Administrative Assistant

Org. Setting and Reporting

This position is located in Anti-Racism Office. The Administrative Assistant reports to the Director, Anti-Racism Office. The Anti-Racism Office (ARO) was established by the UN General Assembly in the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance (DMSPC) to oversee, coordinate and monitor the implementation of the Strategic Action Plan on Addressing Racism and Promoting Dignity for All (SAP). The mandate of the ARO is to dismantle racism within the UN Secretariat and promote a zero-tolerance approach to racism and racial discrimination by promoting open dialogues, effective training and knowledge provision, policy analysis and review as well as racial justice through enhanced reporting and proficient adjudication of racial discrimination cases.

Responsibilities

Under the overall direction and supervision of the Director, within 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 Office’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 vacancy announcement files and keeps track of status of vacancy announcements.
• Monitors staffing table and prepares relevant statistical data/charts.

Budget and Finance

• Assists in the preparation and review of financial and human resource proposals/requirements. Consolidates budget/work programme with respect to Headquarters’ budget, trust funds, grants and procurement.
• Monitors expenditures and compares with approved budget. Prepares adjustments as necessary.
• Assists managers in the elaboration of resource requirements for budget submissions.
• Assists in preparation of budget performance submissions and finalization of budget performance reports, analyzing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Prepares or customizes financial reports from Umoja system generated reports. Coordinates with other finance and budget staff on related issues during preparation of budget reports. General Administration
• Assists in the overall administration of the Office, i.e., provide administrative support in managing priorities and workflow of the Director; coordinate and monitor multiple and diverse activities and work processes to support the Director.
• Drafts routine correspondence to respond to enquiries in respect to relevant administrative, financial audit, and personnel matters.
• Assists with meeting preparation, invitations, and documentation for the meetings.
• Facilitates all travel-related activities for the Director as well as maintaining his/her calendar.
• 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 payment 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).

Contract Administration

• Assists with day-to-day administration of consultants and individual contractors.
• Audits the contractors’ invoices against the goods and services provided by the contractor and approved by the UN.
• Processes the payment of contractors’ invoices and monitors payments.
• Prepares and processes all UN forms and permissions for contractual and work Unit, Section or Service 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.

Work Experience

• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in administrative services, finance, human resources, or related area is required.
• The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced to five (5) for candidates who possess a first-level university degree or higher. Experience in the use of enterprise resource planning systems (such as SAP) is required.
• Experience in the use of information technology programmes related to spreadsheets, databases and word processing is required. Experience in providing support to the office of a high-level official is desirable.
• Experience in extracting and managing large amount of data and producing reports is desirable.
• Experience in using e-staffing tools, such as Inspira or similar, is desirable. Experience in budget preparation in an international organization 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 French is desirable. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage.

Source: https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/247592?language=en