Finance Associate G6 – WFP jobs in Palestine

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

Background- Palestine Country Office

Over the past five years, socioeconomic conditions in the State of Palestine have deteriorated and a protracted protection and humanitarian crisis has undermined the food security of millions of Palestinians. 1.8 million people are food insecure across Palestine and the aid dependency ratio is increasing. Rising inflation, linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and now also spurred by the Global Food Crisis, has contributed to reductions in the purchasing power of Palestinians and increased food insecurity. For Palestinians engaged in agriculture and herding, climate-related obstacles, including droughts and rising temperatures, increasingly impede productivity.

Building on the strengths of its 2018-2022 country strategic plan, WFP Palestine’s new plan for 2023–2028 will address the needs of Palestinian communities through a humanitarian‑development–peace nexus approach, responding to immediate humanitarian needs and simultaneously addressing longstanding socioeconomic vulnerability.

While food assistance, through cash-based transfers and in-kind food to meet essential needs, remains WFP’s largest activity, this will be complemented by livelihood and resilience building interventions to address issues of poverty and poor labour-force participation, which have been identified as one of the key drivers of poor access to food, and to strengthen resistance to shocks. Nutrition integration will be integrated throughout the programme, to address immediate and underlying causes of micronutrient deficiencies.

WFP Palestine has demonstrated longstanding commitment and contribution to the strengthening of capacity at the national level, through strategic partnerships with various government line ministries, to enhance the consideration of food security, shock-responsiveness and nutrition-sensitivity in national systems, programmes, policies and plans. WFP is engaged in joint programming and implementation with other United Nations agencies. Under the new CSP, WFP is expanding its enabling services – in the form of a CBT platform, CFM, logs sector – to continue supporting the wider humanitarian community to achieve collective outcomes and continue supporting the people we serve.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

These jobs are found in Country Offices (COs), Regional Bureaux (RBs), and Headquarters (HQ), and report to the Head of Unit, Chief, or Finance Officer.
At this level job holders are expected to demonstrate responsibility and initiative to respond independently to queries with only general guidance. There is a requirement to use judgment in dealing with unforeseen problems on a daily basis. Job holders are expected to manage resources and coach and coordinate a team of support staff, or specific support service(s).

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: A bachelor’s degree from a recognized university in accounting, finance, economics, or a relevant field is required for this position.
Language: General Service (Headquarters): Fluency (level C) in English language. Fluency (level C) or intermediate knowledge (level B) of another official language may be required depending on the location of the post or area of responsibility.
General Service (Field): Fluency in both oral and written communication in the UN language in use at the duty station and in the duty station’s language, if different.

Experience: A minimum of six years of relevant experience in a mid-level finance position.

JOB PURPOSE

To coordinate and provide finance, budget and administration support services involving the recording and interpretation of financial and budgetary information to ensure the efficient functioning of the support services and inform decision-making.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1. Provide the procedural and technical support to staff within the areas of finance and budget, to ensure compliance with WFP financial policies, rules and regulations.

2. Support the development and implementation of financial policies and procedures, and assist in setup and implementation of proper accounting procedures, systems and cash controls.

3. Monitor the daily cash position in order to optimize the use of surplus cash and maximize returns on investment through the liquidity portfolio.

4. Monitor the centralised registry system in order to process all payments to internal staff and invoices to external suppliers in a timely manner and in accordance with WFP standards.

5. Contribute to the preparation, implementation and monitoring of budgets, monitor expenditure and budget forecasts, to ensure that relevant future funding requirements are met.

6. Co-ordinate with other teams in order to ensure that all financial and administrative services are being performed efficiently and in line with the needs of the wider team.

7. Monitor account balances and process financial transactions in an accurate and timely manner, to avoid the occurrence of an overdraft.

8. Monitor and analyse general ledger accounts in order to initiate and achieve corrective actions.

9. Compile data from the WFP database and systems in order to assist in generating and analysing financial reports on a monthly basis.

10.Provide guidance and on-the-job training in management of financial resources (e.g. managing the petty cash account, review and analyse vendor and balance sheet accounts, etc.), to ensure services are delivered consistently and to the required standards.

11.Remain on stand-by and follow standard emergency preparedness practices in order to meet immediate emergency requirements for further service on the job and in the field.

12.Ensure all certifying, approving, bank signatories, petty cash holders and cashiers have proper delegated authority in line with corporate financial rules and regulations.

13. Monitoring the bank accounts on daily basis to make sure there is sufficient fund for the ongoing payments/operation.

14. Review, analyze and clear temporary GL Accounts on a monthly basis & record adjusting entries when needed.

15. Arrange training session with Cooperating partners to provide make sure they are aware of the financial procedure.

16. Focal point for the Invoice Tracking System (ITS), processing invoices in a timely manner.

17. Processing advances (Operational and Vendor advances) using the GSMT System.

18. Engagement in Voucher activities including monthly reconciling the bank accounts in the financial System, keep track on the CBT and On Demand activities, process shops reconciliation.

19. Processing end of month transactions including LIVs, Bank charges & FX entries, recording Bank Statements and any staff deductions/reimbursement. Follow up with on monthly VAT Claims.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Coaches team in the most effective ways to communicate WFP’s Strategic Objectives to WFP team and partners in the field.
•  Be a force for positive change: Implements new methods or tools to improve team’s work processes and productivity.
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Maps team’s activities and tasks to specific successes in beneficiary communities to showcase positive impact.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Explains to teammates how each unit contributes to the overall WFP mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Identifies skill development opportunities such as training modules or on-the-job experiences for self, colleagues and direct reports.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Facilitates team building activities to build rapport in own unit.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Facilitates the pairing of junior colleagues with coaches within own team.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Proactively anticipates potential challenges and develops mitigation plans to ensure that team meets goals and targets.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Identifies opportunities to be creative in own work and to help team be more innovative and accurate in their respective tasks and areas of work.
•  Focus on getting results: Monitors team’s deliverables and provides feedback to ensure outcomes are delivered consistently and accurately.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Provides accurate guidance to team on expected responsibilities and tasks, whilst also upholding own commitment to the team.
•  Be Decisive: Sets an example and provides guidance to junior team members on when to escalate issues when faced with challenging issues in the workplace or in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Facilitates partnerships with other WFP units to accomplish missions in the field.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Sets an example and provides guidance to team on how to build relationships with external partners.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Articulates to colleagues or direct reports the value of contributing to other WFP teams and agency partnerships in fulfilling WFP’s goals and objectives.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Organizes, monitors, and prioritizes own and team’s efforts to ensure that they will fulfill the needs of internal and external partners.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

This section is optional to describe additional responsibilities & knowledge required for the specific job

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Has experience assessing financial health and stability of C&V projects and other programming initiatives to verify compliance with in-country local laws.
• Has experience working with auditors and other third party vendors.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

By 26 February 2024

WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment

WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.