Administrative Assistant

Org. Setting and Reporting

This position is located in the Movement Control Section (MCS) within the Logistics Division (LD), Office of Supply Chain Management (OSCM), Department of Operational Support (DOS) at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York. The Department of Operational Support was established to provide operational advisory services to operating entities across the Secretariat, including other departments, Offices Away from Headquarters, field missions, and Regional Commissions. The Office of Supply Chain Management includes the Office of the Assistant Secretary-General for Supply Chain Management, the Logistics Division, the Procurement Division, the Uniformed Capabilities Support Division, Global Service Centre, Aviation Safety Section and the Enabling and Outreach Service. The Logistics Division performs a central role in the implementation of end-to-end supply chain management across the United Nations operations. The Division provides direction and advice on logistical matters, monitors and assesses the delivery of strategic transportation and support services, and directs the delivery of transportation and specialist support services in the functional areas of air transport, ground transport, engineering, medical and supply, inclusive of fuel, rations and general supplies and security equipment. The incumbent reports directly to the Chief of Section or designated official.

Responsibilities

Within limits of delegated authority, the Administrative Assistant will be responsible for the following duties:

Human Resources Management

• Initiates, reviews, processes and follows up on actions related to the administration of the Section’s human resource activities, e.g., recruitment of staff and consultants, placement, promotion, relocation, performance appraisal, job classification reviews, separation of staff members, training etc., ensuring consistency in the application of UN rules and procedures.
• Responds to enquiries and provides information and advice to staff regarding their entitlements, administrative procedures, processes and practices, conditions of service, duties and responsibilities, and entitlements under the Staff Rules and Regulations.
• Oversees the maintenance of job opening files and keeps track of the status of job openings.
• Receives and coordinates staff leave requests as well as requests for telecommuting.

Budget and Finance

• Assists in the preparation and review of financial and human resource proposals/requirements, including training, subscriptions and publications, translations, consultancies, and others, as applicable. Consolidates budget/work programme with LD Front Office for justification and funding.
• Monitors expenditures and compares same with the approved budget; prepares adjustments as necessary.
• Assists managers in the elaboration of resource requirements for budget submissions.
• Assists in the preparation of budget performance submissions and finalization of budget performance reports, analysing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Prepares or customizes financial reports from Umoja generated reports.
• Raises Shopping Carts, Sales Orders and Service Entry Sheets in Umoja in support of MCS activities.
• Co-ordinates with other finance and budget staff on related issues during preparation of budget reports.

General Administration

• Drafts routine correspondence to respond to enquiries with respect to relevant administrative, financial, audit, personnel matters.
• Coordinates extensively with service units and liaises frequently with internal team members both at Headquarters and in the field.
• Performs other related administrative duties, as required (e.g., operational travel programme; monitoring accounts and payments to vendors and individual contractors for services; physical space planning; identification of office technology needs and maintenance of equipment, software and systems; organizing and coordinating seminars, conferences and translations).
• May be responsible for guiding, training, and supervising the work of more junior General Service staff as well as for new recruits at all levels.
• Assists with the collection and analysis of data as well as preparation of data presentations and reports for information sharing, responding to queries, knowledge management, planning and decision making.

Contract Administration

• Assists with the day-to-day administration of MCS contracts between the UN and external contractors for outsourced services.
• Processes the payment of MCS contractors’ invoices and monitors payments.
• Prepares and processes all UN forms and permissions for contractual and work Unit, Section or Service or UN staff, including UN grounds passes, property passes, UN parking permits, swipe-card access and door keys.

Education

• High school diploma or equivalent is required.

Job – Specific Qualification

• Certification in Project/Programme management methodology by an accredited body (e.g., PMP, PGMP, PRINCE 2 Foundation Project Management certification or practitioner level) or equivalent is desirable. Certification in Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR-P) or equivalent is desirable.

Work Experience

• A minimum of seven (7) years of experience in administrative services, finance, accounting, audit, human resources or related area is required. The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced to five (5) years for candidates who possess a first-level university degree or higher.
• Experience in the provision of support to senior management in the United Nations Common System, or comparable public sector institution, is required.
• Experience in the use of Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint and Microsoft Teams is required.
• Experience in preparing meeting notes, memoranda, talking points, drafting presentations or equivalent is required.
• Experience in compiling and summarizing information from reference documents and background materials or equivalent is desirable.
• Experience working with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems such as SAP or similar system is desirable.
• Experience in sourcing, cleaning and preparing data, and developing visualization/metrics that enable easy communication/interpretation by the user, is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable.

Source: https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/249082?language=en