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ERP Finance - National Consultant

Location :
Cairo, EGYPT

Application Deadline :
‎21-Jun-‎23 (Midnight New York, USA)

Time left :
8d 5h 34m

Additional Category :
Gender Equality

Type of Contract :
Individual Contract

Post Level :
National Consultant

Languages Required :
English

Duration of Initial Contract :
‎6 Months

UNDP 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.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of
harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected
candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background
checks.

Background

Background:
UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the
United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and
girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women
and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights,
humanitarian action, and peace and security.
UN Women uses PeopleSoft ERP system, referred to internally as "Atlas" which
was implemented in ‎2004 and comprises various modules including, Accounts
Payable, Contracts Module (used for management of revenues and receivables),
General Ledger, Treasury Module, Human Resources, Grants and Project
Management, Bank-to-Book (B2B) and Asset Management modules. UN Women has
embarked on the process of migrating from the current PeopleSoft ERP to Oracle
Cloud ERP. The implementation of the Oracle Cloud ERP will be staggered with
target dates for the roll-out of different modules spread from the second half
of ‎2021 and ‎2022.
Due to the central role Financial Management Section (FMS) plays in the
accounting function at UN Women, FMS will be heavily involved in the
implementation of the Oracle Cloud ERP including the review and configuration
of the Chart of Accounts in the new ERP and play a key role in the
configuration of all modules in the new ERP that result in recording of
financial transactions, which is a cross-cutting function across all business
owners of the ERP.
The objective of the Assignment:
Under the overall guidance of the DMA Deputy Director, Financial
Management in Headquarters (HQ) and the daily supervision of the Regional
Finance Specialist , the Finance Consultant is responsible for providing
back-fill support during the ERP implementation period to support the Regional
Finance Specialist/s as well as to all the offices in the Region as necessary
to ensure capacity and support; assistance with development projects for the
finance users of UN Women for better business practices and controls as well
as automation; ensuring all finance users are compliant with and trained in
the accounting standards, financial regulations and rules, policies and
procedures; assisting Finance Section HQ in dedicated support, training,
advice for Regional Offices, Multi-Country Offices and COs (ROs/MCOs/COs); and
supports the Regional Finance Specialist in acting as the focal point for the
Region in co-ordination with Finance Section HQ, as well as finance users in
ROs and MCOs/COs.
The Finance Consultant supports staff of the ROs and MCOs/COs Finance Units.
The Finance Consultant works in close collaboration with Regional Finance
Specialist and Finance Section HQ, Programme and Operations colleagues, teams
at the country level, UNDP staff and Government officials ensuring high
performance and efficiency in Finance.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide Regional / field financial management support for the New ERP
Formulation and Implementation:
* Provide technical support in data cleansing (Surge capacity) to the Regional Finance Specialist and Region 's Finance Staff for Regional Office data cleansing;
* Ensure General Ledger (GL) reconciliations;
* Perform solution readiness testing;
* Implement new ERP training and Act as a functional Helpdesk;
* Provide Back-fill support to the Regional Finance Specialist and Region's Finance Staff, and relief Expert staff time on ERP projects;
* Formulate and develop Manual Work-around for complex issues at New ERP "go-live";
Provide financial, technical, and coordination support in the financial
planning, analysis, and provision of services to (Multi) Country Offices (COs)
and Regional Offices (RO), CO/MCO/RO in accordance with UN Women internal
control framework, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures:
* Recommend and/or implement cost-saving and reduction strategies;
* Review and/or verify financial transactions/activities, recording/reporting system, and audit reports. Co-ordinate with Finance Section HQ on suggestions for amendments;
* Review financial business processes and use of Atlas system to ensure accurate and complete reporting of financial transactions by UN Women staff in accordance with the Internal Control Framework and Delegation of Authority and the timely flow of financial information in UN Women for management, monitoring, and oversight purposes;
* Analyze and oversee all financial resources managed by the CO/MCO/RO and provide high-quality professional advice on financial issues to the CO/MCO/RO management, as necessary;
* Coordinate cash management processes, including liquidity management, recommend impress level, risk assessment, and security for cash assets on site;
* Assist with financial risk assessment reviews for the RO/MCO/CO, by identifying areas of risk and providing recommendations and action plans for addressing issues raised;
Provide coordination support for the monitoring and oversight of financial
systems in accordance with UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and
procedures:
* Monitor financial systems and reports for unusual activities, and transactions, investigate anomalies;
* Coordinate the M)CO/RO timely completion of their Month-end Instructions Checklist and Year-end Instructions Closure Checklist;
* Draft all financial reports in accordance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and ensure continued compliance;
* Monitor the CO/MCO/RO for compliance with IPSAS accounting standards by reviewing business processes and systems modules resulting in IPSAS-compliant general ledger and financial statements;
* Review Implementing Partner advance procedures and test against UN Women policies to ensure compliance. Investigate and follow up on any anomalies for timely action and resolution, as necessary;
* Review contractual arrangements with suppliers of goods and services to ensure that the financial terms and conditions of all contracts are being adhered to by the suppliers of goods and services;
* Report to the Operations Manager and Chief of Accounts any case of non-adherence for timely action and recommendations for actions/decisions, as necessary;
* Respond to questions and provide analysis as requested to the Finance Section HQ.
Provide coordination support in financial reporting in the (M)CO/RO in
accordance with UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and procedures:
* Draft timely and accurate automated interim financial reports to governments and donors as required under the donor agreements and other cost-sharing arrangements for submission to Virtual Global Service Centre Finance Specialists;
* Track and report contributions within the resource mobilization efforts, including pipeline, contracted and overdue, and future milestones. Review contributions receivables and provide information to Operations Manager for follow-up, as necessary;
* Write ad hoc financial donor and other reports as requested;
* Follow up and/or take prompt action to respond to audits and other findings on financial management.
Provide coordination support in the audit process in accordance with UN
Women rules, regulations, policies, and procedures:
* Coordinate the pre-audit preparations for the financial management of the CO/MCO/RO to be audit ready and complete the pre-audit checklist . Travel to the COs as necessary to assist during CO audits;
* Contribute technically to the training in the RO/MCO/CO as part of the training plan or requirement of pre-audit preparations or as otherwise determined by the Operations Manager or Chief of Accounts;
* Write responses to internal and external audit inquiries and other findings related to financial management for review/approval by the Operations Manager and Chief of Accounts and incorporate recommendations in the development in policies, procedures, and practices;
* Plan and track expenditures and performance audits of financial resources, including extra-budgetary income.
Provide coordination support programme/ project budgets in accordance with
UN Women rules, regulations, policies, and procedures:
* Coordinate all financial resources of programmes/ projects through planning, guiding, monitoring, and controlling of the resources;
* Prepare and monitor budgets of management projects;
* Analyze and report on the budget approvals and the delivery situation of management projects;
* Contribute to the proper mechanisms to eliminate deficiencies in budget management;
* Submit financial information for timely preparation of donor reports;
* Prepare advance payments and direct payments for programme implementation and record them in Atlas;
* Provide assistance to offices in the region in relation to project closure and provide training on a regular basis, in conjunction with Virtual Global Service Centre Finance Specialists.
Support the Regional Finance Specialist in Coordinating financial training
and communication for the CO/MCO/RO
* Monitor the effectiveness of the services of the finance team on a regular basis to ensure a close relationship between Finance Section and Finance Users in RO/MCO/CO and take corrective measures as needed;
* Coordinate development projects to ensure effective finance and communication tools are in place and regularly monitored for improvements;
* Perform the Finance Helpdesk function for RO/MCO/CO to ensure accurate and timely response to issues and advice requested in conjunction with Finance Section HQ;
* Support in the implementation of the approved Training plans (specifically ATLAS and IPSAS) in conjunction with Finance Section HQ and Finance specialist in RO on a recurrent basis to ensure competency across all Finance Users at CO/MCO;
* Provide oversight for Finance staff of the RO/MCO/CO and monitor progress and provide guidance and direction to the staff as necessary to ensure goals and objectives are achieved.
Participate in knowledge management and capacity building:
* Identify, participate in the development and/or recommend enhancement/updates/improvement in Atlas financial modules for better business practices and controls in the RO/MCO/CO;
* Capture, synthesize, and/or codify lessons learned and best practices in the RO/MCO/ CO support and financial management and services. Disseminate to Finance Section HQ to share knowledge and build capacity;
* Contribute to the design of learning tools, best practices, and innovations in financial business operational practices and management, promote transparency, ease of communications, hosting of financial documents, and all policies and procedures between all UN Women users of the RO/MCO/CO data.
Perform Financial tasks, approving and certifying function:
* Oversee that vouchers processed are matched and completed, transactions are correctly recorded and posted in Atlas; payrolls are duly prepared; travel claims and other entitlements are duly processed;
* Implement timely corrective actions on unposted vouchers, including vouchers with budget check errors, matching exceptions, and unapproved vouchers;
* Provide timely response to HQ requests to resolve financial data issues;
* Perform delegated approval function in Atlas on a timely basis;
* Review and provide financial clearance of all donor agreements as delegated for compliance with standard agreements on a timely basis.
Deliverables

Timelines

Provide Regional/field financial management support for the New ERP
Formulation and Implementation.

Monthly

Provide financial, technical, and coordination support in the financial
planning, analysis, and provision of services to (Multi) Country Offices (COs)
and Regional Offices (RO), CO/MCO/RO in accordance with UN Women internal
control framework, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.

Monthly

Provide coordination support for the monitoring and oversight of financial
systems, reporting, programme budgets, and audits in accordance with UN
Women's rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.

Monthly

Support the Regional Finance Specialist in Coordinating financial training and
communication for the COs and RO.

Monthly

Competencies

Core Values:
* Respect for Diversity;
* Integrity;
* Professionalism;
Core Competencies:
* Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
* Accountability;
* Creative Problem Solving;
* Effective Communication;
* Inclusive Collaboration;
* Stakeholder Engagement;
* Leading by Example;
Please visit this link for more information on UN Women 's Core Values and
Competencies:https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-
Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf
Functional Competencies:
* Good knowledge and expertise in financial planning and management;
* Good knowledge of complex financial rules and regulations, preferably UN/UN Women Financial Rules and regulations;
* Good conceptual/strategic skills and success in implementing financial re-engineering, management systems development, policy design, innovation and knowledge product development is an asset;
* Good knowledge and experience in the application of complex financial systems and modules (such as Atlas);
* Good knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages;
* Ability to provide advice and support;
* Good Analytical skills;

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
* Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting is required.
Experience:
* Minimum ‎2 years of progressively responsible experience in accounting, and financial management in a large international and/or corporate organization preferably in the UN system and its organizations;
* Experience in web-based management systems and ERP financial systems such as PeopleSoft is required;
* Successful completion of the UN Women Accounting and Finance Test is an asset;
* Specialized national or international certification in accounting and finance is an asset;
* Experience with IPSAS or IFRS is highly desirable;
* Experience in the usage of office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.).
Language Requirements:
* Fluency in English is required;
* Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.