Finance Officer (Transactional Assurance)

The Finance Officer (Transactional Assurance) in the Eastern and Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) supports financial and quality assurance and stewardship of resources. The role involves risk assessment, management and oversight of assurance activities, capacity building, and monitoring and reporting to ensure compliance with WHO financial regulations and policies.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and assist with preparation of the regional assurance plan based on overall assessments of operational environment of countries in the region.
• Plan, conduct and report on in-depth due diligence assessments of Implementing Partners, Government and Non-Government entities.
• Identify high risk areas and recommend relevant mitigating measures including assurance activities to be implemented during the financial transactions.
• Provide day-to-day management and oversight of assurance activities being conducted in the region.
• Maintain a quality assurance process, implement and monitor assurance policies, procedures, guidelines and tools to ensure high quality professional assurance activities are performed in the region.
• Plan, conduct and report on comprehensive on-site verification missions, verification of financial reports of implementing partners and post audits to assess whether funds transferred to the Implementing Partners are used in accordance with contractual requirements and in compliance to the relevant WHO rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
• Coordinate engagement of professional assurance providers.
• Follow up to ensure that recommendations made to address the identified weaknesses are effectively implemented.
• Support the continuous improvement of processes around programme implementation modalities through the development and enhancement of policies, procedures, guidelines and tools.
• Support and facilitate capacity development of staff and implementing partners on programme implementation modalities and learnings from assurance activities in the region through training, workshops, presentations and analysis.
• Prepare reports for Country Offices, Regional Office and HQ as may be required.
• Perform special reviews and other tasks assigned by the Regional Finance Officer.
• Perform other related duties including special reviews and analyses.

Requirements

• University degree in finance, accounting, auditing, commerce, business administration or a relevant field with assurance.
• Professional Certification in auditing/accounting, such as Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Public Accountant or Chartered Accountant is desirable.
• Advanced University degree (Master's) in a relevant field is desirable.
• A minimum of five years of experience with international exposure in auditing, internal control, risk management or financial management.
• At least two years of supervisory experience of staff and experience in assessing internal controls and coordinating audit and assurance activities.
• Experience in WHO with a good understanding of WHO rules and regulations is an important asset.
• Audit experience with an international accounting firm will be an advantage.
• Sound knowledge of risk management and internal control principles, tools and techniques and their application.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with proven ability to produce high-level quality reports for decision makers.
• Strong sense of impartiality, confidentiality and objectivity.
• Good analytical skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to deal effectively with various internal/external partners on complex and sensitive matters.
• Ability to maintain effective working relationships with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Maturity of judgment, tact, integrity and discretion.
• Expert knowledge of English is essential.
• Intermediate knowledge of French is desirable.
• Intermediate knowledge of Arabic is desirable.

Skills

• Financial Auditing
• Internal Control Assessments
• Risk Management
• Finance Management
• Audit Coordination
• Supervision Experience
• Assurance Activities
• Report Writing
• WHO Financial Regulations
• International Auditing
• Certified Internal Auditor
• Certified Public Accountant
• Chartered Accountant
• Analytical Skills
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Confidentiality Management
• Financial Risk Management
• Capacity Building
• Financial Stewardship

Languages

English, French, Arabic