Financial Assistant

The Council of Europe Office in Ukraine facilitates the implementation of the Council of Europe's mission in the country on human rights protection, democracy support and the rule of law, and coordinates and implements cooperation projects and programs. One of the key tasks of the Office is to strengthen the role of the Council of Europe in supporting Ukraine’s efforts to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine.

Your role

As a Financial Assistant you will perform the following key duties:

• ensure that all financial transactions of the Office are carried out in accordance with Council of Europe financial regulations, rules and procedures;
• advise and assist in financial, administrative and budgetary matters;
• prepare records and process financial transactions, including in particular, input of requisitions and purchase orders into the financial management informations system (FIMS) and their finalisation;
• verify and control invoices before settlement;
• ensure regular follow-up of budget execution and prepare monthly reports of budget situation for information and validation by the relevant cost centre managers;
• provide accurate financial information; draw immediate attention to discrepancies and irregularities;
• follow up work or activities in progress and report to the supervisor, especially when problems occur;
• liaise with officials of local banks and financial institutions to obtain information on exchange and interest rates, changes in procedures and regulations for office bank accounts;
• prepare regular management accounting reports and statements and transmits them to headquarters;
• archive relevant supporting documents of all financial transactions;
• carry out customs and tax exemption and VAT reimbursement procedures;
• provide logistical support to the Office (requisitioning of supplies from headquarters, local purchases, issuing of supplies, preparing purchase orders and tender procedures);
• contribute to the efficient functioning of the office, in collaboration with the Head of Office and the Deputy Head of Office;
• promote Council of Europe values internally and externally.

Please note that the incumbent may be required to perform other relevant duties not listed in the vacancy notice.

What we are looking for

As a minimum, you must:

• hold a completed full course of general secondary education, followed by a post-secondary diploma corresponding to a minimum of two years studies in accountancy, finance, economics or management;
• have a minimum of three years’ relevant professional experience in financial management, administrative management or management accounting; experience in preparing accounting or finance reports;
• have an excellent knowledge of Ukrainian (mother tongue level) and a very good knowledge of one of the two Council of Europe’s official languages (English or French);
• be a citizen of the host country or one of the 46 member States of the Council of Europe and fulfil the conditions for appointment to the civil service of that state;
• have discharged any obligation concerning national service (military, civil or comparable);
• not be the parent, child, stepchild or grandchild of a serving staff member of the Council of Europe;
• be under the age of 65 years.

Applications and selection procedure

Deadline for applications is 24 April 2023 (midnight Paris time). You can apply in English or French using the Council of Europe online application system on: https://www.coe-recruitment.com/JobDetails.aspx?vacancyID=2052&Lang=En

Given the current security and migration crisis in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the present local recruitment is also open to applicants whose permanent residency is normally in Ukraine, and who are currently displaced outside Ukraine.