Administrative Associate

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

In the Americas & Caribbean Region, UN Women has a Regional Office based in Panama City, 10 Country Offices, one Multi Country Office and programmatic presence in 5 countries throughout the region. In addition, the Regional Office provides support to the governments, civil society, and UN system as a nonresident agency in countries with no UN Women presence.

The goal of UN Women´s presence in the region is to support the achievement of gender equality, women´s empowerment and the promotion and protection of women´s human rights.  Ending violence against women and girls has been identified by UN Women as a key primary focus area in the region.  UN Women is working to improve the quality of, and increase accessibility to, coordinated services and responses to violence against women.  UN Women works with partners to reach a shared understanding at the regional level on the range of services and responses required and the corresponding standards and/or guidelines for the provision of the services that are considered essential to meet the needs of women and girls subject to violence. In addition, UN Women actively participates and contributes to various UN inter-agency processes and collaborates with UN organizations around specific programme areas. 

Reporting to the Regional Operations Manager, the Administrative Associate supports the Office Operations by performing a variety of standard administrative processes ensuring high quality and accuracy of work. The Administrative Associate promotes a client, quality and results-oriented approach.  The Administrative Associate works in close collaboration with the Operations, Programme and projects staff team to ensure consistent service delivery and to resolve complex administration related issues and information delivery. 

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide administrative support to processing and facilitating proper documentation management:

• Store, manage, and track documents in a SharePoint database; 
• Manage records management procedures and policies including documentation, record retention, and retrieval; 
• Manage and maintain hard and electronic filing system ensuring safekeeping of confidential materials; 
• Route documentations from country offices to the proper unit for processing; 
• Periodically review the efficiency of administrative procedures and make proposals to eliminate communication bottlenecks and/or streamline office procedures. 

2. Provide administrative support to travel arrangements and office transportation:

• Collect and process information and documentation for Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA), travel agencies and other administrative surveys; 
• Arrange travel and hotel arrangements for staff and visitors; 
• Oversee the drivers, manager their schedules;
• Track and log the use of fuel.

3. Coordinate assets management in the office and provide support to procurement:

• Coordinate assets management in the office, prepare and submit periodic inventory report; 
• Inspect and verify of all incoming assets (equipment, furniture, and inventory), and schedule deliveries to users;  
• Collect information on shipments, customs clearance arrangements, prepare documents for UN Women shipments (received/sent); 
• Maintain inventory records; 
• Lead the annual physical inventory verification exercise by checking the accuracy of records and location of property; 
• Prepare Purchase Orders; process invoices related to office building services (utilities and contractors); 
• Coordinate with building management on all aspects of office maintenance and maintain a log of work performed; 
• Process micro-purchase procurement requests;  
• Provide inputs to the preparation of procurement plans for the office and monitor their implementation. 

4. Provide administrative support to the organizing of the Regional Office’s meetings and panels:

• Prepare presentation materials; 
• Arrange the logistics of the RO’s meetings, including booking conference rooms, arranging catering, and facilitating building access for meeting participants; 
• Finalize memoranda, list of participants; and send letters of invitation and other documents; 
• Attend meetings, prepare minutes, and monitor follow up activities. 

5. Provide administrative and logistic support to UN Women Security Focal Point:

• Coordinate, and provide administrative support to periodic security assessments of the UN Women premises and equipment;
• Provide administrative support to the coordination of security evaluations for residences (Residential Security Measures-RSM) of the UN Women personnel, as well as on latest trends and threats to personnel safety and security;
• Provide inputs to the preparation and review of the UN Women and UN Security Plan;
• Provide logistical support during implementation of the Security Plan, as required;
• Maintain and coordinate the UN Women Warden System, as required;
• Provide logistical support to the UN Women Security Focal Point in the completion and updating of the UN Women and UN Security Compliance Survey (SCS) Processes.  

6. Provide administrative support to knowledge building and knowledge sharing:

• Provide administrative support in the organization of trainings for the operations/ projects staff on administrative related matters; 
• Compile lessons learnt and best practices in Administration. 

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

Functional Competences:

• Ability to administer and execute administrative processes and transactions;   
• Ability to perform work of confidential nature and handle a large volume of work;   
• Strong knowledge of administrative rules and regulations;   
• Strong IT and web based management skills;   
• Ability to extract and interpret data 

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Completion of secondary education is required. 
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or related fields is desirable. 

Experience:

• At least 6 years of progressively responsible experience in administration, procurement, HR, or logistic support service;  
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) is required; 
• Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable. 

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Spanish is required.    
• Working knowledge of French and/or Portuguese is desirable.

Other requirements:

The person to be hired must be a Panamanian citizen (natural or legal), or foreigner with permanent legal residence and valid work permit to remain and work in Panama for the duration of the contract.

HOW TO APPLY:

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: . Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Only short-listed qualified candidates will be contacted.

If you are experiencing difficulties with online job applications, please contact .

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (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.)