Overview
The Principal Assistant (Head Travel) oversees the work of the travel team, leading functions of transportation booking and travel claim settlement to ensure accountability over international funds. The role involves performing approval and control functions related to travel financial commitments and expenditures.
Key Responsibilities
- Oversee the work of the travel team and lead functions of transportation booking services and travel claim computation, settlement, and accounting.
- Perform approval and control roles related to travel financial commitments, eligibility of contractor travel, expenditures, and payments.
- Be involved in the development, update, and analysis of travel policies.
- Assure maintenance of accounting records.
- Oversee travel-related processes and the actions of the travel team, determining workloads and schedules.
- Ensure all transactions submitted for approval are fully supported with necessary documentation.
- Interact with relevant contacts on a regular basis, especially when discrepancies arise.
- Review travel agency and other invoices for correctness, following up to resolve discrepancies.
- Contribute to the revision and development of travel-related policy and procedures.
- Build payment batches for supplier invoices ensuring timely payment and compliance with credit terms.
- May provide input into annual financial statements.
- Monitor pending travel transactions, investigating discrepancies and resolving differences.
- Monitor the status of travel appropriations and report the status.
- Serve as a point of contact for the travel agency, maintaining efficient working relationships.
- Train and instruct the travel team and the Staff Assistant (Finance).
- Act as backup for Principal Assistant (Finance) and Staff Assistant (Finance).
- Advise management and the travel community on best practices, policies, and procedures.
- Respond to customer inquiries relating to travel requests and claims.
- Support internal and external audits.
Required Experience
- Have a minimum of 6 years’ recent experience in accounting, budgeting, finance or related field.
- Have at least 4 years’ experience in supervision and direction of staff.
- Have sound knowledge of financial regulations governing an international organization or a public sector entity.
- Have experience performing accounting and financial transactions using an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System (preferably Oracle) and data management using office automation software.
- Have team working experience while able to work with minimal supervision.
- Have experience with instructing and assisting less experienced ERP users, resolving user level problems and reporting other problems for further action.
- Have working experience and knowledge of NATO or other international organisation, comprising both military and civilian elements, its directives and procedures, with particular emphasis on NATO Financial Rules and Procedures (desirable).
- Have experience in working with and making recommendations for improvement of travel and cost control policy and procedures (desirable).
- Have experience performing accounting and financial reporting using ORACLE Enterprise Business Suite and a related reporting software (e.g. GL Wand) (desirable).
Qualifications
- Completion of higher secondary level education or equivalent.
- At least two years full-time technical training in accounting, budgeting, finance, cost control principles or related field.
- Possess a university degree in finance, accounting, business administration, management (desirable).
- Certified training in generally accepted accounting practices and principles as well as International Accounting Standards (International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)) (desirable).
