Finance National Professional Officer

Finance and Management Services Officer

Fixed Term, National Professional Officer level A- NOA

Finance and Management Services Division (MSD)

Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

DURATION: 12 months (renewable)  

Guinea-Bissau is a low-income country facing major development challenges, including political instability, overreliance on cashew production, and vulnerability to climate change, which have led to widespread food insecurity and malnutrition—especially among vulnerable groups like children, rural women, and people with health conditions.

To address these issues, the government launched the “Hora Tchiga” strategy focusing on developing human capital through investments in health, education, and infrastructure. The World Food Programme (WFP) supports this effort with crisis response, nutrition, school feeding, support for smallholder farmers, institutional capacity building, and social protection.

The WFP’s 2023–2027 country strategic plan includes four main outcomes:

Ensure food and nutrition needs are met during and after crises. Improve diets and access to services for vulnerable groups. Build resilience in rural communities, especially for women and youth. Strengthen the national social protection system.

All efforts will include gender-sensitive and disability-inclusive approaches, with nutrition and climate adaptation integrated across all interventions.

The Finance and MSD Unit in the WFP Country Office, including services of IT, travel and fleet management, consolidates its roles as a proactive and solution-oriented platform to support and advise both the management and other units. Capacity strengthening of the unit staff members and training on WFP financial and admin rules and regulations to the other staff members is one of the key areas. Proactive support with practical solutions on key management issues is another focus. The office needs to adapt to emerging financial management practices and technologies with innovative projects and continuously review its processes to maximise the WFP’s efficiency in the use of resources. The office focuses on increased efficiency in the use of financial resources and contributes to sustaining the reputation that WFP is an accountable and reliable partner to all its stakeholders in its efforts towards achieving a world without hunger.

Some of the key tasks are the following but not limited to: improvement of internal control and corporate assurance measures; development of SOPs on travel, budget use and other key issues; UN coordination on Business Operation Strategy (BOS) and other financial/admin issues through OMT ( Operations Management Team), OSH (Occupational Safety and Health) and other platforms; other financial/admin issues; Common premises management; timely update on WFP corporate systems and reports; support for the management on corporate initiatives, accountability and assurance matters as well as the other financial/admin/IT issues as needed; support for the programme and other unit activities including cash-based transfer, insurance, procurement, amongst others.

Under the direct supervision of the Country Director, the staff member is expected to lead the Finance/MSD unit by supervising unit members, overseeing relevant units, representing WFP in operational UN coordination meetings, and contributing to various internal oversight committees. The staff member also plays as a compliance focal point for ensuring application of controls and compliance with policies and procedures, contributing to the overall effectiveness of operations and optimization of WFP resources and mainstreaming of WFP’s risk and compliance framework.

Support corporate finance and resource management strategies and major ongoing programmatic initiatives; Contribute towards the development of country-specific plans and processes, aligned with WFP strategy, policies and processes; Analyze and report on key data for financial status and outcomes of projects in accordance with corporate governance requirements. Monitor and analyze budgets for new and ongoing projects according to established corporate procedures and requirements; Perform bank reconciliations, disbursements, clearance of receivables, overall cash management and monthly financial closures on a regular basis in accordance with corporate requirements.  Collect and analyze data for the preparation of accurate and timely reporting, in order to provide management to make informed decisions; Track and analyze data to identify opportunities for improvements to policies, systems and procedures in order to minimize financial risks, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations. Deliver financial controls and insight into WFP performance, undertaking periodic risk and internal control assessments to identify areas that may present potential audit, compliance or financial risks. Guide and supervise more junior staff, acting as a point of referral and supporting them with more complex analysis and queries; Represent unit/CO at internal meetings, external meetings and events with other UN agencies, banks and other financial institutions, or other partners and entities as required. 

Contribute to and implement WFP country/regional plans, including administrative processes, aligned with WFP strategies and policies to facilitate efficient and effective administration service, including Fleet Management, Asset Management, Facilities management, ICT, Travel & Protocol. Develop annual plans, contribute to longer-term strategies and improvements to policies, systems, procedures to ensure services provided support WFP strategic objectives and are in compliance with corporate policies, standards, regulations and processes. Deliver core administrative services, working with contractors and following standard processes to provide cost-effective, quality and timely services to WFP staff; Ensure implementation of WFP ICT related policies and procedures; Ensure information in all Administration-related WFP electronic systems is timely updated by the responsible staff. Manage the existing resources in the area of responsibility and estimate new requirements aiming at efficiency, cost-effectiveness and timeliness of operations and services; Facilitate the compliance of the services provided with the corporate Occupational Safety and Health Policy. Support a culture of environmental sustainability throughout WFP by role modelling actions that drive sustainability in all administrative activities; Support the capacity building of WFP staff and partners through the organisation or design of trainings, workshops, daily interaction, etc. The Officer is responsible for ensuring the implementation of WFP’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) standards within their area of operations, proactively identifying and mitigating risks, promoting a culture of safety, and ensuring compliance with WFP’s duty of care obligations to all personnel.

Coordinate, support and respond to oversights and audit in the country and follow up on recommendations; Deliver financial controls and insight into WFP performance, undertaking periodic risk and internal control assessments to identify areas which may present potential audit, compliance or financial risks. Contribute to accountability across functional units, prepare comprehensive reports summarizing the status of compliance of internal controls, key oversight themes, and using risk information (e.g. risk indicators, incidents) to highlight areas out of risk appetite and contribute ideas on required actions in areas of risk & compliance vulnerability. Follow standard emergency preparedness practices to ensure WFP is able to quickly respond and deploy food and needed resources to affected areas at the onset of the crisis. Perform any other task as required/requested.

Advanced University degree in a relevant subject 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.

At least 5 years of relevant progressively responsible experience in a finance role, proven experience also in overseeing an administration unit or other support functions is mandatory.

Fluency (level C) in English and Portuguese languages, knowledge of French is considered an asset.

• Theoretical understanding of a broad range of finance, ICT and admin topics.

• Ability to analyze and review financial information, process records in SAP or comparable systems and guide colleagues in adhering to WFP (financial) rules and regulations.

• Technical knowledge in accounting and internal control processes.

• Has provided direction and instruction to more junior staff members within area of expertise.