Project Assistant - G5 (DC)

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognized human rights which includes labour rights. Its tripartite structure provides a unique platform for promoting decent work for all women and men. It aims to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection, and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues.
Bangladesh in particular Cox Bazar District faced a massive influx of about a million Rohingya Refugees since 2017 from the neighbouring state of Myanmar. The office has remained vigilant about the decent work deficit and labour market conditions in the district and has carried out several assessments and consultations. The current project “Promoting economic opportunities for the Host communities in Cox’s Bazar” is the outcome of these prior works. The decent work deficit faced by the host communities have multifaceted root causes and are compounded by the COVID 19 pandemic. The proposed interventions aim to address some of the identified root causes of decent work deficits and to address a large number of poor and vulnerable households in the district. The interventions will unfold the opportunity to work with other UN agencies for co-creating innovative skills and enterprise development initiatives for host communities. It will also focus on exploring the required initiatives within ILO’s mandate and capacity and mobilizing resources to implement these.
The project assistant will be based at Cox Bazar and will work under the supervision of the ILO country director and day to technical guidance from technical officer, support the project coordinator in various programmatic, logistical and financial aspects while implementing the project.

Duty station will be Cox Bazar

The project assistant will be responsible for the following specific responsibilities:
Duties
1. Support NPC in stakeholder coordination by identifying the stakeholders developing their database and exploring other relevant information related to them
2. Support in project implementation activities including onsite monitoring, developing work break down schedules and following up on the timely completion of the proposed activities.
3. Take full responsibilities for the logistics arrangement including the travel plan, organizing workshops, schedule appointments with the development collaborators and donors and so on.
4. With the guidance from the procurement team in ILO country office, provide all the necessary documentation and support for the procurement of the project
5. Monitor budget implementation and programme activity expenditure and prepare budget revisions when required
6. Supports NPC to coordinate and liaise with government agencies in the cox’s bazar.
7. Support NPC in the monitoring and quality control of the tasks assigned to the implementing partners and consultants
8. Takes part in assisting programme monitoring visits together with the third-party monitors/donors and programme teams to ensure compliance with all the monitoring, administrative and finance requirements.
9. Supports in reviewing, updating  and guiding Implementing Agencies on finance monitoring templates based on evolving programme and institutional requirements
10. Process contracts for financial clearance and payment. Ensures the correctness and appropriateness of types of contracts used with each activity, and ensures all necessary supporting documents are attached.
11. Helps conduct regular spot checks of partner’s projects to assess their financial record keeping, expenditure controls and reporting systems. Following the monitoring visits, supports project team for follow up and timely action of suggested recommendations.

12. Provides guidance to project partners on the ILO administrative and financial reporting procedures. Verify accounting information for accuracy and consistency and process and maintain financial transactions.
13. Regularly monitors budgets and financial expenditures of the project by using applicable tools, ensuring compliance with ILO rules and regulations, keeping the NPC informed and advised on actions for decision and/or follow up.
14. Review and request additional information on the financial reports of project implementing partners, ensuring compliance with ILO rules, before submitting to the Finance Unit.
15. Arranges appointments for supervisor, project consultants and ILO officials, receive visitors, handles telephone enquiries, place telephone calls, respond to requests for information, maintain office records and reference files on all project related activities, send and receive emails and fax correspondence;
16. Contributes to the preparation of meeting minutes project documents and other relevant information to governments by preparing drafting reports;
17. Provide administrative support to the organization synthesis of lessons learnt of implementation of activities for the partners on operational management.
18. Execute any other assigned tasks within the broad mandate of the ILO as instructed by the NPC and the technical officer.

Work relations
The project Assistant requires to coordinate frequently with other staff in the ILO office to clarify issues, to obtain cooperation and resolve problems with support from other work units.

Completion of Bachelors’ Degree preferably in management, economics or development studies.

Five years of experience in providing support to development projects implementation activities. Practical experience in working with UN agencies is an asset.

Knowledge and skill: 
• Knowledge of project management and informal economy in the country along with contemporary development issues of country and region.
• Intra-personal skill including working with government, departments, local government and district stakeholders, private sector and Trade Unions
• Communication and facilitation skill
• Computer skills (word and data processing)
• Data collection and Report writing skill

Excellent knowledge of English and Bangla with the ability to draft well.
 

• Good knowledge of the purpose and functions of the technical programme and the other offices and sectors interacting with the programme.
  • Knowledge of technical data and good administrative skills to provide programming support.
  • Good knowledge of programme planning, implementation and evaluation principles, practices and procedures.
  • Ability to work with word processing and spreadsheet software, as well as computer software packages required for work.
  • Ability to prepare preliminary reports and to draft correspondence.
  • Good analytical skills.
  • Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
  • Ability to deal with a range of staff and to respond to their queries.
  • Ability to work in a team and to work under pressure.
  • Good organizational skills.
  • Excellent time management skills.
  • Supervisory skills.
  • Must demonstrate responsible behaviour and attention to detail.
  • Ability to work and communicate with people in a polite, courteous and cooperative manner.
  • Must display high standards of ethical conduct.
  • Must demonstrate honesty and integrity.
  • Ability to reason and make sound judgements