Background

The position is based in the Humanitarian Advisory Team (HAT) of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Manila, Philippines. Under the direct supervision of the Regional Chief of Administration and Team Leader of the Humanitarian Advisory Team in Manila, Philippines (HAT) and working as an integral part of the organization’s team. The incumbent will work in close collaboration with Administration Team at the Regional Office in Bangkok to carry out administrative tasks in support of the mandate of OCHA at both technical and operational levels.

Under the guidance and supervision of the Regional Chief of Administration in the ROAP Bangkok, Thailand Office, the staff assistant is responsible for ensuring the effective delivery of business operations/secretary duties by performing, under minimal supervision, the full range of office management and administrative support functions

Duties and Responsibilities

In this section list up to five primary functions/accountabilities of the position (Typically one sentence each) and examples of duties that must be performed to successfully accomplish key responsibilities. 

Provides direct assistance to Senior Officers or Managers, such as a HAT Team Leader, consistent with UN rules and regulations.

1.Effective and efficient functioning of the HAT Office

• Maintains the Team Leader of HAT and senior staff calendars, managing contacts with high-ranking visitors, arrangement of appointments and meetings, acting as an interpreter when required and/or taking minutes;
• Maintains required protocol procedures;
• Prepares high quality briefing materials for Team Leader of HAT's appointments, meetings, missions;
• Prepares informal translations support;
• Events such as workshops, conferences and seminars are efficiently organized and well managed.
• Manages the Team Leader of HAT's missions and representation schedule, and travel of other staff;
• Maintains rosters of high-level partners, telephone lists.
• Prepares correspondence, directives, comments on behalf of the Team Leader of HAT’s for his/her signature and making follow-up when required;
• Uses automated office management systems for effective functioning of the HAT.

2.) Coordination support

• Maintains the arching system, ensuring safekeeping of confidential materials. Use of automated online filing systems.
• Coordinates the information flow within the office, follow up on tasking and action points.
• Facilitates information sharing between the HAT and ROAP and the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator
• Follows up on deadlines, commitments made, actions taken and coordination of collection and submission of the reports to Team Leader of HAT.
• Screens all incoming calls and correspondence for Head of HAT.
• Presents proposals to eliminate communication bottlenecks in the office and streamline office procedures between the Team Leader of HAT and subordinates

3.) Knowledge Management

• Provides sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice. 
• Organizes specialized trainings for members of the HAT and partners. 
• Organize training to UN staff and relevant partners on coordination, administration and protocol issues.

4.) Other Administrative Tasks

A. Procurement Role: 

• Provides administrative support for procurement activities for ROAP and other HATs in the region (Indonesia and Japan) 
• Under supervision of ROAP, contacts local suppliers to request quotations for goods and services. Also obtain additional information/documentation as required. 
• Prepares procurement-related documents for review and approval, e.g. price comparison table for low value procurement, Requisition Form, Term of Reference and other technical documents for high value procurement. 
• Under supervision of ROAP, Performs Requisitioning role in Umoja to create Low Value Acquisition (LVA) Purchase Orders for goods and services and Shopping Carts for High Value Acquisition (HVA) including hiring individual contractors. Tasks also include developing TORs for procurement of goods and services; 
• Coordinates with suppliers to ensure that procurement activities are delivered on schedule and in accordance with approved specification.
• Performs receipt of goods and services and process the invoice for payment in Umoja.

B. Time Administrator Role:

• Updates staff movement calendar.
• Performs Time Administrator role in Umoja to update staff leave records as well as provide support to staff for issues related to time management in the system.

C. Travel Administrator Role:

• Performs Travel Administrator role to create Travel Requests in Umoja for Head of HAT, Senior Managers and other staff as required. Also Coordinate with travel agent in provision of tickets, visas and other logistic/protocol requirements to support staff's mission travels.

D. Petty Cash

• Maintains and manages the office Petty Cash account, undertaking minor procurement of supplies within the authority delegated as petty cash custodian.
• Manages the replenishment of the petty cash amount

E. Human Resources

• Manages the extension of national staff contract
• Prepare the overtime payments for national staff as required.

CORE COMPETENCIES

Achieve Results

LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline

Think Innovatively:

LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements 

Learn Continuously:

LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback

Adapt with Agility

LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible 

Act with Determination:

LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident

Engage and Partner:

LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships

Enable Diversity and Inclusion:

LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies 

Business Development: Integration within the UN

Ability to identify, and integrate capacity and assets of the UN system, and engage in joint work; knowledge of the UN system and ability to apply this knowledge to strategic and/or practical situations.

Business Development: Knowledge Facilitation

Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share, particularly externally.

Business Management: Communication

Ability to communicate in a clear, concise, and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.

Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media, and other appropriate channels.

Business Management: Customer satisfaction/Client management

Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfill and understand the real customers’ needs.

Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients’ immediate requests. 

Ability to anticipate client’s upcoming needs and concerns.

Procurement: Supplier/relationship management 

Knowledge of supplier management concepts, principles and methods, and ability to apply this to strategic and/or practical situations

Finance: Anti-fraud and anti-bribery and corruption 

Anti-bribery and corruption: Understands the policy and best practice relating to anti-bribery and corruption controls and ensures these are implemented and widely understood within the organization. 

Anti-fraud: Understands the fraud risks faced by public bodies and is able to effectively analyse data to support fraud identification and fraud risk management; understands the fraud risks faced by public bodies and is able to conduct fraud risk assessment and response plan. 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Secondary education (high school or equivalent diploma) with five (5) years of relevant experience OR 

First-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in combination with an additional two (2) years of qualifying experience specializing in secretarial and/or management/executive assistance training/courses will be given due consideration.

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills

• A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in administrative and office management functions is required. 
• Knowledge and relevant IT skills in Microsoft Office is required. 
• Knowledge and experience working with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system such as Umoja - Requisition Module, Inspira, etc. is required. 
• Experience to support teams in Complex Emergency and Natural disasters response in Asia and Pacific region is an advantage. 
• Experience in a procurement or commercial office environment is desirable. 
• Experience in organizing international meetings, workshops, conferences, etc. is an asset.
• Experience working with conferencing and online meeting tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc. is desirable.
• Experience in general office support or related area is desirable.
• Experience working in the UN or other international organizations is an advantage. 

Language: 

Fluency in English and Filipino is required. 

Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an asset. 

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination. 

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles. 

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Scam alert

UNDP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process. For further information, please see www.undp.org/scam-alert.