Administrative Assistant - G5

The Administrative Assistant will provide financial and administrative support to the implementation of this centralised technical cooperation project with field operations in the MENA region. The ILO and EC have agreed upon a technical cooperation project that works towards “Mainstreaming Employment into Trade and Investment in the Southern Neighbourhood of the EU” – a four-year regional project implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and financed by the European Union (EU). The overall objective of the project is to enable policy makers in the MENA region to incorporate employment issues into trade and investment policies and to design and implement interventions that ultimately optimise the quantity and quality of employment created in the region. It will also facilitate the operationalisation of the third pillar of the EU’s External Investment Plan (i.e., promoting a conducive investment climate) through policy dialogue. The target groups are government officials from ministries responsible for trade and investment, labour, economic affairs, planning and other relevant line ministries; staff in national statistical agencies; representatives from trade unions and employers’ organizations; private sector representatives; technical specialists from national and regional Institutions and development practitioners. The final beneficiaries are workers (especially women and youth) and employers (from SMEs, in particular) in the tradable sectors of the partner countries.
 

Reporting lines

The Administrative Assistant will report to and will be directly supervised by the Team Leader, Structural Transformation, Trade and Sectoral Strategies Team, in close collaboration with the Trade and Employment Technical Officer.

1. Perform all administrative tasks for the project by initiating requests, obtaining necessary clearances, processing transactions in ILO information systems, including preparing financial transactions in IRIS, following-up on and completing all actions, and ensuring that the supervisor and component managers are informed of the status of each task.
2. Serve as focal point for the administration of project activities by liaising with diverse organizational units in at the HQ and in the field to obtain/provide advice and guidance with regard to administrative procedures and to coordinate the administrative support of project implementation.
3. Compile, update, and maintain all project documents, reports, minutes, notes, memoranda, communications, etc. within designated folders accessible by the project team.
4. Support logistical arrangements, with the help of local project staff, for all project events (e.g., internal and external meetings, appointments, seminars, workshops, etc.). If needed take notes at project events, and coordinate travel and lodging of all project-related resource persons.
5. Assist in developing relevant project materials and activities by assisting with standard layouts and production of documents (i.e. working papers, brochures, presentations, multimedia, and newsletters).
6. Maintain an overview of the financial situation of the project. Prepare and modify budget data as required, liaising with various departments in HQ (eg. BUDGET, PROCUREMENT, etc) and the project staff in the field to ensure the accuracy of recording and reporting of all financial transactions. 
7. Carry out all operations required for authorizing expenditure (POs/other transactions in IRIS) and making payments. These operations include: performing calculations; requesting funds; checking supporting and justifying documents; verifying payment claims, receipts and invoices. All transactions should be checked for completeness and compliance with relevant rules and procedures. Any inconsistencies should be identified prior to submission for final approval and signature.
8. Classify and assign project budget codes accordingly and map various project activities to new IRIS expenditure codes as necessary.
9. Support project-related recruitment and payment of resource persons, consultants and experts.
10. Provide guidance and assist new staff as needed to ensure the smooth uninterrupted implementation of the project/programs.
11. Provide any other assistance as requested by the supervisor.

Completion of secondary school education.

At least five years of relevant work experience. Similar experience with the United Nations Common System or an international organization is desirable. 

Excellent command of English or French.  A knowledge of Arabic or other language would be an advantage.

• Ability to organize own work
• Ability to prioritize work assignments, organize own schedule, perform routine work independently, meet deadlines and adapt to changing demands and multitask.
• Proficient in computer software (Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Adobe Reader) and ability to use other software packages required by the Office (i.e. IRIS).
• Ability to obtain services from other work units inside or outside the office for completion of tasks.
• Ability to work as a member of a team and manage a heavy workload under time pressure.
• Thorough knowledge of practices and procedures for preparing administrative documents and maintaining file systems.
• Ability to determine relevant background and reference materials for others, and to screen for urgency and priority.
• Ability to respond to requests from officials from government offices, ministries, ILO constituents and NGOs.
• Accuracy and ability to pay attention to detail.
• Ability to search and retrieve information from databases and compile reports.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Customer service experience in order to provide courteous, prompt and efficient responses to clients.
• Ability to deal with confidential matters with discretion.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and gender-sensitive behaviour and attitudes are also required.