Operations Associate (NPSA6) 2 positions

The Country Office provides a range of policy, programmatic and operational services to Government. These are provided at national and sub-national levels provincially, locally, and in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. 

Over the last four decades, the Country Office has consolidated its assistance in a select number of sectors. These are: 

• Environment and Climate Action.
• Governance and Rule of Law. 
• Peace and Resilience Building.
• Disaster Preparedness and Response.
• Women’s Empowerment and Gender Action.

The Country Office has refined several service offers that development partners and the Government have drawn on extensively. These include: 

• Policy and technical advisory services to develop capacity, deliver technical assistance and/or advise on public policy. 
• Programme delivery expertise that Government lacks or is unable to access effectively. 
• Peacebuilding assistance and advice that requires neutrality and impartiality that national stakeholders and other development partners cannot readily offer.
• Knowledge platforms and global expertise that draws on national, regional, and international experience and best practices. 
• Operational and procurement services to Government and development partners to deliver development assistance programmes, projects and other such initiatives. 

The Country Office has maintained a solid and productive relationship with Government and remains one of its most important development partners. 

UNDP’s posture responds to several considerations, the most important is limited institutional and human capacity. A longitudinal assessment highlights a limited ability of Government to develop responsive policy and deliver services. This extends to the delivery public investments. UNDP (and the UN) fills several critical ‘gaps.’ As a trusted partner this often sees UNDP act as an extension or supplement Government capability in Papua New Guinea. 

The Country Office delivers activities across national and sub-national levels. It also works closely with civil society organizations, community groups, and faith-based organizations who partner with UNDP in some of the country’s most challenging contexts. 

UNDP’s current Country Programme Document has consolidated an integrated programmatic approach across four pillars, these being: women’s empowerment; governance and peace; economic transformation; and environment and climate. All are of critical importance to Papua New Guinea, and all were UNDP adds and its able to further add, immense value as a principal UN organisation. 

The Country Office is in Port Moresby. It oversights field offices in Mendi (Southern Highlands) and Buka (Bougainville), with project offices in Wewak (East Sepik Province), Wabag (Enga Province), Kimbe (West New Britain Province), and Kundiawa (Simbu Province) with a sub-office in Tari (Hela Province).

There are currently 105 personnel attached to UNDP in Papua New Guinea. This number if expected to grow over the next three years and along with it, the value of services delivered by the Country Office which is on track to reach $30 million per annum by 2028. 

The Operations Division of the Country Office is critical to the smooth, successful and timely delivery of a range of services across the Office, to other UN agencies and external stakeholders. 

Under the overall guidance of the Operations Manager and direct supervision of the Finance Analyst, an Operations Associate will provide services ensuring the effective and transparent utilization of financial resources. 

The Operations Associate promotes a client-oriented approach consistent with UNDP rules and regulations. The Operations Associate is expected to display initiative and a positive approach and will, from time to time, be required to undertake other emerging tasks and additional duties as required by direct supervisor or the Country Office’s Senior Management team.

The successful candidate will be engaged under a National Personnel Service Agreement or NPSA modality. This be at level 6 and offers a competitive package. 

UNDP is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages women to apply for this position.

The Operations Associate, as part of the finance unit, will contribute to the successful functioning of Papua New Guinea Country Office. She/he will do so by carrying out the following key tasks under supervision:

a. Ensuring the administration and implementation of operational strategies, processes and procedures by:

• Ensuring full compliance with UN/UNDP rules, regulations, and policies of financial activities financial recording/reporting system and follow-up on audit recommendation.
• Implementing effective internal controls, proper functioning of a client-oriented financial resources management system.
• Overseeing finance business processes including mapping and elaboration of internal Standard Operating Procedures in Finance in consultation with Country Office management.
• Developing proposals and implementing cost saving and reduction strategies in consultations with Country Office management.

b. Providing accounting and administrative support to Operations units ensuring:

• Proper control of supporting documents for payments and financial reports for NEX projects. 
• Preparation of all types of vouchers. 
• Pay Cycle and payments execution including maintaining of the internal expenditures control system which ensures that vouchers processed are matched and completed and that transactions are correctly recorded and posted in the Financial Information Management Systems (Quantum). 
• Proper year-end closure activities. 
• Timely corrective actions on unposted vouchers, including the vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions, unapproved vouchers. Timely response to HQ requests to resolve financial data issues.
• Supporting the Finance Analyst in assessing staff Accounts Receivables for UNDP projects and follow up.
• Tracking expenditure for UNDP projects, follow-up with projects or UN Agencies on payment requests for cost recovery actions.

c.  Liaison with Global Shared Services Centre (GSSC) by:

• Reviewing all request submitted for finalization and submission for approval of senior management.
• Liaising with GSSC for voucher approval and responding to any query.
• Reviewing and finalization of pay-cycle file and sharing remittance advise with suppliers.
• Ensuring that the voucher payment method and vendor bank accounts are appropriately selected. 
• Timely review of bank statements and submission of bank statement to GSSC.
• Coordinating with GSSC for timely identification and recording of receipts for income application.
• Following up with GSSC on the payment requests to ensure the requests are processed within the timeline.

d. Facilitating knowledge building and knowledge sharing in the Country Office by:

• Ensuring facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing in the CO and guidance to all stakeholders on financial matters focusing on achievement of the following results: 
• Organising/conducting training for the operations/programme/project staff on financial management.
• Reviewing lessons learned and best practices in Operations. 
• Providing sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

Institutional Arrangement

The Operations Associate will report directly to the Finance Analyst. 

Business Management: Customer Satisfaction/Client Management

• Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers’ needs.
• Ability to anticipate client’s upcoming needs and concerns.

Business Management: Digital Awareness and Literacy 

• Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skillfully grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed.

Finance: Accounting (General)

• Knowledge of accounting concepts, principles, frameworks, standards, regulations, policies and trends, and ability to apply this to strategic and/or practical situations

Finance: Finance business partnering

• Able to support business units and add value by innovating and providing solutions to financial issues/queries, including through FAQs, financial tools, advisory, etc. Influences and appropriately challenges non-finance colleagues for whom the service is being provided. Understands the operations, opportunities and challenges of the organization. Holds a commercial outlook, demonstrating accountability towards organizational goals.

Finance: Financial risk management

• Ensures financial resilience through proactive assessment of risk, implementation of controls and taking mitigating action. Understands risk and reward in relation to collaborative and commercial projects. Ensures a culture of positive risk management

Finance: Audit risk management

• Ability to address audit issues raised in the course of an audit and propose solutions in order to ensure a true and fair audit opinion is achieved

Ethics: UN policy knowledge-ethics

• Knowledge and understanding of the UN Staff Regulations and Rules and other policies relating to ethics and integrity. 

• Secondary education is required.
• University Degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in Accounting, Finance, Business or related fields will be given due consideration, but it is not a requirement.

Minimum years of relevant work experience:

• 6 years (with Secondary Education) or 3 years (with Bachelor’s Degree) of relevant working experience in operations, finance and accounting at the national or international level.  
• Experience with UN and international organization would be an advantage.

• Fluency in written and spoken English language.