Finance and Administration Associate

Location: Brasilia, Brazil

Type of Contract: Service Contract (SC)

Level: SB4

Duration of Contract: 12 months

Number of positions: 01

Application deadline: 26/12/2023, 23:59 (Rome time)

Background

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. Finding long-term and sustainable solutions to chronic hunger is also a part of the WFP mandate. The WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger located in Brazil was launched in November 2011 and has been created as international centre of excellence. The Centre is a partnership between WFP and the Brazilian government, and its aim is to promote south to south cooperation, and provide support to governments in Africa, Asia and Latin America in capacity development in the areas of School Feeding, Nutrition and Food Security. For more information please go to https://www1.wfp.org/.

The Centre is an innovation that seeks to respond government demands for technical support to strengthen their national capacities and knowledge on sustainable school feeding and to support them in the design and management of healthy and sustainable national school feeding and other hunger programmes. For more information, visit https://centrodeexcelencia.org.br/en/.

At WFP Brazil, we are looking for talented professionals to support our Finance and Administration team in Brasilia. As Finance Admnistration Associate, you will work under the general supervision of the Centre´s Director and reports directly to the Finance and Administration Officer.

Duties and Responsibilities

Accountabilities: Within delegated authority, the Finance and Administration Associate will be responsible for the following duties:

• Maintain web-based register for all invoices and payment transfers and record paperwork, to ensure that all documents are maintained and filed in compliance with WFP standards and guidelines.
• Initiate and maintain regular contacts with demanding Units, service providers, bank signatory members (internal) and bank managers, when applicable, in order to align processes and to assure smooth and timely payment workflow.
• Assist in providing the procedural and technical support to staff within the areas of finance and budget, to ensure compliance with WFP financial policies, rules and regulations.
• Monitor monthly expenditure forecasts and provide expenditure reports to facilitate informed decision-making.
• Monitor the bank accounts regularly, to ensure that adequate funds are available and appropriately disbursed.
• Perform bank reconciliation and maintain relevant General Ledger Accounts. Bring any discrepancy or inaccuracy to the attention of the supervisor, initiate and follow up corrective actions.
• Review and support travel related processes.
• 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.
• Retrieve, format and validate information obtained from various sources to prepare reports relating to budgets, accounting, finance and statistics.
• Monitor and record all expenses in line with the approved budget to ensure that correct expenditure costs are charged and payments to external suppliers, cash grants and other supplier invoices are processed in a timely manner.

• Process monthly payroll in cross-functional systems by collecting supporting documentation, reviewing budget, spreadsheets, overtime reports, entitlements and, and migrating consolited files in close collaboration with Human Resources.
• Assist in setup and implementation of proper accounting procedures, systems and internal controls.
• Provide guidance and on-the-job training to other support staff, to ensure services are delivered consistently and to the required standards.
• Draft or prepare correspondence to respond to enquiries in respect to relevant financial, administration and audit matters.
• Perform administrative duties related to the monitoring and recording of fixed assets, maintenance of fleet management system and premises administration to ensure that the databases are accurately updated.
• Negotiate terms of contracts with service providers and other stakeholders.
• Maintain regular interactions with all Units in the office, with WFP and other UN System offices worldwild, as applicable.
• Participate in working groups and OMT meetings.
• Backstop colleagues in the Finance and Administration Unit and perform other related duties as required.

Expected Results:

Produces organized, quality technical and/or procedural work with well documented records conforming to required format and with well analyzed data. Demonstrated competence in required processes where actions are interlinked with other entities or interaction requested with specialized staff; General processes are completed using full knowledge and understanding of a body of rules, practices, policies and procedures, or quality technical support is provided to specialized activities.

Critical Success Factors:

Sound judgment; ability to extract, interpret, analyze and format data and to resolve operational problems. Ability to work with minimum of supervision; to supervise and train support staff; and to work effectively with people of different national and cultural backgrounds. Ability to work with accuracy under time constraints and pressure; to deal patiently and tactfully with staff members and others and to have a high sense of confidentiality, initiative and good judgment.

All WFP Employees are expected to demonstrate the competencies and standards of behavior aligned with our core values and defined in the WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK, namely:

• Leading by example with integrity,

• Driving results and delivering on commitments,

• Fostering inclusive and collaborative teamwork,

• Applying strategic thinking,

• Building and maintaining sustainable partnerships.

Minimum qualifications:

Education:

University degree in Administration, Economics, Accounting, Foreign Trade or related areas. Advanced studies degree in one of these areas is an advantage.

Experience:

At least four years of progressively responsible clerical work experience in general administrative work including at least two years in the field of finance, accounting, budget, audit or another related field. Previous experience in the UN and negotiation skills will be considered an asset.

Knowledge:

Experience utilizing computers, microsoft package, in special spreadsheets. General knowledge of UN system financial policies, rules, regulations and procedures will be considered an asset. Knowledge of banking systems (national and international) and experience with ERP systems will be considered an advantage.

Language:

Fluency in both oral and written communication in Portuguese and English.

The candidate must have Brazilian Nationality or be legally authorized to work in the country.

Functional Capabilities

Application Procedures

Step 1 – Go to: http://www1.wfp.org/careers/job-openings – Register and create your online CV.

Step 2 – Click on – Finance and Administration Associate – and apply to submit your application.

NOTE: You must complete Step 1 and 2 for your application to be considered.

In the application form, ensure filling the mandatory sections, attaching your CV, answering the pre-screening questions and agreeing on the legal statement before submitting your application.

WFP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply.

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. Due to the volume of applications received, receipt of applications cannot be acknowledged individually. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.