Finance Associate [Open to Tier 0, 1 & 2 applicants]

Tiered Approach

In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:

• Tier 0: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
• Tier 1: Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
• Tier 2: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
• Tier 3 or no tier indicated: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates

Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.

Background

The Bureau for Management Services’ Office of Financial Resources Management (BMS/OFRM) supports the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the implementation of the 2030 agenda and UNDP’s Strategic Plan. It achieves this by developing and making fully operational a dynamic and harmonized integrated resource management framework based on comprehensive analysis that enhances UNDP’s financial and administrative performance, as well as facilitating UN reform and coherence. The primary role of BMS/ OFRM is to maintain the financial integrity of UNDP through providing functional leadership, supporting the efficient and effective management of its financial resources, promoting financial sustainability and responsible resource allocation. This is accomplished by the development and implementation of sound financial policies and practices, oversight of corporate financial management performance, and flexible scalable support to resource allocation. BMS/OFRM serves as a business partner to Bureaux and Country Offices, providing sound financial management, advisory and analytical services, with a view to continuously improve the financial management performance of business units and support Bureaux in the exercising of their oversight functions.

Within OFRM, the Financial Performance Management & Reporting (FPMR) team is responsible for oversight of financial reporting, the preparation and integrity of UNDP’s financial statements, and providing timely and accurate financial information in accordance with international accounting standards. FPMR fosters trust and accountability through leadership in financial policy, robust internal financial controls, and close engagement with auditors to support an unqualified audit opinion, while also delivering expert accounting and financial advisory support, addressing complex and non-routine financial issues, and overseeing financial risk related to implementing partners, enabling informed senior decision-making and sustained audit assurance.

Within FPMR, there are four units:

• Corporate Financial Reporting (CFR): Responsible for promoting clear accountability for financial transactions and for producing UNDP’s corporate financial statements.
• Financial Performance Management (FPM): Responsible for managing aspects of financial performance, including the administration of the Annual Representation exercise and the Statement of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting; monitoring of financial risks related to financial statement integrity; and management of the implementing partners policy framework, including the agency-wide Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) framework.
• Payroll Finance Oversight (PFO): Responsible for the financial oversight of payroll accounting functions, as well as the reporting of employee benefits and liabilities for all UNDP personnel.
• Internal Advisory and Decision Support (IADS): provides expert, structured financial analysis to resolve complex, non-routine issues and enhance the quality and timeliness of senior decision-making.

Position Purpose

The Corporate Financial Reporting (CFR) function is responsible for the preparation of the organization’s financial statements, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant financial reporting in line with international accounting standards. The team delivers reliable accounting and reporting execution, internal control assurance, and audit support through disciplined efficient close processes, strong data governance, and consistent application of financial policies.

Finance Associates in FPMR play a substantive technical role in the application of IPSAS and, where relevant, maintenance of the policy framework for the Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT). They contribute to the integrity, reliability, and consistency of UNDP’s financial data, oversee and support the preparation of UNDP’s financial statements and other statutory reports, and undertake monitoring and analytical activities in support of OFRM’s corporate oversight responsibilities. Finance Associates provide technical accounting and reporting and HACT-related guidance to relevant stakeholders and contribute to the articulation and defense of management positions during the external audit process, applying professional judgment and a sound understanding of accounting standards, internal controls, and audit assertions.

Note that UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. This is a recognition of interconnected nature of development risks & crises that the world is facing and that call for assembling of multidisciplinary teams for an integrated & systemic response. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across issues, units, functions, teams and projects in multidisciplinary teams to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provides support in the preparation of statutory and corporate financial reports, including financial statements, donor reports, executive board reports, and other financial reporting outputs:

• Assist in the collection, compilation, and preparation of financial statement data and notes, applying established IPSAS guidance and following instructions provided by senior staff.
• Support the preparation of donor reports on revenue, expenditures, and related financial information, and follows up with relevant UNDP units on routine financial or programme-related queries.
• Assist in the preparation of financial highlights, interim reports, and supporting information for audit and reporting purposes, including basic data analysis as required.
• Perform reviews of financial data and reports to identify inconsistencies or anomalies and supports their correction in coordination with senior team members.

2. Supports data integrity within UNDP financial systems and assists with the preparation and review of the general ledger and related financial modules:

• Monitor financial dashboards and standard reports to identify data inconsistencies and supports follow-up with relevant bureaux or business units to clear routine issues, in line with established internal control procedures.
• Assist with general ledger reconciliations and periodic reviews of balance sheet accounts, highlighting variances or discrepancies to senior team members for review and resolution.
• Maintain and updates core accounting information and reference data (e.g. accounts, funds, donors, financial statement mappings, IPSAS trees, and accounting templates) in accordance with approved procedures.
• Support regular financial closure activities, including module closures according to the established schedule and preparation of routine data analytics to support financial statement preparation.

3. Supports monitoring of compliance with financial procedures and assigned finance processes:

• Review and follow up on bureau and Country Office submissions, account analyses, and other financial information, and supports the identification and tracking of issues for resolution in coordination with senior staff.
• Liaise with the Global Shared Services Centre (GSSC), country offices, Regional Bureaux, HQ units, and client agencies, as appropriate, to follow up on corrective actions and routine compliance matters.
• Assist in monitoring assigned financial processes and accounts by reviewing transactions, balances, and exceptions (e.g. cost recovery and GMS-related items), and supports issue resolution and reporting under guidance from senior team members.
• Support the documentation of finance business processes and assists in the preparation or updating of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidance materials in consultation with management.
• Assist with the development, testing, and maintenance of finance-related system tools, reports, dashboards, and user support materials.

4. Provides accounting and transaction support across the function, contributing to accurate financial recording, reconciliations, and reporting in accordance with IPSAS and established policies and procedures

• Support accounting, billing, and reconciliation activities across assigned financial areas, including balance sheet and income statement accounts (e.g. MIP billing, investment accounting, GMS accounting).
• Assisting with the preparation, validation, and reconciliation of financial data and supporting schedules for reporting, audit, actuarial, or management purposes.
• Coordinating with shared services, country offices, policy units, and external service providers to resolve accounting queries and transaction issues.

5. Supports internal and external audit activities related to assigned financial areas and facilitate knowledge sharing

• Assist with the preparation of audit documentation, data, and explanations, and supports timely responses to audit requests under the guidance of senior team members.
• Support follow-up on audit observations by maintaining trackers, assisting with remediation activities, and ensuring appropriate documentation and audit trails are retained.
• Identify, synthesize and document best practices and lessons learned that are generated from the office and implementing partners.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: None

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Business Management

• Risk Management
  • Identify and organize action around reducing, mitigating and proactively managing risks
• Monitoring & evaluation
  • Ability to systematically monitor results of strategies, programmes, and activities with a view to make sure that they are being implemented effectively; Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback and reporting on the consistency or discrepancy between planned activities and programme management and results. Ability to make independent judgment of the management and results of strategies, programmes and activities based on set criteria and benchmark, keeping in mind the needs and concerns of client, current and upcoming. Knowledge and understanding of monitoring and evaluation frameworks, concepts, methodologies, systems, processes, and tools. Ability to make an independent judgement based on set criteria and benchmarks. Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns.

Business Direction & Strategy

• Business Acumen
  • Ability to understand and deal with a business situation in a manner that is likely to lead to a good outcome Ability to make good judgments and quick decisions within such frameworks Knowledge and understanding of the operational frameworks in the organization

Finance

• Audit risk management
  • Ability to address risks and audit issues raised in the course of an audit and propose solutions in order to ensure true and fair audit opinion is achieved.
• Financial risk management
  • Ensures financial resilience through proactive assessment of risk, implementation of controls and taking mitigating action. Understands risk and reward in relation to collaborative and commercial projects.
  • Ensures a culture of positive risk management.
• Finance business partnering
  • Able to support business units and add value by innovating and providing solutions to financial issues/queries, including through FAQs, financial tools, advisory, etc. Influences and appropriately challenges non-finance colleagues for whom the service is being provided. Understands the operations opportunities and challenges of the organization. Holds a commercial outlook, demonstrating accountability towards organizational goals.
• Accounting (General)
  • Knowledge of accounting concepts, principles, frameworks, standards, regulations, policies and trends, and ability to apply this to strategic and practical situations.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Completion of Secondary Education is required with specialized certification in accounting and/or Finance is required.
• A university degree (bachelor’s degree) in Finance or Accounting will be given due consideration but is not a requirement.
• It is a requirement to be a Fully Qualified or Part-Qualified accountant from a recognized institute of accountancy.

Experience:

• A minimum of six (6) years (with high school diploma) or three (3) years of (with bachelor’s degree), of progressively relevant experience in a financial management position(s) with large international organizations, is required.
• Proven experience demonstrating strong verbal and written communication skills is required.
• Experience with ERP systems and Excel, preferably Oracle Cloud ERP is required.
• Audit experience in a public auditing firm will be an added advantage.
• Proven experience and sound understanding of international accounting standards, preferably Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) utilized by international organizations will be an added advantage.
• Familiarity with international development, preferably the UN system, is desirable.
• Proven analytical capabilities with distinct knowledge of current analytical applications and tools are desirable.
• Demonstrated experience in AI, digital transformation, and process automation is desired.
• Demonstrated experience in exploring and applying emerging technologies and innovations is desired.
• Demonstrated experience as a collaborative team player with flexibility to work across global time zones is required.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English, both oral and written is required.
• Working knowledge of another UN language is an advantage.

This vacancy is open to nationals of the respective country.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.

Probation

For all new UNDP fixed term appointments (FTA), including for staff members being transferred or seconded to UNDP under the Inter-Organization Agreement concerning Transfer, Secondment or Loan of Staff, on an appointment of more than one year, continuation of the appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Use of AI by candidates

Applicants are invited to read UNDP’s guidance for candidates on using AI responsibly in UNDP recruitment and selection

Scam alert

UNDP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process. For further information, please see www.undp.org/scam-alert.

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