Finance Assistant

Job Posting Organization:
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was established in 1945 and is dedicated to achieving security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">food security for all and ensuring that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. FAO operates in over 130 countries and has a mission to support the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems. The organization emphasizes environmental sustainability as a core aspect of its strategic objectives and operations, aiming to improve production, nutrition, and the environment while ensuring that no one is left behind. The Shared Services Centre (SSC) within FAO plays a crucial role in managing process management and procedures, ensuring quality assurance, and continuously improving service delivery to enhance customer satisfaction while reducing costs through standardization and automation.

Job Overview:
The Finance Assistant position is designed for individuals who will undertake finance-related support activities of medium complexity. The role requires a solid understanding of financial policies, procedures, and practices, ensuring that processes are executed with quality, transparency, and consistency. The incumbent will provide procedural guidance to other staff members and will be responsible for organizing their own work effectively. The Finance Assistant will report to the Finance Associate/National Professional Officer and will work autonomously, demonstrating initiative and judgment in their responsibilities. This position is integral to the financial operations of the organization, contributing to the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the finance team.

Duties and Responsibilities:
The Finance Assistant will be responsible for a variety of key functions, including reviewing source documents for completeness and accuracy, extracting transaction details from the integrated financial system for analysis and verification, and investigating errors while taking corrective actions. The incumbent will support continuous improvement efforts by participating in the testing and implementation of new financial process automations. Additionally, the Finance Assistant will monitor transactions to ensure due diligence is performed, prepare worksheets, assist in report preparation by consolidating data from various sources, draft correspondence, and respond to queries. The role also involves evaluating ongoing financial support requirements, adapting service provision to meet changing needs, and providing guidance and training to junior finance support staff. Other duties may be assigned as required, all of which contribute to the overall impact of the finance team's efficiency and effectiveness.

Required Qualifications:
Candidates must possess a secondary school education as a minimum requirement. Additionally, they should have four years of relevant experience in finance, accounting, cash management, or asset management-related support work. A working knowledge of English at proficiency level C is mandatory, along with very good knowledge of MS Office applications and office technology equipment. Candidates must also be nationals of Hungary or possess a valid visa/work permit and reside within commuting distance of the duty station at the time of application.

Educational Background:
The educational background required for this position is a secondary school education. This foundational level of education is essential for understanding the basic principles of finance and accounting that will be applied in the role of Finance Assistant.

Experience:
The position requires a minimum of four years of relevant experience in finance, accounting, cash management, or asset management-related support work. This level of experience is crucial for the candidate to effectively handle the responsibilities associated with the role and to ensure compliance with financial policies and procedures.

Languages:
A working knowledge of English at proficiency level C is mandatory for this position. Additionally, having intermediate proficiency (level B) in another FAO official language such as Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish is considered a desirable qualification that can enhance the candidate's profile.

Additional Notes:
The position is classified under the General Service Staff category, which means that candidates must be nationals of Hungary or possess an existing visa/work permit to be eligible for recruitment. The role is expected to be full-time, and candidates must reside within commuting distance of the duty station, which is defined as the distance that allows for daily travel between the candidate's residence and the workplace. This requirement ensures that the selected candidate can fulfill their duties effectively without logistical challenges.