Project Assistant (Islamabad)

About ITC

The International Trade Centre (ITC) is a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, focusing in particular on developing the export capabilities of small and medium-sized businesses in developing and transition economies. ITC is 100% "Aid for Trade", supporting trade that delivers inclusive and sustainable development results. ITC’s mandate covers all developing countries and transition economies with special emphasis on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDs) Fragile States and Sub-Saharan Africa. ITC Headquarters is located in Geneva, Switzerland. ITC projects and programmes contribute to the global efforts to achieve UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development and the Aid for Trade agenda. ITC works at three levels:

• Strengthening the  integration of the business sector of developing countries and economies in transition into the global economy,
• Improving the performance of trade and investment support institutions for the benefit of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), and enhancing the abilities of trade support institutions to better support them,
• Improving the international competitiveness of SMEs.

About the GRASP Project:

The Growth for Rural Advancement and Sustainable Progress (GRASP) is a 66 months project that will contribute to the reduction of poverty through development of rural SMEs in selected districts within two provinces of Pakistan: Balochistan and Sindh. GRASP will focus on selected product lines within livestock and horticulture.

GRASP will take a holistic approach to building SME competitiveness in agribusiness value chains starting from a deep understanding of markets and working back through the value chain to enable SMEs and ultimately producers to create and capture additional value. To do this, GRASP will intervene in three main ways:

• Improving the eco-system for rural SME development through building institutional capacity and improving the business environment
• Building production and quality of primary products through support to SME agribusiness service providers and business intermediary organizations in rural areas
• Increasing added-value and marketed volumes through developing value chains and supporting SMEs to improve management, increase access to finance, apply sustainable technology to add value and improve quality and reduce waste throughout the system

At the impact level, GRASP will create employment and income opportunities in rural areas of Sindh and Balochistan. Outcome and outputs of GRASP include measurable improvement in the business environment for SMEs, improved agricultural productivity in selected areas, better access for farmers to market information and agricultural services, increase in revenue and financing for selected SMEs and increased value added and adoption of environmental sustainable technology. GRASP has a very strong focus on women's economic empowerment.

GRASP has a budget of €48.5 million funded by the European Union and the ITC. ITC will implement GRASP through three Pakistan based teams and a wide network of Pakistani and international partner organizations. This challenging project will involve managing many concurrent inter-linked activities from the market to the production level and innovative tools such as matching grants.

ITC seeks to hire a project assistant to support the project team in implementation of the programme.  
Main duties
The outputs expected from the GRASP Project Assistant are:

• Provide administrative support to the project
• Provide support in effective coordination with the donor, stakeholders and beneficiaries
• Support in development of communication strategies
• Assist in developing financial and technical reports
   

Function / Expected Results:  

Administrative Support:

• Perform administrative tasks, under the guidance of supervisor(s), related to above-mentioned GRASP project activities, such as:
• assist in procurement processes;
• financial authorizations;
• expenditure, monitor project funds availability and report requirements;
• undertake administrative follow-up as needed for all activities.

Communication:

• draft routine and non-routine correspondence (both on project related and administrative matters);
• revise and format draft documents (project documents, reports, etc.), design/prepare project-related documents for publication;
• assist in the preparation of papers and presentation involving data/information/statistics on the work of supervisor(s), including contributions to the administrative sections of final and progress reports of TC programmes and projects;
• collect project-related information for appendices of the Annual Report;
• assist in the preparation of promotional material, and database maintenance, as required;
• monitor information provided on website and propose updates in line with activities undertaken or planned, as appropriate.

Budgets and travel:

• Carry out and assume over responsibility for administrative tasks and related follow-up such as:
• prepare budgets for project activities, travel requests;
• make arrangements for missions for staff on projects as well as consultants and experts;
• prepare F-10 claims and ensure that payment has been received by traveler;
• extract/summarize information from records, intranet or webpages for use by supervisor(s).

Miscellaneous support

• Perform other related duties, as assigned, including:
• maintain information channels with project staff and supervisor(s) on mission; - In the absence of supervisor(s), recommend/monitor action to be taken in particular on matters related to programmes and projects;
• perform any other duties assigned by Project Manager
   

 ITC’S VALUES are: Integrity, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity

ITC’S CORE COMPETENCIES are: Communication, Teamwork, Planning & Organizing, Accountability, Creativity, Client Orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Technological awareness.

ITC’S MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES are: Vision, Leadership, Empowering Others, Managing Performance, Building Trust, and Judgment/Decision making.
For further information on competency-based interview please visit: www.intracen.org.

Education:

• Matiriculation education completed, and office training or equivalent.

Work experience:

• With a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience

Language Requirements:    

• English (Fluent), knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.
• Knowledge of local languages is a plus

Required knowledge and skills:        

• Computer skills: Databases (Not rated),
• E-mail (Fully proficient),
• Enterprise Planning Systems (Not rated),
• Internet (Fully proficient),
• Spreadsheets (Fully proficient),
• Word processing (Fully proficient),
• Proficient use of MS Office, internet and SAP for monitoring funds and budget revisions

Desirable knowledge and skills:       

• Knowledge of the UN system and procedures or experience of EU-related projects would be an asset

Please Note:
HEC attested degrees are a prerequisite for employment at UNDP. During the recruitment process candidates may be required to present HEC attested degrees.
 
Foreign Qualified Candidates: Foreign degree holders shall be required to(i) Present a verification/certification letter from the university verifying the degree & student enrollment, orii) Foreign degree Equivalence Letter from HEC.
 
UNDP provides the Equal Opportunity for all equally qualified male & female including the physically challenged candidates, female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply (local and internal VA)
 
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) does not charge fee at any stage of the recruitment process including application, interviews, selection or induction etc. Moreover, UNDP does not concern itself with any information on the applicants bank accounts

"UNDP has zero tolerance towards Sexual Harassment (SH) and Sexual Exploitation & Abuse (SEA)”.