Intern, Portfolio Management Team Cities Alliance, Geneva

Cities Alliance

Cities Alliance, which is hosted by UNOPS, is a global partnership for the promotion of cities in poverty reduction and sustainable development. Headquartered in Brussels and supported by a Secretariat, it is a unique partnership with a diverse membership including – global organisations of local authorities, national governments, international non-governmental organisations, foundations, knowledge networks and multilateral organisations – which have come together to strengthen both impacts and coherence in urban development. Cities Alliance is a global leader, with a strong track record in grant making, that supports strategic city planning, slum upgrading strategies and national policies designed to make cities more inclusive and sustainable. Members promote longer-term and integrated work programmes, while actively promoting gender equality throughout all activities.

Based in Geneva, the Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECR) supports UNOPS offices throughout the region through: management, financial and programmatic oversight of global and country-specific portfolios, clusters and operations centres, including hosting services; fund and management advisory services; project implementation; procuring goods and services; and managing human resources.

ECR ensures that projects are executed to the highest standards, providing a shared knowledge base and ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are disseminated between business units and projects across the entire region.

 ECR strategy is to:

• Strengthen UNOPS role in operationalizing the Sustainable Development Goals with particular emphasis on health, environment and economic development.
• Position UNOPS in the Balkan sub-region, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
• Strengthen the implementation of ECR global and regional programmes, with revitalized partnerships in infrastructure, procurement and project management.

ECR operates global portfolios from offices in Geneva, Brussels and New York, and country-specific programmes from its operations and project centres located in Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries.

Cities Alliance is seeking a highly motivated and skilled Intern to: 

• Support the work of the Portfolio Management Team in Geneva
• Provide effective administrative support – covering finance, procurement, HR and general administration
• Assist with coordination between units and colleagues
• Assist with business development efforts including ongoing processes to secure new / additional funding

• Creating & managing transactions in UNOPS ERP system in line with financial decisions of UNOPS/Cities Alliance Management – including payment processing
• Assist with drafting reports and conducting financial data analyses for reporting to management.
• Supporting procurement processes as directed by the Portfolio Manager and the Associate Portfolio Support Officer – learning the e-sourcing system and facilitating processes to acquire goods and services required by programmes
• Assist with processes related to management of contracts and contract administration
• Support efforts related to business development – including assisting ongoing efforts with new and existing donors
• Help ensure the effective capture, tracking and organization of information and sharing of information, also promoting business continuity
• Support HR processes – including organizing files, logistics and analysis
• Contribute to the efforts undertaken by the Cities Alliance Secretariat to mainstream gender equality.  
• Assist & support any specific exercises requiring additional / ad-hoc assistance 
• The above is only a preliminary outline of potential tasks which may be revised in view of emerging exercises or necessary tasks

• All applicants must be enrolled in a university programme such as Bachelor, Masters or Ph.D. (or the equivalent) or have graduated from such studies within three (3) years prior to the applications date of the internship.

• Applicants are not required to have professional work experience but experience working in operational/ administrative areas highly desired.
• Capacity to prioritise assignments and strong commitment to teamwork and results.
• Proficiency in the use of the standard Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Outlook, Powerpoint, Excel)

• Fluency in written and oral English required. Working knowledge of other UN languages is an asset – particularly French.

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns. Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.