Operations Associate

The United Nations (UN) COVID-19 Response and Recovery Multi-Partner Trust Fund (COVID-19 MPTF or the Fund) is a UN inter-agency finance mechanism launched by the UN Secretary-General to support low- and middle- income programme countries in overcoming the health and development crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund’s assistance targets those most vulnerable to economic hardship and social disruption. The Fund complements the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)’s Consolidated Global Humanitarian Appeal for COVID-19. The Fund is led by the UN Secretary General’s Designate, the Under Secretary General for UN Reform.

The Fund’s coverage extends to all low- and middle- income programme countries and, in particular, those populations not included in the Global Humanitarian Appeal, helping to safeguard their progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. It serves as an instrument UN Country Teams can leverage to support national governments and communities in meeting priorities and defining programming responses that assure their recovery and reach the poor and the vulnerable. The Fund aligns with the UN Development System Reform Agenda, offering a cohesive UN System response to national governments through a common financing mechanism led by UN Resident Coordinators at the country level.

• Delivery of client-oriented operations support
• Provision of administrative services.
• Implementation of human resources, procurement and operations processes.
• Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing.

• Delivers solutions-focused, client-oriented operations services as demonstrated through consistent positive feedback received from internal and external clients for operational services delivered.
• Executes the unit’s operational activities in accordance with the Internal Control Framework issued by the Executive Coordinator within the context of UNDP’s regulatory framework (such as the Financial Regulations and Rules and the UNDP Programme and Operations Policy and Procedure Manual).
• Maintains the professionalism of the operations unit by implementing all activities in an orderly and time sensitive manner and meeting the needs of clients.

• Provides administrative support to the Secretariat’s staff; ensure information flow is seamless; 
• Maintain the on-line filing system of all documentation related to the SG’s Decisions, AC meetings, Allocation Approvals, EOSG Letters, Budget Revisions, Events, various Fund’s guidelines; 
• Maintains the contact lists of stakeholders: Advisory Committee, UNRCs, UN AFPs technical colleagues, Member States
• Draft routine correspondence, reports and other documents; 
• Research and compile background materials for reports, briefings, etc. 
• Provide logistical support for meetings of the Fund;
• Perform financial functions for the project including financial agreements and report preparations;
• Maintain and update the Fund Secretariat’s project information management system and reporting tools and expenditures; 
• Monitor and assist in the preparation and coordination of Advisory Committee meetings, information management for the programme proposals assessments; 
• Assist in the coordination and dissemination of internal and external communication materials

• Acts as the focal point for travel within the Unit, including knowledge leader on the various travel policies and processes including approvals, entitlements, travel route and hotel arrangement. Organizes travel including purchase of tickets, DSA calculation, and relevant approvals, conference facility or hotel arrangements within the lead times established by the Bureau for Management Services. 
• Processing travel authorization and travel claims in line with travel entitlements for staff, consultants, UN and visitors, ensuring that the travel arrangement follow the UN rules of most direct route and most competitive prices;
• Processing requests for visas and applications and renewal of UNLPs for UN staff;
• Administration of F10s and reconciliation of settlements to be paid by the MPTFO Finance Unit.

• completion of maintenance and “PS” support requests, office moves or space changes or any other requests involving ASD; requests IT service needs and troubleshoots issues
• Works with the MPTFO Operations team for requests related to: space access, reproduction and documents management, orders for supplies, maintenance of the unit’s non-asset register and asset inspections
• Receipts delivery of items but does not execute corporate credit card transactions.
• Provides other administrative services as required.

• Prepares the procurement plan for the Fund Secretariat under the guidance of the Head of the Fund Secretariat
• Organizes procurement processes including preparation and conduct of RFQs, ITBs or RFPs, receipt of quotations, bids or proposals, their evaluation, negotiation of certain conditions of contracts in full compliance with UNDP rules and regulations; develops submissions to the Contract, Asset and Procurement Committee (CAP) and Advisory Committee on Procurement (ACP);
• Review specifications and terms of references of consultancies to ensure completeness, accuracy and compliance with quality standards;
• Organization of recruitment processes of IC contracts/Institutional contracts including assisting with drafting TOR, vacancy announcement, screening of candidates, participation in interview panels. Provision of advice on IC management in UNDP projects;
• Works with the MPTFO operations team in maintaining rosters and researching existing Long-Term Arrangements within the UN system.
• Monitoring and tracking of all transactions related to IC payments;
• Prepares e-requisitions for budget approval by the Head of the Fund Secretariat. Works with the MPTFO operations team for creation and approval of purchase orders and contracts in and outside Atlas. 
• Provides input to the Head of the Unit to enable them to manage their contracts. 
• Provides administrative oversight of the payment processing process for all PO and non-PO transactions, ensuring they are receipted and paid (payment is performed by the MPTFO finance unit).

• Provides accurate and timely information management services, including keeping the Unit organigram current and up to date; maintains staff list and contact details. 
• Facilitates HR processes for recruitment, such as drafting job descriptions, vacancy announcements, long listing, coordinating and facilitating any panel interviews and ensuring accurate submissions to the MPTF Office prior to submission to the review body where required. 
• Provision of information on benefits/entitlements to staff.
• Focal point for the on-boarding schedule; ensures staff are provided with all office tools to facilitate rapid start-up of their work. Facilitates on-boarding including scheduling. Provides an in-person introduction to the mandatory courses and HR portal tools that the s/m will need, along with PMD and training deadlines.
• Generates reports on the current HR performance management process and mandatory training course completion and monitors timely completion by staff.

• Organization of trainings for the operations/ projects staff on Procurement;
• Synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices in Procurement;
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice

• Ability to make new and useful ideas workLevel 3: Adapts deliverables to meet client needs

• Ability to persuade others to followLevel 3: Proactively seeks and recognizes contributions of others

• Ability to improve performance and satisfactionLevel 3: Appropriately involves team in different stages of work and decision-making

• Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transformLevel 3: Expresses information and views with adaptive reasoning and appreciation for complexity and variation 

• Ability to get things done while exercising good judgementLevel 3: Takes responsibility for addressing critical situations and delivering core value

• Ability to engage with clients and provide responsive, high quality services to achieve client satisfactionLevel 3: Implement & Manage: Exercises skills and knowledge independently, demonstrating ability to manage self and team responsibilities, in area of work

• Knowledge of the technical support functions normally undertaken by an operations team in HR, Administration and procurement to facilitate the achievement of office objectives st fundLevel 3: Implement & Manage: Exercises skills and knowledge independently, demonstrating ability to manage self and team responsibilities, in area of work

• Ability to work effectively with diverse groups of colleagues across departments towards common goals. Level 3: Implement & Manage: Exercises skills and knowledge independently, demonstrating ability to manage self and team responsibilities, in area of work

• Ability to capture, develop, share and effectively use information and knowledge Level 3: Implement & Manage: Exercises skills and knowledge independently, demonstrating ability to manage self and team responsibilities, in area of work

• Completed Secondary Education is required
• University Degree in Management or Business Administration or equivalent is desirable, but not a requirement.
• Specialized training in procurement, human resources and administrations is an asset

• Minimum 6 years’ experience working in an operations function at the national or international level
• Demonstrated ability to cover different areas of operations, namely administration, travel, procurement, human resources and an understanding of the impact of operations on finances;
• Demonstrated performance in delivering solutions-oriented client service that meets the needs of the clients; 
• Experience in the use of computers applications and software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) as well as web-based management systems.
• Experience in the use of UNDP’s ERP system (Atlas) is highly desirable

• Fluency in both written and spoken English. Knowledge of another UN language is an asset. 

• Only applicants that are US nationals, US permanent residents or who hold an existing G4 visa can be considered for this role.

Important applicant information

All posts in the GS categories are subject to local recruitment. 

Externally advertised GS fixed-term appointment and temporary appointment (TA) positions located in New York/Washington D.C. are open to candidates who are either US Permanent Residents, US Citizens or holders of a valid G4 visa at the time of their application and whose G4 visa has been acquired on account of their employment in the UN Systems based in New York or Washington, DC.

Selected candidates who meet the above mentioned eligibility criteria are responsible for their own travel and/or relocation costs.

Selection to GS fixed-term appointment positions at Headquarters requires passing a UN administered clerical test (ASAT). External applicants to General Service (GS) positions in New York who already possess a Bachelor’s degree or an accredited certification in a technical field (e.g. IT, Finance, or Procurement) will not need to obtain/pass the UN Administrative Support Assessment Test (ASAT). However, passing specialized tests (e.g. Finance and Accounting technical assessments) may still be required for some General Service (GS) positions, as specified in the vacancy announcement.

Applicants under serious consideration for short-listing of posts requiring accountancy and finance skills, must take the UNDP Accountancy and Finance Test (UNDP AFT) prior to short-listing.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: 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.

Workforce diversity

UNDP is committed to achieving diversity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified applicants, irrespective of gender, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation, culture, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Scam warning

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.