Financial and Support 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 NATO’s 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 stakeholder’s 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 Management (RM) Branch provides quality, timely and relevant advice and support to NATO resource committee deliberations; in the planning, management and oversight of NATO common-funded resources; and in the central coordination and development of NATO-wide accounting and financial guidance fully taking into account current best practices in the field of public finance. The Branch promotes further integration of the NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP) and the Military Budget processes, to ensure that lifecycle costs are considered, planned and budgeted.
Finally, the Branch provides central coordination and guidance to the Financial Controller community, on behalf of the Resource Committees, with respect to NATO accounting and financial policy in order to facilitate improvements in the quality, consistency, and comparability of financial statements. It also includes supporting the Resource Committees with their advice to the North Atlantic Council on audits of the NATO entities’ financial statements and IBAN Reports.
The incumbent, working under the direction of the Head of the Financial Policy, Budget and Analysis section, is responsible for providing administrative, accounting, financial and reporting support to NOR management and the resource committees. S/he will support the development of financial forecasting and financial analysis models to provide resource advice for political decision-making. S/he will validate and record financial information related to Military Budget and ensure that any follow-on action is properly entered and controlled in the NOR financial information system. S/he participates in the generation of various financial reports, budget authorizations and in the medium term resource planning through the management and provision of data for consideration by the resource committees. Contributes to the development of the NOR financial information system, participates in testing activities.

2. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

3. MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES

Expertise Development
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 database queries relating to financial management and produce reports for NOR, Resource Committees and other Stakeholders use. Contribute to the preparation of documents of an administrative, budgetary or accounting nature.

Planning and Execution
Compile 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, report any discrepancies. Create and maintain up-to-date files of relevant accounting documentation.

Knowledge Management
Assist with reporting queries and monitoring to ensure the application of internal procedures. Ensure that financial data entered by the RM Branch into financial databases used by the NOR is accurate and relevant. Maintain clear files and records of Military Budget information with a clear audit trail to the information source. Identify potential discrepancies in the financial data and provide statistics and reports as required. Contribute to the efficient flow of information within the team. Suggest and participate in the development of automated functionalities.

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 (IBAN) 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. Be the central point of contact, at a working level, with the Budget Holders for maintaining data related to the Military Budget. Maintain customer confidence by respecting deadlines and attention to detail.

Financial Management
Support financial in-year management activities following the NATO financial regulations. Validate and amend Military Budget financial data from Budget Holders by cross checking against records. Raise discrepancies for clarification with the staff of the Budget Holders.
Perform any other related duty as assigned.

4. INTERRELATIONSHIPS

The incumbent reports to the Section Head of the Financial Policy, Budget and Analysis Section and must be able to operate with diplomacy and tact in a multinational environment.
Direct reports: n/a
Indirect reports: n/a

5. COMPETENCIES