UNICEF is recruiting a Finance Specialist at P-3 level for a Fixed Term Appointment in the Grants Management Unit of its Division of Financial and Administrative Management (DFAM) in Brussels, Belgium. The specialist prepares complex donor statements of account for key strategic donors and guides country offices on grant management, and the role asks for an advanced degree and at least 5 years of relevant experience. Applications close on 15 November 2026 (Romance Standard Time). At Youth Works Hub, we reviewed the full vacancy and organised every function, requirement and condition below.
Position at a Glance
🏛️ Organisation: UNICEF
💼 Title: Finance Specialist, P-3, Fixed Term Position, Div of Financial and Adm Mgmt
🆔 Job no: 596806
🔢 Position number: #00121857
📝 Contract type: Fixed Term Appointment
🎚️ Level: P-3
📍 Duty Station: Brussels, Belgium
🗂️ Category: Financial Management
📆 Deadline: 15 November 2026, Romance Standard Time
Working for Every Child
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children's lives, defend their rights and help them fulfil their potential, from early childhood through adolescence. UNICEF describes promoting the rights of every child as not just a job but a calling, and presents itself as a place where careers are built, with diverse opportunities for professional and personal development and an attractive compensation and benefits package.
Inside the Grants Management Unit
The Grants Management Unit (GMU), anchored within DFAM, plays a central role in safeguarding UNICEF's financial integrity, compliance and operational effectiveness in the management of donor resources. GMU:
🔄 Oversees the full financial lifecycle of grants, from negotiation and revenue recognition to donor reporting and closure
📏 Ensures adherence to UNICEF's Financial Regulations and Rules (FRRs), policies and donor conditions
🧭 Guides offices and the Global Shared Services Centre (GSSC) on revenue recognition and fund utilisation
📤 Ensures accurate and timely financial reporting to donors and internal stakeholders
📜 Issues certified and interim financial statements
📋 Prepares key corporate reports for the Executive Director, Comptroller, UNICEF Executive Board and major donors
🔍 Supports the organisation's credibility through transparency and accountability
By driving process improvements, strengthening compliance and fostering collaboration across divisions and field offices, GMU enables UNICEF to maintain donor confidence, optimise resource mobilisation and deliver programmatic results effectively.
How This Role Makes a Difference
The Finance Specialist contributes to the Division of Finance and Administration's goal of providing robust and appropriate financial reporting to external and internal stakeholders:
🤝 Accurate, timely and useful donor statements of account increase UNICEF's credibility with donors and help UNICEF be seen as a partner of choice
🛡️ For donors with complex framework agreements, accurate statements reduce the risk of disallowed expenditures that would need to be funded from other sources
🏫 Technical support to Country Offices helps ensure better grant management at Country Office level
📈 It also raises the quality and consistency of uncertified financial reporting at Country Offices, again increasing UNICEF's credibility with donors
Supervision and Core Duties
Under the general supervision of the Finance Manager, the Finance Specialist prepares complex statements of account, for example the statements for grants funded by various key donors who are strategic partners to UNICEF. All statements must comply with the donor agreements, with strict adherence to deadlines. The specialist also provides extensive support and guidance to country offices on preparing statements and, more generally, on managing complex grants, carries out functions in line with UNICEF's accounting policies and procedures and Financial Regulations and Rules, and backstops the P4 post when the incumbent is away.
Key Functions: Donor Reports and Closure
🧩 Guide regional and country office staff on resolving issues with donor reports, especially non-standard complex reports to key donors, in compliance with the contribution agreements and UNICEF accounting policies and financial regulations and rules
🛠️ Work on improvement and efficiency projects supporting donor statement issuance, including dashboards, applications and systems
🗓️ Coordinate periodic donor reporting closure processes and other closure tasks with other team members and units, as required
💬 Respond to donor queries on donor report submissions, giving donors confidence that reports are correctly prepared in compliance with the contribution agreements
🌐 For Joint Programme arrangements, including where UNICEF acts as an Administrative Agent or as a Participating Organisation, ensure donor reports meet the unique accounting and reporting requirements
Key Functions: Guidance, Systems and Data Quality
💱 Guide regional and country offices on maximising funding from donors in the context of exchange rate complexities
✅ Oversee the completeness, accuracy and timeliness of financial transactions in VISION and Insight so that donor statements and other reports are correctly stated, taking corrective action where required, such as deriving additional information from VISION or requesting information directly from country offices
📚 Guide regional and country offices on grant management, especially accounting matters with implications for financial reporting
⚙️ Seek to improve the grant management and donor reporting functionality of VISION, liaising with staff in DFAM, Public Partnership and Resource Mobilisation, and the Digital Impact Division as appropriate
The complete Job Description (JD - Finance Specialist_P3) is attached to the vacancy.
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Minimum Requirements: Education and Experience
🎓 Education: Advanced university degree in business administration, financial management or a related field; professional accounting or auditing qualifications (such as Chartered Accountant, Certified Public Accountant or equivalent) are an added advantage
🗓️ Work experience: Minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in positions of increasing responsibility in budgeting and accounting, preferably including financial donor reporting
📊 Professional experience in preparing and reviewing complex donor financial reports, including multi-currency reporting
🏦 Strong knowledge of financial management principles, budgeting and internal controls
Minimum Requirements: Skills and Language
💻 Proficiency in SAP and VISION for financial transactions and reporting
📗 Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel, including complex formulas, pivot tables and data analysis
📉 Experience with Power BI or other data visualisation tools for financial dashboards and analytics
🔭 Adaptability to emerging technologies and evolving donor requirements
⏱️ Ability to manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines in a dynamic environment
🫶 Strong interpersonal skills and proven ability to work collaboratively in a multicultural environment
🗣️ Fluency in English is required
Desirable Experience
🇫🇷 French is desired; knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) is an asset
🇪🇺 Demonstrated experience with European Commission (EC/ECHO) funding mechanisms, including financial reporting, with a strong understanding of EC/ECHO regulations, terms and conditions and donor compliance requirements, is highly desirable
🔧 Ability to translate business user requirements into technical specifications, ensuring effective system solutions and process improvements
📨 Proven ability to respond effectively to donor inquiries and guide country offices on donor requirements, financial reporting obligations and compliance-related matters
⚠️ Ability to identify and mitigate financial risks in collaboration with relevant teams
🏛️ Prior experience within international organisations, UN agencies or large-scale development projects is highly desirable
📘 Familiarity with UN/UNICEF financial rules and regulations is an advantage
🌾 Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts
UNICEF Core Values: CRITAS
UNICEF's Core Values underpin everything it does and how it does it:
💛 Care
🙌 Respect
🧱 Integrity
🔐 Trust
📌 Accountability
🌱 Sustainability
Competencies Required for This Post
1️⃣ Builds and maintains partnerships
2️⃣ Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
3️⃣ Drive to achieve results for impact
4️⃣ Innovates and embraces change
5️⃣ Manages ambiguity and complexity
6️⃣ Thinks and acts strategically
7️⃣ Works collaboratively with others
8️⃣ Nurtures, leads and manages people
Inclusion and Reasonable Accommodation
UNICEF is committed to including everyone, irrespective of race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority or any other status, so that its global workforce reflects the diversity of the children it serves.
🌍 Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence
👶 Staff benefits include paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities
♿ Reasonable accommodation is provided throughout the recruitment process; requests go through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage, and shortlisted candidates should contact the recruiter directly to share details in advance
Safeguarding and Background Checks
🚫 UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18)
⚖️ UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination, fraud, corruption and other serious misconduct
🔎 All selected candidates undergo rigorous reference, safeguarding and background verification checks, which may include verification of academic credentials and employment history, screening against UN misconduct databases, and misconduct disclosure requests, including through the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS) where applicable
📂 Appointment, selection and continued engagement depend on satisfactory completion of all checks; selected candidates may need to provide additional information and consent, and candidates with disabilities may be asked to submit supporting documentation confidentially
Medical, Visa and Vaccination Conditions
🩺 UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance
🛂 For IP positions, a visa issued by the host country of the duty station is required and is facilitated by UNICEF
🏥 Appointments are conditional on willingness to comply with current or future vaccination requirements if UNICEF mandates them; non-compliance without an approved medical exemption leads to cancellation of the selection or other administrative measures, including separation from service
Other Conditions of Employment
📜 Under Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in employing staff is securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity
🏢 Government employees considered for employment are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF
↩️ UNICEF may withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained or inoculation requirements are not met within a reasonable period
✈️ Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF
🆘 Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority in UNICEF's Strategic Plan, so all staff can be called upon to deploy in support of humanitarian response
Selection Process and Fraud Warning
📣 All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates are contacted and advance to the next stage
🎯 An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected without assessment of other candidates
🙅 UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of recruitment, selection and hiring, and will not ask for applicants' bank account information
Explore more roles with UN agencies and international organisations in the Jobs section on Youth Works Hub →.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of contract is the UNICEF Finance Specialist role in Brussels?
It is a Fixed Term Appointment at P-3 level in the Division of Financial and Administrative Management. The duty station is Brussels, Belgium.
What does the Finance Specialist mainly do?
The specialist prepares complex statements of account for grants funded by key strategic donors, in compliance with donor agreements and deadlines. The role also guides regional and country offices on donor reporting and grant management.
How much experience is required?
A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in positions of increasing responsibility in budgeting and accounting is required, preferably including financial donor reporting. Experience preparing complex, multi-currency donor financial reports is also required.
Which systems should candidates know?
Proficiency in SAP and VISION is required, together with advanced Microsoft Excel skills. Experience with Power BI or other data visualisation tools is also listed.
Which languages are required or desired?
Fluency in English is required. French is desired, and knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.
Is experience with EU funding useful?
Yes. Demonstrated experience with European Commission (EC/ECHO) funding mechanisms, including financial reporting and compliance requirements, is highly desirable.
Does UNICEF charge any fee to apply?
No. UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of recruitment and will not ask for applicants' bank account information.
Will every applicant be contacted?
No. Only shortlisted candidates are contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Deadline
⏳ 15 November 2026
Link
Apply online: https://jobs.unicef.org/en-us/job/596806/
