Finance Associate - UNOCHA

Panamá | Panama City

Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
Location: Panamá | Panama City
Grade: Administrative support - GS-6, General Service - No need for Higher Education - Locally recruited position
Occupational Groups:
- Operations and Administrations
- Legal - Broad
- Administrative support
- Banking and Finance
- Humanitarian Aid and Coordination
Closing Date: 2025-11-10

Organizational Setting and Reporting Relationships

This position is located in the Crisis Response Division (CRD), in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). OCHA is part of the United Nations Secretariat, which is responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies. OCHA also ensures there is a framework within which each actor can contribute to the overall response efforts. OCHA's mission is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors in order to alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies; advocate the rights of people in need; promote preparedness and prevention and facilitate sustainable solutions.

This position-specific job opening is being advertised for the Finance Associate position, based in Panama City, Panama. Under the overall supervision of the Head of Office, OCHA Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, the incumbent reports to the Administration/Finance Officer.

Location: This position will be located in City of Knowledge, Arnoldo Cano Arosemena Ave. with Vicente Bonilla Ave., Building No. 128, Panama City, Rep. of Panama.

Duties and Responsibilities

Within delegated authority, the Finance Associate will be responsible for the following duties:

Budget:

Provides support with respect to the review, analysis, and preparation of the medium-term cost plan and its revisions.
Prepares supporting documents (narrative and supporting tables) with respect to finalization of cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements.
Assists managers in the elaboration of resource requirements for budget submissions.
Provides support to the Administration/Finance Officer with respect to budget reviews.
Monitors expenditures and compares with approved budget; prepares adjustments as necessary.
Reviews requisitions for goods and services to ensure (a) correct objects of expenditure have been charged, and (b) availability of funds.
Assists in preparation of budget performance submissions and finalization of budget performance reports, analysing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
Monitors integrity of various financial databases.
Verifies accuracy of input data, ensuring consistency of data in previous allotments to new allotments issued.
Co-ordinates with other finance and budget staff on HQ and UNDP-related issues during preparation of budget reports.
Controls of the supporting documents for payments and financial reports for the preparation of all types of vouchers/MIR7 to OCHA Pay Cycle and payments execution.
Reviews payroll processing in Quantum.

Claims:

Reviews, analyses, and prepares claims to third parties, commercial entities, including UN Agencies, OCHA’s Units, to decentralized positions to ROLAC related to common operations.
Prepares vouchers for OCHA management, Contracts and PO vouchers for management and development in the Regional Offices and HATs, follows up with HQs and UNDP.

Treasury:

Monitors/reviews methods used to remit payments and supervises investigation of non-receipt of payments.
Monitors and re-processes of payments rejected on Quantum & UMOJA systems.
Prepares SCA revision report to OCHA Finance Unit.Reviews incoming payment instructions with regard to banking details and sources of funds.
Notifies payees of status of payments to HQ.
Identifies and annotates bank account movements.
Monitors bank balances.
Liaises with banks worldwide regarding outstanding items and payment instructions.
Investigates complaints of non-receipt.
Files and archives as required.

General:

Keeps up-to-date on documents/reports/guidelines that have a bearing on matters related to programme, ensuring compliance with intergovernmental recommendations and decisions as well as with United Nations policies and procedures.
Drafts or prepares correspondence to respond to enquiries in respect to relevant financial and budget matters.
Maintain and keep up-to-date files.
May be responsible for providing guidance, training and daily supervision to other general service staff in the area of responsibility.
Assists with the collection and analysis of data as well as preparation of data presentations and reports for information sharing, responding to queries, knowledge management, planning and decision making.
Assists with visualizations and updating information material such as web pages or brochures.
Performs other related duties, as assigned.

Work implies daily interaction with the following:

Budget, Accounting, Finance, and administrative staff within OCHA/UNDP in New York, Geneva, and country offices in the region.

Results expected:
Works with minimal amount of supervision; independently provides accurate reports and timely support to Finance & Budget Officers and/or manager with respect to the development of well-formulated medium-term plan and budget proposals and administration of all facets of approved budget, claims administration and treasury remittances/payments.

Competencies

Professionalism (Integrated throughout): Knowledge of, and ability to apply financial rules, regulations and procedures in the UN environment. Knowledge, skills and ability to extract, interpret, analyse and format data across the full range of finance and budget functions, including programme development and database management, claims and treasury operations. Ability to identify and resolve data discrepancies and operational problems. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Commitment to implementing the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of work. Able to perform analysis, modeling and interpretation of data in support of decision-making.
Accountability (Deliver Results with Positive Impact): Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.
Client Orientation (Deliver Results with Positive Impact): Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Secondary Education, with specialized certification in Accounting and Finance, is required or
University Degree (Bachelor´s degree) in Finance, Business, or Public Administration will be given due consideration.

Experience, Knowledge and Skills:

Minimum 6 years (with secondary school education) or 3 years (with a Bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience in finance at the national or international level is required.
Experience in the usage of computers and MS Office packages is required.
Advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages is required.
Experience with UMOJA is desired.
Experience with Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP), preferably with PeopleSoft/Oracle is desired.
Prior experience with the UN in a similar role is considered an asset.

Additional Desirable Criteria:

Experience within OCHA, the UN humanitarian system, or working with an international organization will be considered a strong asset in the selection process.
Experience working in humanitarian operations and in humanitarian coordination in the field is desirable.
Experience working with humanitarian databases and platforms will be considered a strong asset in the selection process.
Experience drafting information management products and reports, flash updates, situational reports, briefings, humanitarian and risk alerts is desirable.
Experience preparing inputs or reports to donors, and high-level visits to field humanitarian operations humanitarian operations is desirable.

Languages:

Fluency in Spanish and English is required.
Working knowledge of French is an asset.

Important applicant information

All posts in the FTA categories are subject to local recruitment.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Scam alert

UNDP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process. For further information, please see www.undp.org/scam-alert.

We do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.

Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify.
Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.

Apply