Finance Officer

DUE: 15 JUL 2025

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

15 July 2025-23:59-GMT+02:00 Central Africa Time (Harare)

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s 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.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP’s values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

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).

ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Zimbabwe works in partnership with the Government of Zimbabwe, humanitarian and development actors, the private sector, and local communities to address immediate food needs while supporting long-term solutions to hunger and malnutrition.

WFP’s portfolio in Zimbabwe is guided by its Country Strategic Plan (CSP 2022–2026), which aligns with national development priorities and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. The CSP focuses on four key areas:

• Crisis Response: Providing emergency food assistance during critical periods such as the lean season, with a focus on protecting lives and livelihoods, particularly in response to climate shocks like droughts and floods.
• Resilience Building: Supporting communities to strengthen food systems, improve agricultural productivity, diversify livelihoods, and build resilience to climate change through integrated rural and urban programmes.
• Nutrition Improvement: Addressing malnutrition, particularly among children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and people living with HIV, while promoting healthy diets and social behaviour change.
• Capacity Strengthening: Enhancing the capacity of government institutions to manage food security and nutrition programmes, social protection systems, and emergency preparedness and response.

WFP Zimbabwe is a key partner in supporting the Government’s Food Deficit Mitigation Strategy (FDMS), advancing localization through partnerships with local organizations, and driving innovation in digital solutions, youth empowerment, and private sector engagement.

WFP continues to deliver life-saving assistance and invest in long-term, sustainable food security solutions for vulnerable Zimbabwean communities.

THE ROLE

This position is based in Harare and reports to the Head Of Enabling Services. It will support the stewardship of WFP’s resources, management of CBT operations, treasury activities, monitoring budgets, forecasting, reporting on key data that enable effective management of funds, and ensure assistance to beneficiaries is undertaken in the most efficient and effective way possible.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority):

• Maintain awareness of corporate finance and resource management strategies and major ongoing programmatic initiatives, participating where appropriate using finance and resource management expertise.
• Contribute towards the development of country specific plans and processes, aligned with Regional and wider WFP strategy, policies and processes to meet the food assistance needs of beneficiaries within the Country.
• Support the financial management of Cash-Based Transfer operations, ensuring timely reconciliation of CBT accounts and accurate recording of transactions.
• Monitor and report on CBT financial flows, payment cycles, and reconciliations, ensuring any discrepancies are promptly investigated and resolved.
• Collaborate with Programme (CBT) and Supply Chain teams to ensure alignment between operational plans and financial disbursement processes.
• Report on key data for financial status and outcomes of projects in accordance with corporate governance requirements, ensuring accuracy, deadlines, and accounting processes are complied with.
• Monitor budgets, and carry out forecasting for new and ongoing projects according to established corporate procedures and requirements.
• Perform bank reconciliations, disbursements, Payroll Management, clearance of receivables, overall cash management and monthly financial closures on a regular basis in accordance with corporate requirements.
• Where necessary, deliver core administrative services, working with contractors and following standard processes to provide cost-effective, quality and timely services to WFP staff.
• Collate data and contribute to preparation of accurate and timely reporting, providing management with financial, staffing and resource usage information to enable them to make informed decisions.
• Track and collate data to support others to improve policies, systems and procedures in order to minimise financial risks, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations, and ensure services are aligned with business objectives.
• Contribute to the delivery of financial controls and insight into WFP performance, supporting periodic risk and internal control assessments to identify areas which 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.
• 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.
• Other as required.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

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: At least 1 year of relevant postgraduate professional experience in programme management, budgeting, funds management, or financial monitoring, preferably within a UN agency or international NGO.

Language: Fluency (level C) in English language and the duty station’s language, if different.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Has performed basic financial analyses at a national and/or operational level.
• Has experience managing financial transactions.

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:  [email protected]

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 [email protected] in case you face any challenges with submitting your application
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

TO APPLY
Click here to apply

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.