such as Umoja, SAP, or equivalent, including system testing, validation, and implementation of system enhancements and new functionalities, as well as the development of job aids and user guidance materials, is required. Experience working within the systems, policies, procedures, and administrative frameworks of a large, complex, or multinational organization is required. Experience with staff rules and regulations, including employee entitlements, financial regulations, and administrative policies and procedures of the United Nations or other international organizations is desirable.

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise, which may be followed by a competency-based interview.

According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. By accepting a letter of appointment, staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). Further, staff members in the Professional and higher category up to and including the D-2 level and the Field Service category are normally required to move periodically to discharge functions in different duty stations under conditions established in ST/AI/2023/3 on Mobility, as may be amended or revised. This condition of service applies to all position specific job openings and does not apply to temporary positions. Applicants are urged to carefully follow all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira, and to refer to the Applicant Guide by clicking on “Manuals” in the “Help” tile of the inspira account-holder homepage. The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application. All external candidates recruited in accordance with section ‎2.2 (a) of ST/AI/2025/3 for a fixed term appointment without limitation and all external candidates recruited in accordance with section 2.2. (c) of ST/AI/2025/3 for a fixed term appointment limited to the entity are subject to an initial probationary period of one year under a fixed-term appointment. Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.