Finance & Administrative Assistant

Organizational Setting The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner. The position is located in the FAO Representation in Bangladesh and the incumbent will be based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Reporting Lines Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative, direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative (Administration) and day-to-day close supervision of the Focal Point – Finance Cluster in the representation. Technical/Functional Skills The incumbent will carry out different administrative functions particularly in the area of finance and administration in close liaison with the colleagues in the representation and projects. The incumbent will perform the below listed activities but not limited to: Tasks and Responsibilities Financial Activities:

• Verify/examine the accuracy of invoices and payment vouchers and need to ensure that all the requests are in line with the approved budget;
• Create invoices by making entries into the Global Resources Management System (GRMS – Finance module) to settle the payments or advances;
• Maintain imprest accounts; reconcile expenditures, balances, payments, statements and other data for day-to-day transactions and reports;
• Retrieve, enter, select and analyse data from a wide variety of sources, including FAO’s corporate systems and databases e.g. GRMS, iMIS etc. ;
• Assist to verify availability of funds and ensure that operational expenditures are in accordance with approved budgets and that all committing documents are complete and consistent;
• Prepare correspondence of administrative nature; initiate correspondence to verify data, answer queries, and obtain additional information on transactions and financial matters, as required.
• Maintain liaison with local banks and financial institutions to keep up-to-date with financial and regulatory information (exchange and interest rates, procedures and rules, maintenance of bank accounts, etc.).
• Support the streamlining of procedures and practices, and keeping staff informed of new new information technologies or system updates as issued by the organization;
• Manage and maintain petty cash account for country office ;
• Provide support on monitoring the Operational Cash Advances (OCAs) and ensure that the OCAs are settled in due time;
• Support on performing the monthly reconciliations of imprests accounts of the representation;
• Support on preparation of the periodic budget report (Forecast for resources and expenditure) for RP budget;
• Perform regular accounting payable/receivable functions in the system (GRMS);
• Prepare cash forecast for representation and timely request for replenishment from the FAO treasury and maintain regular banking records;
• Review the financial statements /receipts /transactions submitted by the service providers against the letters of agreements signed under TCPs and other any other projects as assigned;

Administrative Activities:

• Make administrative arrangements of meetings, working groups and prepare documents; arrange for payment of participants, etc.
• Provide guidance to newly joined staff on proper application of FAO’s policies/procedures on making any financial transactions; ensure accuracy and diligence of the work provided.
• Assist on maintenance of filing system for all financial and administrative documents and correspondence;
• Support to perform the procurement activities for the country office, when required;
• Monitor the LOA activities for the projects and update/share to the A-FAOR (Admin) in case of any actions is required
• Assist international staff, experts and consultants on all respects of allowances, salary (advances), and other financial matters, calculates payments etc.
• Perform any other administrative duties as required in the unit or assigned by the A-FAOR (admin).

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING Minimum Requirements

• Essential: Incumbent must have a Degree on accounting/finance or business administration or any other related field from any reputed university. Specialized training in finance, accounting, administration, and/or office management would be added advantage.
• Desirable: Master Degree on accounting/finance or business administration or any other related field from any reputed university.
• Essential: Minimum Five years of progressively administrative, accounting and office management experience in UN or any other International organizations;
• Desirable: Familiarity with FAO / UN financial/administrative field programme procedures and rules.
• Nationality of Bangladesh

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Experience in the UN System or an International organization/institution will be an advantage.
• Have good judgment and analytical skills;
• Self-motivated and able to work with minimum supervision;
• Ability to work under pressure in a professional manner;
• Ability to work quickly and accurately;
• Ability to establish and maintain a good working relationships with people of different national and cultural background;
• Excellent computer skills (especially in MS-Word, MS-Excel and Outlook );
• Working knowledge (level C) of English (spoken and written) and fluency in Bengali language;