View Vacancy - Finance Assistant / Back-Up Accountant, Mexico City

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Operations and Corporate Services)
Finance

Main purpose of job:

The Finance Assistant/Back-Up Accountant is responsible to the Accountant and CSM for carrying out day-to-day accounting procedures (Invoice Processing, Core Prism Duties, etc.) in line with FCDO policy, and giving finance/accounting-related guidance to staff.  Also, wider financial support to the Corporate Service Team (CST), with the aim to provide a first-class service in support of Embassy staff, external stakeholders and the Embassy’s wider objectives under the Country Business Plan.


Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?:

Accurate, timely and consistent delivery, referring to the Accountant as necessary, on the following tasks and responsibilities of the job in line with the Corporate Services Charter, managing own time and workload effectively, providing guidance and training as required to internal and external stakeholders and making and recording effective decisions to deliver a quality service in line with FCDO guidance, mindful of wider implications:


Roles and responsibilities:

Finance

  • Responsible Proficient User of the HSBCnet Banking Platform: timely and accurate submission of Local Payments (e.g. Utilities, IMSS, among others) to ensure no errors when CSM/DHM approve;
  • Responsible for managing and keeping Staff Banking Accounts Data updated in HSBCnet: enter Payroll Information accurately and securely for CSM/DHM to approve without Bank Rejections. For Payment of Local Suppliers: update banking information responsibly and confidentially in line with GDPR obligations to ensure payment transactions are accurate;
  • Responsible for issuing and reviewing calculations of Cheques for:
    • HR Terminal Payments: Terminal Benefit Calculations.
    • Rental Payments: Amount Calculations according to P2P Procedures.
  • Responsible for the accurate submission of Invoices in order to be processed in system for a successful payment to Suppliers: must meet FCDO Policies (P2P) to avoid a negative impact in monthly FPCI’s (Invoices on Hold & Retrospective PO’s).
  • Be a proactive Trainer of current/new Staff on Requisitioning & Receiving, Distribution Sets & Suppliers Set-up Procedures, as well as creating useful e-training for them.
  • Support the Accountant on Finance Presentations (Corporate Cards & Purchase to Pay Process) when given to current/new Staff Members in order to ensure that Best Practices are followed; doing so in a consistent, fair and respectful manner, whilst complying with Value For Money and cost saving considerations;
  • Responsible for updating the Accounts Procedures Manual to ensure the Accounts Section keeps working in an efficient way.
  • Provide effective cover and support for the Accountant during official absences, sick leaves, meetings and training, in all Finance & Accounting duties and responsibilities such as:
    • Being a Proficient and Accurate HSBCnet Account Manager, while monitoring that all transactions on official accounts (MXN & USD) are legitimate; whilst keeping close contact with HSBC Executives for any related query.
    • Have access to the Accounts Safe and its Resources to complete End of Month activities including Accounts Cashbox Management: Four Imprests Replenishment.
    • Be responsible for the End of Month Procedures: Submission of the Monthly NPA, issuing Reports for different sections, elaborating File Records, among others.
    • Be the main point of contact for CSC Teams from different sections (Invoicing, Payments, Cards, Supplier Maintenance, among others), understanding their requirements and viewpoints, in order to deliver proficient outcomes as a result of accurate and well-communicated team work;
    • Assist UK-Based staff to open their local personal accounts with HSBC, whilst giving support to any related query when needed.
    • Monitoring FPCIs (Activity Recording, GRNI, Invoices on Hold, RPO, CCC/GPC, among others).
  • Responsible for Accounts Section admin tasks including:
    • Giving Payment Status Information support, whilst requesting Proof of Payments in order to meet supplier´s financial and accounting obligations with current government policies;
    • Request Daily Exchange Rate Values from HSBC to monitor Month’s Rate of Exchange variances.
    • Working with both Consular Teams (Mexico City & Cancun) to keep an updated record of their Consular Receipts for auditing purposes. 
    • Give support and advice on finance queries (PRISM, Payments, Claims, among others) to both internal and external stakeholders, as well as collaborating with different teams to maintain a healthy level of performance;
    • Filing/weeding of Accounts Records according to Auditors Guidance/FCDO Policies.
    • Active contribution as a member of the Finance Committee;

Core Prism Requisitioner /Receiver

  • Raising Requisitions and Receiving goods and services on Prism, and providing back-up as required;
  • Become a proficient HERA User who can exploit the tools offered in order to facilitate day-to-day activities, as well as being able to support other teams by cascading to them how to get the best use of PRISM for their benefit.   

Management /Other

  • Translation of e-mails (Spanish/English and vice versa), as required.
  • Elaboration of e-mails and drafts with important finance or management related highlights.
  • Other ad-hoc tasks as required by the Head of Corporate Services or the CSM.

Learning and Development

  • Develop and implement an effective and relevant personal Performance Development Plan (PDP), listening to and acting constructively on feedback, and sharing with others where appropriate, as part of the annual appraisal cycle.

Corporate

  • Active participation in the Embassy on a corporate level, including in crisis and other corporate activities.

Resources managed:

None

 

Essential on arrival:

  • Degree or equivalent in business management, finance administration or other related and relevant field; experience in project management;
  • 2+ years professional work experience in finance administration, Customer Service or General Management in medium-sized or large companies.
  • Good  Finance and IT Skills: Excel, Word, Outlook and PowerPoint
  • Excellent communication/customer service skills, in both written and spoken English and Spanish
  • Should be proactive and self-motivated with the ability to learn quickly.
  • Have excellent communications skills relating to relationship-building with both internal and external stakeholders.
  • Adaptability to work with other teams, some overseas in constantly changing multicultural environments.

Language requirements:

Language: Spoken and written English and Spanish.

Level of language required: Advanced.

Desirable:

Prior working experience in an internationally-focused organization where the candidate managed budgets, finance or management-related tasks.

Seeing the Big Picture, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together
23 August 2022
Administrative Officer (AO)
Full-time, Permanent
38
Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean
Mexico
Mexico City
British Embassy
1
MXN
$19,320 MXN Monthly
10 October 2022

Learning and development opportunities:

Training provided as appropriate based on yearly Personal Development Plan.


Conditions of Employment:

Candidates must be able to live and work in Mexico in their own right. The successful candidate will be subject to a security clearance and professional reference checks.

Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary, eg some non-local national staff and some spouses or partners of UK diplomatic staff, will have their salaries abated by an equivalent amount. 

Working patterns:

In line with the Embassy’s flexible working policy.


Any other information:

The job requires close working co-operation and communication with the Accountant to maintain effective control of all accounting processes, in order to provide exceptional service to staff and the Embassy.

The British Embassy Network offers a strong benefits package. This package includes generous vacation and leave time, flexible working patterns, and enriching learning and development opportunities. All staff at the British Embassy and its Consulates in Mexico are expected to work towards the UK mission statement of Building a UK/Mexico partnership, which makes the world and us more prosperous and secure, and to embody the Embassy’s agreed values of Honesty, Respect, Inclusion and Professionalism.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.

This opportunity is closed to applications.