Financial Assistant

1. SUMMARY
The NATO Office of Resources (NOR) provides independent and integrated expert advice to the Secretary General NATO Resource Committees Allies and other stakeholders on the planning allocation and utilisation of military common funding made available to achieve NATOs goals and objectives.
The NOR advice is based on sound judgement underpinned by facts figures expertise and knowledge. It follows NATO policies procedures and standards and is independent of external stakeholders viewpoints. It supports efficient and effective use of public funds by assessing the policy compliance eligibility affordability technical viability and lifecycle implications of military requirements and proposed solutions. Furthermore the NOR facilitates resource-informed political decision-making.
The Resource and Portfolio Management (RPM) Branch delivers quality timely and relevant advice and support to NATO resource committees in relation to the delivery of NATO common-funded capabilities across the NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP) and Military Budget. It provides advice throughout all stages of the resource management lifecycle planning implementation reporting to ensure effective oversight and strategic use of resources. It further provides advice to support the efficient application of NATOs common funding capability delivery governance model at the portfolio level including programme interdependencies and portfolio and programme exceptions. The Branch also supports the Head of Financial Reporting Policy in the central coordination and development of NATO-wide accounting and financial reporting policy in line with approved accounting standards and best practices in the field of public finance.
The Branch is organised in four Sections: Portfolio Analysis Monitoring and Reporting Section Financial Policy Budget and Analysis Section Performance Accounting and Audit Section and Investment Planning and Analysis Section. The Financial Policy Budget and Analysis Section provides advice and guidance to the Financial Controller community on NATO financial policy. The section also looks after the military common funded budget and consolidating complex technical financial information and communicating key messages to the committees and other stakeholders.

The incumbent working under the direction of the Head of the Financial Policy Budget and Analysis section is responsible for providing input to financial policy and budget reporting as well as providing support to NOR management and the Resource Committees preparing committee-ready material and maintain accurate substantiated Military Budget records. Tasks are interlinked across processes and are performed with a degree of autonomy within agreed objectives and timelines. The incumbent applies interpretative thinking skills weighing multiple courses of action against precedents and where necessary devises creative pragmatic solutions to complete assigned tasks.

2. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
ESSENTIAL:
The incumbent must:
have upper vocational training/post-secondary degree in Finance Business Administration or other relevant discipline with 3 years experience in business administration and/or finance OR a higher secondary education qualification with 6 years experience in business administration and/or finance;
have experience with preparing committee and board ready reports on plans budgets and in-year execution and experience in drafting clear concise material;
have experience storing retrieving and monitoring data and generating reports using automated tools (spreadsheets and databases);
have experience in analysing financial data and applying public-sector reporting models maintaining high accuracy through checklist-based controls and reconciliations;
possess the following minimum levels of NATOs official languages (English/French): V (Advanced) in one; II (Elementary) in the other.

DESIRABLE:
The following would be considered an advantage:
possession of a relevant university degree (e.g. finance accounting or business management) or a recognised accountancy diploma (e.g. Association of Accounting Technicians AAT) or equivalent;
experience in using an Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) system or Project Portfolio Management System;
experience providing policy support e.g. organising workshops and briefings preparing meeting packs and short checklists collating stakeholder comments and maintaining version control and distribution lists.

3. MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES

Expertise Development
Support the development of financial forecasting and analysis models that inform resource advice for decision-making. Build and maintain information databases underpinning the Military Budget. Undertake and automate various verification and validation checks to ensure the data is robust taut and reflective of the source. Undertake different types of manual checks on the financial data and produce reports for NOR Resource Committees and other stakeholders. Contribute to the preparation of documents of an administrative budgetary or accounting nature. Contribute to the development of the NOR financial information system including user testing of changes and upgrades. Proof-read and format documents to NOR standards prior to circulation. Setting up and organising meetings with colleagues within and external to the NOR and undertaking other duties as required. Support policy-related changes by collating evidence and stakeholder feedback analysing impacts against approved guidance preparing checklists and options for review.

Project Management
Act as the central point of contact for affordability considerations in screening reports analysing costs and preparing affordability assessments for changes to the civilian Personnel Establishment workforce in liaison with Action Officers. Combine the Budget Holders input to produce budget authorisations for the coming year in-year execution of appropriations and financial forecasts for the out years. Ensure financial decisions made by the committees on the Military Budget are reflected in master data. Suggest and participate in the development of automated functionalities. Monitor the application of approved guidance and report on material issues. Monitor and track the approval and implementation of Capabilities Delivered as a Service within the Common Funding Capability Delivery Governance Model coordinating milestones dependencies and exceptions with the Budget Holders. Contribute to the Annual Report by coordinating the collection consolidation and basic analysis of agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on budget performance (e.g. execution rates forecast accuracy material variances) to support transparency and accountability. Coordinate practical logistics for RPM Branch workshops and briefings (room availability invitations agendas attendance lists and consolidated action points).

Knowledge Management
Ensure that financial data entered by the RPM Branch into financial tools used by the NOR (e.g. MS Excel) is accurate and relevant. Identify potential discrepancies in the financial data and provide statistics and reports as required. Contribute to the efficient flow of information within the team. Produce financial management reports that follow the NATO financial regulations ensuring the accuracy completeness and substantiation of all transactions recorded in the NOR financial information system whilst maintaining appropriate supporting evidence. Validate and amend Military Budget financial data from Budget Holders by cross checking against previous records and reports. Apply checklist-based controls and document each verification step (e.g. control totals and reconciliations) to minimise the risk of overlooked errors. Raise discrepancies for clarification with the staff of the Budget Holders. Maintain a single knowledge store of Military Budget documents approved guidance policy changes lessons identified and workshop materials with clear audit trails document control and easy retrieval. Maintain concise records for Capabilities delivered as a service (e.g. service descriptions KPIs and decision references). Maintain KPI definitions calculation methods and a simple data dictionary with version control and source references ensuring an audit trail and consistency across reporting cycles.

Stakeholder Management
Build liaise and maintain efficient working relationships with the national representatives from NATO Delegations the staff of Financial Controllers the International Board of Auditors for NATO and NOR Staff in order to ensure timely and accurate financial reporting and management of the Military Budget as well as to ensure the application of internal procedures and guidance. Coordinate stakeholder inputs to policy related updates (e.g. gathering comments tracking actions and deadlines) including organising workshops and preparing meeting packs and background notes and escalate non-routine matters to colleagues. Maintain working level relationships with the Budget Holders. Comfortable working with ambiguity whilst maintaining customer confidence by respecting deadlines and attention to detail. Liaise with the IS-NOR colleagues and Budget Holders to solicit KPIs data input cut-offs and definitions and capturing lessons identified for the next reporting cycle.

Perform any other related duty as assigned.

The incumbent reports to the Section Head of the Financial Policy Budget and Analysis Section and must be tactful discrete and possess a highly developed sense of responsibility. The role will work closely with the Financial Policy and Budget Officer.
In a key coordinating role this role will build relationships with NATO Delegations Budget Holders and the International Staff to solicit inputs manage timelines and address ad-hoc issues.
Direct reports: n/a
Indirect reports: n/a

The incumbent must demonstrate:
Achievement: Works to meet standards;
Analytical Thinking: Sees basic relationships;
Clarity and Accuracy: Checks own work;
Conceptual Thinking: Sees patterns based on life/work experience;
Customer Service Orientation: Takes personal responsibility for correcting problems;
Empathy: Reads non-verbal cues and understands meanings;
Impact and Influence: Takes multiple actions to persuade;
Initiative: Is decisive in a time-sensitive situation;
Teamwork: Cooperates.