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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.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, results.

We are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not a job, it is a calling.

UNICEF's Global Shared Services Centre (GSSC) in Budapest, Hungary provides services to UNICEF offices globally in the areas of Finance, Human Resources, Payroll, Learning & Development, and Information Technology. For more information about GSSC please visit our webpage at Global Shared Services Centre | UNICEF and check this Youtube.

How can you make a difference?

The Chief, Payroll & Offboarding provides strategic leadership and technical oversight of UNICEF’s global payroll, offboarding and job classification functions, ensuring accurate, timely, compliant and client-focused service delivery.

The incumbent leads a team of specialized HR professionals responsible for complex, high-risk and interdependent processes. As a principal advisor to senior management, the Chief provides authoritative guidance on payroll, separation-related entitlements, pension and insurance processes, and job classification. The role ensures the consistent application of UNICEF policies, UN common system regulations and internal control requirements.

The position works closely with policy owners, the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF), HLIS, other GSSC functions, headquarters divisions and country offices to streamline processes, strengthen budget and reporting mechanisms, ensure timely and accurate data exchange, and improve the overall staff experience. The Chief also plays a key role in advancing UNICEF’s HR transformation agenda through digitalization, automation, systems integration and continuous service improvement.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Lead end-to-end global payroll, offboarding and job classification operations ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
2. Exercise delegated authority within established governance frameworks.
3. Establish and maintain a robust governance and internal control framework ensuring compliance with UN/UNICEF regulations.
4. Lead end-to-end offboarding services
5. Lead ERP payroll and offboarding optimization, automation and integration with case management and reporting systems.
6. Lead cross-functional collaboration with DPC, DFAM, DID and country offices and represent UNICEF in inter-agency payroll and offboarding initiatives.
7. Oversee job classification
8. Leadership and Management of Staff
9. Strengthening collaboration with UNJSPF and HLIS

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  Chief Payroll & Offboarding P5 Post #95672

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Business Administration and any other related fields.
• Work Experience: Minimum ten years of increasingly responsible professional experience in accounting, finance, payroll, management or related fields is required.
• Experience in the UN common system or experience with similar positions in other international organizations is required.
• Thorough knowledge of the principal practices and techniques used in payroll operations is required.
  Skills: Given the specialized nature of the position, the incumbent should demonstrate:
• Advanced technical expertise in global payroll administration, employee entitlements, separation processing and post-employment benefits within a complex, multinational or intergovernmental environment.
• Strong knowledge of UN common system HR and financial regulations, pension arrangements, ASHI/ASLI processes and job classification principles. • Demonstrated ability to manage high-volume, high-risk payroll and offboarding operations involving multiple currencies, duty stations, contractual arrangements and regulatory frameworks.
• Expertise in payroll accounting, reconciliations, internal controls, segregation of duties, audit requirements and financial risk management.
• Ability to interpret complex policies and translate them into consistent operational procedures, system requirements and client guidance.
• Strong ERP and HR information-system expertise, including process design, functional specifications, testing, automation, systems integration and data governance.
• Advanced analytical skills and the ability to use operational data, dashboards, KPIs and exception reporting to improve performance and manage risk.
• Experience working with pension funds, insurance administrators and other external service providers, including the secure exchange and reconciliation of sensitive data.
• Strong stakeholder-management and negotiation skills, with the ability to coordinate policy owners, operational teams, finance, IT, country offices and inter-agency partners.
• Sound judgement and discretion in managing sensitive, confidential and exceptional staff cases.
• Strong people-management skills, including the ability to lead and develop specialized professional teams in a complex, multicultural environment.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English (both verbal and written) is required.

Desirables:

• Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.
• In-depth knowledge of UN/UNICEF HR rules and regulations is desirable.
• Knowledge of UNICEF financial regulations and rules, and the UN remuneration system is highly desirable.
• In-depth knowledge of SAP and variety of software applications such as database and spreadsheet packages is highly desirable.
• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts. 

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 with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others

(8) Nurtures, leads and manages people

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable male candidates from targeted underrepresented groups] are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants' bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF's Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. 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, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.