DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS26 August 2025-23:59-GMT+01:00 West Africa Standard Time (Kinshasa)
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ABOUT WFP
The World Food Programme is the worldโs largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
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WHY JOIN WFP?
WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.
WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.
A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.
We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).
Job Title : Finance Officer
Type of Contract : Fixed Term (FT)
Grade : NO-A
Unit / Division : Finance & Administration
Duty Station (City, Country): Kinshasa, DR Congo
Duration: 12 Months, renewable
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the worldโs 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 crises 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 DRCโs 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.
The presence of a finance consultant 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 officer is to ensure proper management of the Finance and On-Demand Services functions under Country Office as well as ensure funds are disbursed in accordance with authorizations and legitimate documentation as per IPSAS regulations.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
This positionโs role and responsibility is critical stewardship of the Unitโs financial operations, ensuring smooth execution, coordination effectively cross-functional, strict adherence to WFP policies, sound segregation of duties, and robust internal controls. In addition, guide and supervise more junior staff, acting as a point of referral and supporting them with more complex analysis and queries. To safeguard continuity across key financial functions, including cash management, payroll and payment processing, and financial reporting (monthly, interim, and year-end).ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES (not all inclusive):
The incumbent will be responsible for the following key duties:- Support the development and implementation of Standard Operating Procedures, Guidelines and Policies to enhance financial management, reporting and internal controls at DRC. This will include reviewing existing policies and procedures on the major aspects of the DRC financial operations to identify areas where additional guidelines are required to support effectiveness and efficiency of operations, liaising with other Units or offices on the requirement/applicability of new guidelines.
- Lead and coordinate the effective functionality of the Country Office Finance Unit staff. This will include task allocations, staff appraisals, coaching and mentoring, identifying additional staffing needs and supporting the recruitment process for new staff and holding regular coordination meetings for finance unit staff.
- Prepare routine and adhoc financial reports and analysis to both internal and external stakeholders to support decision making and to comply with donor, partner or other stakeholder requirements. This will include reviewing the financial analysis work of other finance staff before presentation to the varied stakeholders and the presentation of these analyses to the varied stakeholders in the appropriate formats.
- Oversee allocation of expenditure to the programmatic budgets. This will include provision of expenditure allocation codes to the various spending units in line with the budgets and workplans, review and release commitment documents entered in WINGS to ensure compliance with the approved expenditure allocation, budget and workplans.
- Fund management of the DSC (Direct Support Costs) budget and monitoring of the expenditure on the other programmatic activity budgets.
- Periodically review the staff cost allocations to the programmatic activity budgets to ensure that the staff costs are adequately covered for at least six months to one year ahead and the cost allocations reflect the staff work assignments. This will include liaison with activity managers and heads of area and field offices to ensure that the staff costs are accurately charged to the programmatic activities. This should also include review of staff cost allocations to grant relevant (restricted funding) to ensure it complies to the donor agreements.
- Support the continuous review and enhancement of internal controls. This will include follow up on the implementation of internal and external audit recommendations, follow up and correspondence with RBJ on periodic Financial Risks Analysis, planning for and carry out sub-office oversight visits to ensure financial controls and processes are effective and efficient and ensuring that the delegation of authority and committee matrixes are up to date.
- Support the routine payments process at the Country Office and act as an alternate approval signatory in the absence of the principal signatories. This will include review and posting of the SC-SSA payroll, routine payment processing as an alternate to the NOB, verification and first level approval for payments processed or CBT transfers as an alternate to the Head of Finance and Support Services.
- Periodic Financial Reporting through the Monthly Minimum Closure Process and periodic reconciliations. This will include preparation of the MMC package, follow-up of the enhanced-risk financial dashboard items, and bank reconciliations as an alternate to the Finance Officer NOA.
- Represent the Finance Unit or Country Office at internal meetings, external meetings and events with other UN agencies, banks and other financial institutions, or other partners and entities as required. This will include participation in the Resource Management Committee, FLA and FSP due diligence, Procurement and Contracts Committee, Cooperating Partners Committee, etc.
- Guide and supervise more junior staff, acting as a point of referral and supporting them with more complex analysis and queries.
- Perform other general financial and administrative duties as assigned by the supervisor e.g., facilitation and support to visiting oversight and audit teams, training/preparation of training materials for staff and other stakeholders, etc.
DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:
- Ensure proper management of the Finance functions as they relate to on-demand services.
- 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 financial and Supply Chain matters to ensure the service is fully implemented.
- Support staff, contracted operators, and vendors to secure relevant travel documentation and formalities in coordination with the WFP CO.
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
- Degree in Business/Public Administration, Finance, Supply Chain or other relevant fields.
- Excellent analytical skills
- Excellent planning and forecasting skills
- Excellent problem and negotiation skills
- Excellent report writing skills
Education:
- Advanced University degree in Finance, Business Administration, Accounting, or related fields, or First University degree in the same subject(s) with additional years of related work experience plus membership in an international recognized professional accountancy body such as Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Institute of Certified Public Accounts (ICPA) or equivalent.
Experience:
- Has gained at least 5 years of professional experience in finance, supply chain, procurement, budget and planning or any relevant field necessary for the specific role.
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 French Language
- knowledge of English (Level B level)
WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK
WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.
Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION
WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact: global.inclusion@wfp.org
NO FEE DISCLAIMER
The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.
REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).
Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language
Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter
Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time
Please contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org in case you face any challenges with submitting your application
Only shortlisted candidates will be notified
All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.
- Has gained at least 5 years of professional experience in finance, supply chain, procurement, budget and planning or any relevant field necessary for the specific role.
- Advanced University degree in Finance, Business Administration, Accounting, or related fields, or First University degree in the same subject(s) with additional years of related work experience plus membership in an international recognized professional accountancy body such as Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Institute of Certified Public Accounts (ICPA) or equivalent.