Qualified women and people living with a disability are strongly encouraged to apply.

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity.

It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status, disability.

ABOUT THE WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly, women and children, can access the nutrition food they need.

DRC is one of the largest hunger crisis in the world. Hunger and conflict fuel one another, with armed conflict and widespread displacement prevailing for the past 25 years and multiple other crises compounding DRC’s humanitarian challenges. North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri are the provinces where war and unrest have been the most protracted. Three out of every four internally displaced people live with host families, many of whom were already just scraping by before taking in strangers in need. The number of acutely food-insecure people stands at 27 million, making access to food a daily struggle for a significant part of the Congolese population. An estimated 3.4 million children are acutely malnourished.

The escalating insecurity situation in Eastern DRC is worsening the humanitarian situation in the region. Information compiled by OCHA and its partners indicates that increased fighting in Ituri, Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu has resulted into millions of people being in urgent need of life-saving food assistance.

Considering these challenging circumstances, WFP is using various approaches/modalities and methods to be able to provide food assistance to the displaced persons. These modalities include CBT, capacity strengthening as well as general food distribution, and need to be closely monitored and supervised.

The presence of a finance and administrative officer is to support these transactions as well as lead the office to be compliant in the various demands and activities. The aim of the finance and administration officer is to ensure proper management of the Finance and Administration functions under Bunia Field Office as well as ensure funds are disbursed in accordance with authorizations and legitimate documentation as per IPSAS regulations. In addition, the finance and administration officer will support and ensure a proper oversight of CBT and all the distribution methods used to provide food assistance to the displaced persons.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

In the performance of his/her functions, the Finance Officer reports directly to the Head of Field Office and is under the functional supervision of the Senior Finance and Admin Officer, DRC CO. He/she is responsible for maintaining the day-to-day oversight in finance, administration and management support and/or provide technical support in Country Office / Regional Bureau for the efficient, effective and compliant utilization of funds.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES (not all inclusive):

The incumbent will be responsible for the following key duties:

1. Service Management:

• Ensure compliance with WFP financial policies, procedures, rules and regulations.
• Provide regular and ad hoc financial information to the Finance Unit (CO) for informed financial decision-making.
• Participate in the development and implementation of plans, policies and procedures for budget revisions, budget implementation and budget monitoring for the CSP.
• Assume overall funds management responsibilities for the FO, in close coordination with the Financer Officer at CO.
• Set up proper accounting procedures, systems and internal controls to ensure proper monitoring mechanisms are established and identify any weaknesses thereof for immediate correction.
• Ensure bank reconciliations for WFP accounts are regularly performed and reviewed by designated personnel.
• Ensure funds disbursements are made based on proper authorizations and supported by legitimate and appropriate documentation.
• Propose, develop and implement financial policies and procedures, including a strategy for debt collection from users under the partial cost recovery scheme and a close follow-up of those on the advance payment scheme.
• Ensure proper maintenance of vendor accounts and timely clearance of outstanding advances and other receivables.
• Ensure data integrity and consistency in WFP financial and accounting systems.
• Participate in the financial oversight’s missions of CBT
• Where necessary, manage and deliver administrative services, negotiating contracts and following standard procedures to provide cost-effective, quality, and timely services,
• Serve as the technical advisor on finance matters to the Finance/Admin Assistants in the Field Office.
• Coordinate and prepare accurate reports, to provide consistent information for stakeholders, and to identify trends/issues and propose solutions that support decision-making by senior management.

1. Managerial Support role:

• Ensure the management in FO is monthly informed through a formal email report of the financial situation to include control and action plan related to eventual outstanding debts.

• Lead a team of finance and administrative staff in Bunia Field Office, establishing priorities and work plans in accordance with Office work plan, monitoring progress, and providing coaching, training and guidance to ensure appropriate development and enable high performance.

  1. • In coordination with the HoFO, identify the staff training needs (Training Needs Assessment – TNA) and ensure its implementation in coordination with Finance Officer at CO and WFP Training.
     • Ensure the timely procurement of external training.

• Carry out and/or ensure regular visits to projects implementation sites and to antennas as appropriate and assist in clarifying and improving the proper application of policies and procedures and prepare comprehensive reports on findings with improvement action plans.

• Represent unit/FO at internal meetings, external meetings and events with other UN agencies, banks and other financial institutions or other partners and entities as required.

  1. • Contribute to the drafting of funding proposals and mid-term/final report if required.
     • Represent the HoFO as necessary in resource mobilisation's meetings when he/she is absent.

• Ensure that the procurement plan is prepared and that the necessary requirements are included and follow-up its implementation.

• Coordinate the update and submit for authorization of the unit's travel plan on a routine basis.

• Where necessary, oversee human resource functions related to staff benefits, recruitment of local staff, and training.

1. General:

• Perform any other duties assigned by the HoFO and CO Finance Unit.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• Ensure proper management of the Finance and Administrative functions of the FO
• Ensure funds are disbursed in accordance with authorizations and legitimate documentation as per IPSAS regulations and coordinate with CO for the programming of funds.
• Coordinate and support partners with technical service agreement on all administrative and financial matters to ensure the service is fully implemented.
• Prepare Bunia FO procurement plans and coordinate with various unit staff and designated WFP personnel in all procurement requirements under the financial rules and regulations.
• Support staff, contracted operators, and vendors to secure relevant travel documentation and formalities in coordination with the WFP CO.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

• Degree in Business/Public Administration, Finance, Economics or other relevant fields relating to office management and administration.
• Membership in an international recognized professional accountancy body such as Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPA) or equivalent.

Experience:

• Has gained at least 5 years of professional experience in finance, budget and planning or any relevant field necessary for the specific role.
• Proven experience in Financial Analysis.
• Experience with ERP systems and applications.
• Has provided direction and instruction to more junior staff members within area of expertise.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Proficiency in using Microsoft Office programmes and other related tools.
• Knowledge in humanitarian aviation activities and/or WFP field operations is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluent in English Language (Level C)
• Intermediate knowledge of French (Level B)