We are

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political partnership between 27 European countries. It plays an important role in international affairs through diplomacy, trade, development aid and working with global organisations. Abroad, the EU is represented through more than 140 diplomatic representations, known also as EU Delegations, which have a similar function to those of an embassy (https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/peru_en).

The EU Delegation to Peru place works in close coordination with the Embassies and Consulates of the 27 EU Member States. We are a fully-fledged diplomatic mission and represent the European Union in dealings with the Peruvian government in areas that are part of the EU’s remit.

The EU Delegations to Latin American countries, through their Cooperation Sections, award grants and service contracts amongst others to local entities and give financial contributions to International Organisations and EU Member States Cooperation Agencies.

The Finance, Contracts and Audit Section (FCA) of the EU Delegation to Peru consists of seven people. It works closely with the Cooperation Sections of the EU Delegations to Peru and Ecuador (remotely) by providing support and advice on matters of financial and contract management. In addition, the FCA Section also coordinates and supervises the verification of expenditure of projects implemented in the region (Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela) carried out by auditors. The recruited person will mainly deal with the Audit, Control and Inspection tasks described below.

We offer

The post of Budget/Accounting Assistant in the Delegation’s Finance, Contracts and Audit Section. Under this post, the recruited person will be attributed functions depending on the needs of the Delegation, and on the changes of these needs. The successful candidate will serve under the supervision and responsibility of the Head of the Finance, Contracts and Audit Section, providing support, expertise and assistance in budget, accounting and auditing. Following main tasks and duties are currently required:

AUDIT, CONTROL and INSPECTION

The new member of the team will work in close cooperation with the EU Delegations to Latin-American countries and the European Commission Headquarters in Brussels, s/he will:

• Launch the annual audit and verification plans for projects implemented in several Latin American countries;
• Manage the requests for services and resulting specific contracts under an audit Framework Contract (FWC), including the evaluation of the offers, awarding, conclusion of the audit contracts, and initiating payments. A new FWC will replace the current one end of 2023 (https://etendering.ted.europa.eu/cft/cft-display.html?cftId=10432);
• Coordinate in-house the different steps of the procedure such as the contradictory phase: The recruited person will analyse the answers/comments of the auditees on the draft and pre-final audit reports. S/he will assess the findings and provide an opinion if necessary. S/he will interact with the operational colleagues in charge of the projects and with the contracted auditors throughout all the phases;
• Encode audit data in the Commission audit tool;
• Contribute to the reporting to Headquarters and provide input for annual reports.

Other tasks to be performed by the recruited person include:

BUDGET, FINANCE, CONTRACTS and ACCOUNTING

• Analyse and process payment requests, which includes the verification of compliance with the EU Financial Regulation and the contractual provisions and the analysis of expenditure verification reports;
• Prepare and establish documents relating to financial operations (commitments, de-commitments, payment and recovery orders, etc.);
• Follow up on contracts, payments and execution deadlines;
• Analyse, verify and process financial guarantees;
• Ensure the quality of the data encoded the relevant IT applications;
• Contribute to the preparation of financial reports and statistics.

PROCUREMENT, GRANTS and CONTRACT MANAGEMENT

• Provide advice on contractual and financial aspects of Annual Action Plans (https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/action-plans_en);
• Ensure compliance with procedures, regulations in force and guides (e.g. EU PRAG https://wikis.ec.europa.eu/display/ExactExternalWikiES);
• Prepare, advise and / or verify the calls for tenders and calls for proposals documents while ensuring compliance with procedures and consistency with Financing Agreements;
• Encode, launch and manage calls for tenders and calls for proposals in the internal IT tools;
• Organize and act as Secretary in evaluation committees for calls for tenders/calls for proposals, in particular by verifying the admissibility/eligibility of offers and proposals;
• Prepare and/or verify contract awards;
• Prepare contracts for signature and verify the budget;
• Prepare amendments, suspensions, terminations and closure of contracts;
• Identify and analyse requests for deviations (derogations, exceptions, non-compliance events, prior approvals and cases to report);
• Follow up on disputes, in particular within the framework of calls for tenders and calls for proposals.

We offer a five days a week, full time position in an international environment. The salary will depend on relevant and verified employment experience, typically starting from 10,000 PEN.  There is a competitive benefits package, subject to certain conditions, including personal leave days and public holidays, health insurance and a retirement savings plan. The expected start date will be November 2023. 

Selection Criteria

Minimum Requirements (necessary for the application to be considered):

1. Medically fit to perform the required duties;
2. Civil rights and permits for employment in Peru;
3. Excellent command of Spanish (both oral and written);
4. Very good command of English (both oral and written);
5. Postsecondary or higher-level vocational studies in a relevant field (audit, economics, accounting, finance, law and/or business administration);
6. Proven experience of at least 4 years in similar tasks, out of which 3 years in audit.

 The following will be considered as an asset:

7. Qualifications and/or a practicing certificate as an auditor;
8. Knowledge or previous exposure to EU financial and contractual procedures (especially grants) would be an asset;
9. University education and/or further training attested by a diploma and directly related to the nature of the duties, in particular audits;
10. Previous experience in a diplomatic mission or an international accounting/audit firm;
11. Experience with IT tools for the management of audits, financial reporting, contracts and/or finance;
12. A good command of Portuguese;
13. Working knowledge of another EU official language.

Professional and personal skills:

14. Critical and analytical thinking based on common sense in combination with a logical and technical/professional approach;
15. Knowledge of best practices, ability to learn quickly regulations, compliance requirements, standards and of relevant technology in the field of audit and financial reporting;
16. Ability to organise and to manage multiple demands;
17. Ability to carry out tasks flawlessly, even when working under pressure, and to respond quickly to new demands;
18. Capacity to work in a multicultural, multi background  team (e.g. operational, financial, legal, audit), showing good interpersonal skills;
19. Ability to work remotely and independently;
20. High degree of confidentiality and responsibility when dealing with public contracts related information;
21. Microsoft Office, high level of computer literacy.

How to apply

Please send your application and supporting documents to the Head of Finance, Contracts and Audits Section Mr. Javier Calvo by e-mail: DELEGATION-PERU-HR@eeas.europa.eu with a subject title ‘Budget/Accounting Assistant’. The package should include a cover letter, a detailed CV in Europass format and a declaration of honour stating that the candidate meets the minimum requirements (minimum selection criteria 1-6). The successful candidate will be subject to a medical check, background check and documents check.

The process

After the deadline for applications, the eligible applications will be admitted to the selection by the Selection Committee set up for this purpose. Depending on the number of applications received, successive phases of selection will include shortlisting of candidates based on assessment of the information provided in the application documents package, practical test or/and interviews. As a bear minimum, two best candidates will be invited to the final interview.

Only candidates admitted to each successive selection phase will be contacted individually. The Delegation will use the same means of communication as for this job advertisement to inform the remaining candidates once the recruitment procedure has been completed and that a candidate has (or has not) been recruited. The Delegation will not supply additional information or discuss the selection procedure. During the selection process, please do not contact the members of the Selection Committee, but address your questions and comments to the Delegation’s Administration via DELEGATION-PERU-HR@eeas.europa.eu. The deadline for applications is: 10 September 2023.