Finance Associate, GS6, FT, #138600

Finance Associate, GS6, FT, #138600

UNICEF

Job no: 595337

Duty Station: Bridgetown Level: G-6 Location: Belize, Guyana, Suriname, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago Categories: Financial Management

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

For every child, the right to opportunity

UNICEF’s Caribbean Multi-Country Office (MCO) serves twelve English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. As part of UNICEF's Future Focus Initiative, the Caribbean MCO brings together policy influence, technical expertise and strategic partnerships to advance results for children across the region through one integrated programme, one management structure and a shared pool of resources. The Multi-Country Programme 2027-2031 focuses on three shared outcomes: equitable access to primary health care, learning and skills; protection of children from all forms of violence; and child poverty reduction and resilience strengthening.

Children across the Caribbean face interconnected challenges including learning losses, mental health concerns, violence, child poverty and increasing exposure to climate-related disasters. Despite many countries being classified as upper-middle or high income, significant inequalities persist, particularly for vulnerable children, adolescents, indigenous communities and those living in remote areas. Small island developing states also face fiscal constraints and heightened vulnerability to economic and climate shocks, requiring stronger regional cooperation and system-based solutions.

The Caribbean MCO’s management strategy is governed by four principles that together translate the new business model into concrete ways of working:

• Impact-driven: technical expertise is organized in shared multi-country working groups rather than replicated in each country, with enabling functions aligned around UNICEF’s strongest comparative advantages.
• Effective and agile: parallel country ecosystems are replaced by harmonized systems and flexible cross-country staffing, keeping management lean and decisions close to implementation.
• Grounded: regional scale is balanced with national depth through country-specific workplans, Heads of Office in each duty station, and matrix management that anchors authority and accountability at country level.
• People-centered: structural and managerial choices are guided by staff wellbeing, transparency and inclusion, with clear role definitions, meaningful consultation, and continuous investment in learning and development.

The operational expression of this model is the working group model. Rather than replicating similar roles across four separate country offices, technical and operational expertise is organized into 16 thematic and functional working groups, each distributed across different duty stations and each serving the full 12-country MCO — not just its host location. Roles are designed around three organizing principles: shared regional service, meaning every specialist contributes to the wider MCO; complementary expertise, meaning team capabilities reinforce each other rather than repeating the same profile in multiple places; and agile presence, meaning the workforce can be rapidly deployed across countries through travel, surge support or remote modalities in line with evolving needs and priorities. This working group model is the foundation of a fundamentally new way of working for UNICEF in the Caribbean: depth replaces duplication, and shared capacity replaces fragmented country-by-country coverage

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Finance Officer, the Finance Associate provides technical support across a broad range of finance functions, ensuring the accurate, timely and compliant execution of financial transactions and services in accordance with UNICEF financial policies, procedures and internal control requirements. The incumbent supports financial transaction processing, reconciliations, treasury activities, monitoring, reporting and quality assurance while exercising sound judgment in the resolution of complex or non-routine financial matters.

The post also contributes to strengthening the effectiveness of the sub-regional finance function by promoting the consistent application of standardized business processes, identifying opportunities to improve service delivery and operational efficiency, and supporting the implementation of continuous process improvements. Through close collaboration with programme and operations colleagues across multiple duty stations, the Finance Associate helps ensure that financial resources are managed responsibly, risks are appropriately mitigated, and finance services effectively support programme implementation and the achievement of results for children.

At the G-6 level, the tasks in the job description are expected to be carried out with a significant degree of independence and professional judgment within established policies, procedures and delegated authority.

This position belongs to the Operations Management working group. If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: G6 Finance Associate Open position (except Jamaica).pdf

Minimum requirements:

Education: Completion of secondary education is required. Professional and/or university courses related to the field of work are highly desirable.

Experience

• Minimum six years of clerical experience in the area of finance and accounting is required.

• Language

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or local language is an asset.

Capabilities Required:

• Collaboration
• Client Orientation/Service Excellence
• Problem Solving
• Project Management
• Digital Dexterity

Desirables:

• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

Eligibility Requirement:

• Applicants for positions in the General Service must be legally authorized to work in the duty station where the MCO position is located. Candidates must hold and upload a valid CARICOM Skills Certificate when applying to positions located in a CARICOM Member State outside of their country of nationality, and are accountable for taking the respective steps for the verification of the certificate in the Duty Station immediately upon arrival to the new Duty Station, if selected for the position, in accordance with applicable immigration and employment requirements of the respective Country.

• This vacancy is open to candidates located in Bridgetown, Barbados; Belize City, Belize; Georgetown, Guyana; Paramaribo, Suriname; and Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The position will be located at the duty station where the selected candidate currently works.

• Note: While the Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean serves 12 English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean countries, the selected candidate will be based in the duty station indicated for this position and is expected to perform their duties from that location, consistent with organizational policies and operational requirements.

• For every Child, you demonstrate...

• UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted wit