UNICEF Office: Division of Financial and Administrative Management, New York
Temporary Appointment: IPSAS Specialist
If you are a passionate and committed professional and want to make a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you.
Background
The adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) is a major change initiative being undertaken throughout the UN system, which requires policy development, systems modification, data creation and uploading, change management, communication and training. The IPSAS Implementation Project, leading to IPSAS adoption by UNICEF on 1 January 2012, was approved by the UNICEF Executive Board in January 2008. The policy development and the strategic planning phases are complete and systems development work is underway. The completion of the planning phase has enabled UNICEF to move into more detailed systems and implementation activities, including data clean-up, preparation and conversion, development of guidance, and preparation of a large UNICEF audience for the changes ahead through change management, communications and training.
Level of position and duration:
This position is being recruited at the P3 level under a Temporary Appointment for a period of 364 days commencing 1 December 2010.
Objectives
Reporting to a Senior IPSAS Specialist, under the direction of the IPSAS Management Team, this position will support IPSAS implementation activities in UNICEF. The IPSAS Specialist will:
· Support the development and/or writing of official business policy and procedural guidance, including technical accounting policy based on the approved IPSAS policy positions developed by the IPSAS team
· Review UNICEF specific SAP business process procedures and provide feedback to business process owners on IPSAS required changes to ensure IPSAS compliance
· Contribute to the review of and / or writing of ‘test scripts’ to test SAP processes that contribute to IPSAS compliance
· Contribute to planning, executing and / or monitoring, supporting or managing IPSAS data creation and conversion activities to support change throughout UNICEF in the pre-implementation phase prior to the launch of VISION ERP in December 2011,
· Work with colleagues in UNICEF divisions to assist in understand the impacts of IPSAS on UNICEF business processes and functions and enable non-accounting areas of the organisation to prepare.
· Work with communications colleagues on the IPSAS team to assist in developing communications content that explain accounting concepts through the lens of a non-technical manager in the UN environment
· Review content of training and communications for technical accuracy from an accounting and management perspective
Deliverables
Project deliverables, to which the IPSAS Specialist will contribute, include:
· Official UNICEF policy, procedure and guidance documents
· UNICEF SAP business process procedure documents and test scripts
· Data improvement, creation and conversion plans and activities
· Tools and guidance for change activities, to be introduced through interim and final accounting closure processes
· IPSAS communications and UNICEF training materials
· Periodic progress reports to Executive Board, project governance, etc.
· Other periodic documentation
Your Profile
· Advanced University degree in accounting, finance, or business administration and/or professional accounting qualification (CPA, CA, ACCA or equivalent)
· Minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in accounting, budgeting, financial management or finance systems applications
· Understanding of IPSAS, International Accounting Standards (IAS) and/or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
· Practical experience in implementing a new accounting standard (National or International) or cash to accrual accounting conversions
· Can clearly understand and explain technical accounting concepts as applied to the UN system to technical and non-technical colleagues using management rather than accounting terminology
· Experience with projects involving large scale organisational change
· Proven ability to self-manage and obtain the collaboration of other colleagues not under the direct supervision of the IPSAS team in order to achieve results on time
· Ability to:
o Conceptualize, plan and execute ideas
o Express clearly and concisely ideas and concepts in writing and orally
o Research, interpret, analyze, evaluate and synthesize information
o Work well under pressure and manage conflicting priorities
o Understand and manage change
o Develop frameworks to represent ideas and conclusions
· Excellent communication and writing skills
· Prior experience working for a UN organisation highly desirable
· Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relations both within and outside the organization
· Fluency in English; strong written and verbal skills in a second UN language, in particular French and/or Spanish, is highly desirable
UNICEF is committed to gender equality in its mandate and it staff. Well qualified candidates, particularly females are strongly encouraged to apply.
To Apply
If you have experience working in a similar capacity and want to make an active and lasting contribution to build a better world for children and match the profile outlines, send a detailed curriculum vitae in English, and a completed United Nations Personal History form (which can be downloaded from our website at www.unicef.org/employ), quoting ‘P3 IPSAS Specialist TA’ to .
1