Receptionist Administration/Office Support

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges.

Regional Context:

The South Asia Region (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) is at a crucial stage of development. The rapid economic growth, driven by urbanization and demographic dividend, that was helping to reduce poverty has now been hindered by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has hit South Asia particularly hard. The severe forms of exclusion in the Region and disparities based on ethnicity, caste, and gender will exacerbate the challenges of the pandemic! Even before these latest challenges, rapid growth had been accompanied by increased congestion and pollution in cities. More than other regions, South Asia has been affected by temperature changes and extreme weather events. Additional challenges are that South Asia is underperforming in exports, has large informal sectors, and has low female labor force participation rates. All these challenges must be addressed to secure rapid growth in the coming decades. Private sector-led growth, focused on investments in infrastructure, energy, logistics, and cities, is essential to generate the jobs needed to employ South Asia’s sizeable youth population. At the same time, the region needs to continue building human capital so that South Asia’s population is well-equipped for the jobs of the future.

Country Context: 

India houses 17.7% of the world’s population and is the most populous democracy in the world.  India is a federal country consisting of 28 states and 8 union territories. The country has experienced strong growth and poverty reduction in the past 2-3 decades.  Currently a lower middle-income country, India is on track to reach upper middle-income status in the next decade and aspires to become a developed economy by 2047 when it celebrates the 100th year of independence.  While post-Covid recovery has been strong (with the economy growing at 6-7% per annum), achieving India’s ambition requires faster economic growth; and taking advantage of its large and young population requires more jobs for the youth and women. Now the 5th largest economy in the world, and after successful G20 Presidency, India is increasingly seen as a leading voice and a source of development knowledge for the Global South. India is the single combined largest (IBRD and IDA) client with 96 projects currently under implementation totaling $19.8 billion. In FY 18, India graduated from IDA. Annual commitment was at 4.38 billion USD of new IBRD lending in FY23. India portfolio is multisectoral, diverse, with projects at both the central and state levels spanning [13 Global Practices]. The excitement and challenges with working in the context of India’s federal structure, managing sub-national engagement as part of the Bank’s advisory and operational programs, makes the position uniquely attractive. 

Purpose and Scope of Position

• Maintains and supports an efficient and seamless interface between the NDO and the external business community. Handles telephone calls, receives visitors, supervises the front office area, assigns messengers, and manages vehicle duties for business meetings and other requirements as per policy, whenever needed.

Duties and Accountabilities

• Receive visitors and answer queries in a polite and meaningful manner, also ensure security procedures are followed.
• Receive and respond to incoming telephone calls. Liaise between the external community and the relevant units.  Handle and report any anomalies in the communication systems.
• Check and verify telephone bills and segregate records of official and personal calls;
• Manage the service portal for transportation requests from staff for various official purposes.
• Monitor fuel consumption of each vehicle and process fuel invoices for approval.
• Allocate duties to drivers and messengers as per requirements.
• Maintain leave and attendance records for drivers and messengers and monitor their overtime.
• Handle incoming mail and documents from couriers and diplomatic pouches and ensure quick and timely distribution of these mails.
• Prioritize and sort mail for dispatch by couriers and pouches. Maintain and update logs for confirmation of delivery and payments.  Also verify invoices upon receipt.
• Maintain directory of names and addresses of staff, relevant businesses and individuals, and emergency contacts.
• Coordinate the payment of courier, telephone, and utility bills.  File relevant documents and bills.
• Carry out a full range of office support work, including executing processes and monitoring schedules related to the team’s/unit’s products and tasks.
• Maintains up-to-date project and other files in the official repository of the World Bank, WBDocs.
• Draft routine correspondence materials, using proper grammar, punctuation, and style.
• Logistical support for various events, e.g. conferences, workshops, negotiations, etc,
• Carry out any other work as instructed by Supervisor.

Accountabilities:

• Coordinate schedules taking priorities into account, monitors changes, and communicates the information to appropriate staff, inside and outside the immediate work unit, including officials outside the Bank Group.
• Prompt and polite flow of incoming and outgoing phone calls
• Smooth transportation for staff, VIPs, Headquarters staff, as appropriate and within guidelines
• Effective security with respect to visitors
• Resolve issues on a timely basis, escalation matrix followed when required.
• Good and effective relationship with NDO driver and messengers

Work relationships:

• Reports to Senior Operations Officer
• Interacts with all staff and external visitors, as needed.

Selection Criteria

• Bachelor’s Degree with 2 years of relevant experience
• Strong Communication skills in English & Hindi.
• Should be proficient in MS Office – Word, Excel and Power-Point.
• Excellent communication skills, inclusive of voice modulations.
• Inter-personal skills of high caliber.
• Knowledge of relevant Bank procedures and operations.
• Ability to cope effectively with pressure and competing priorities.
• Ability to inter-relate effectively with staff at all levels.
• Initiative and resourcefulness in solving problems and responding to multiple work demands.
• Knowledge of internal administrative systems and of the World Bank organization structure and personalities.

Source: https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?id=27983&site=1