Senior Finance and Procurement Assistant

Organizational setting

This position is located in the ILO Office for Turkey. The ILO Office for Turkey functions as the diplomatic representation of the ILO in Turkey vis-à-vis the government, social partners, stakeholders, international community and the general public.

The Office promotes ILO’s core mandate, international labour standards and decent work through implementation of development cooperation programmes and projects. The Office also follows and analyses social, political and economic developments, legislative and policy initiatives in Turkey, and carries out advocacy activities through engaging with the constituents to ensure that the core ILO values and policies are promoted.

The developmental cooperation (DC) project portfolio of the ILO Office for Turkey has expanded significantly in the past years to respond to the increased demand from the constituents and donors.

Currently, the Office is implementing 7 DC projects with a total budget of 96 Million USD.  Large portion of the DC projects are funded under the “ILO’s Programme of Support for Turkey” to respond to the refugee crisis and Child Labour Programme. Furthermore, the ILO Office for Turkey is also implementing a project in the area of women’s employment. The large DC portfolio is expected to be maintained in the coming years.

Main purpose

As a team member, the incumbent provides para-professional operational and administrative

services and is responsible for managing the completion of a range of support services in an efficient, effective and client-oriented manner. These relate to the delivery of administrative and office support, and may include procurement, finance, payments, travel and logistics and other operational areas. Work involves the use of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The incumbent ensures the correct application, interpretation and adaptation of established rules, regulations, policies, procedures and guidelines. The incumbent evaluates, anticipates needs, determines priorities and provides inputs into the design and development of improved operational support services and delivery processes.

The position works under the direct supervision of Senior Finance and Operations Officer (FCO) and under overall supervision of the Director of the ILO Office for Turkey. Supervision received is focused on facilitating service delivery and reviewing the impact of agreed results. Supervision is to ensure that work is coordinated and integrated with related services and completed within processing timelines. Work assignments are carried out under minimum supervision with the incumbent operating with a high degree of independence in delivering and evaluating the services of the work unit. Work is reviewed for feasibility of recommendations and impact of end results.

Working relationships

Internal contacts are with staff and managers in field offices, project locations and headquarters to build and maintain effective working relationships, exchange information and gain agreement on operational issues for the improvement of services.

External contacts are primarily with banks, service providers, United Nations (UN) agencies, and working groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other international organizations to maintain effective working relationships, clarify requirements and resolve issues, and to discuss best practices and latest developments in the concerned operational area.

Key duties and responsibilities

1. Responsible for the timely completion of specialized procurement & finance support services ensuring compliance with ILO rules and regulations, policies, procedures and applicable standards on procurement & finance. Evaluate and follow up on procurement & finance service provision to ensure optimum delivery.
2. Keep abreast of changes to financial and procurement rules and regulations, policies, procedures and other developments and provide guidance and deliver training to team members and staff with the view to building knowledge. Brief and provide guidance to procurement and finance support staff on procurement, budgeting and accounting issues and the application and interpretation of the relevant rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
3. Perform necessary tasks under the ILO’s internal integrated resource utilization system and software (IRIS), and in particular assist in preparation of IRIS transactions including purchase orders (POs), receipts and travel.
4. Assist the Senior Operations and Finance Officer to ensure proper and timely processing of purchase orders (for services & goods), Long Term Agreements (LTAs) and external collaboration contracts.
5. Conduct, on own initiative, a market research to identify potential service providers, vendors, implementing partners and experts and their market prices and prepare all the necessary documentation for tenders (RFQs, RFPs) including drafting terms of reference and technical specifications.
6. Follow up with potential vendors/service providers to ensure that ILO procedures are followed during the procurement process and coordinate preparation of the evaluation reports according to the ILO established procurement procedures.
7. Support the preparation of the draft procurement plans for the project and to update them on a regular basis.

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8. Establish and maintain a database of contract documentation, terms of references, list of suppliers of goods and services. Follow-up on approvals, progress and final payments for external collaboration contracts and purchase orders.
9. Record and reconcile expenditures, payments, statements, financial reports and other data as required.
10. Assist the Senior Operations and Finance Office to maintain financial records on budget allocations, encumbrances and expenditures and reconciliation of statements of expenditures.
11. Act as the initial contact person in communication with the local bank.
12. Send the payment instructions to the local bank and follow-up to ensure timely processing of local payments. 
13. Liaise with PAIE/HQ for the execution of local payments.
14. Monitor outstanding travel claims and follow-up with the respective staff for timely settlement of the claims.

    15. Maintain regular files and data on the expenditures and enter/verify data using the ILO’s financial system.

    16. Support the processes to maintain and check the inventory records of the office, and those held by the individual projects.

    17.Attend UN inter-agency meetings to discuss issues of common interest in finance and procurement matters, when necessary.

    18. Perform other duties as may be assigned by the Senior Operations and Finance Officer and the Director of ILO Office for Turkey.

Education

• Completion of secondary school education. Training in accounting or finance.

Experience

• Minimum of seven years of professional work experience in administrative or operational areas, including in finance and procurement.
• Experience in working with multiple modules of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
• Knowledge of the various aspects of the financial and procurement operations.
• Knowledge and experience in ILO and UN finance and procurement procedures will be an asset.
• Experience in projects funded by different donors will be an asset.

Languages

• Excellent command of an official working language (English, French, Spanish) of the Organization and the official national language of the duty station (Turkish).

Knowledge and Competencies (technical and behavioural)

Excellent knowledge of a range of operational areas.

Good knowledge of financial principles and concepts.

Good knowledge of PC software (including word processor and spreadsheet and presentation software) such as Microsoft Office.

Knowledge of UN Common System policies in the area of administration and finance.

Knowledge of the substantive nature of Organization’s work programmes and activities.

In addition to the ILO core competencies [Communication, Orientation to change, Takes responsibility for performance, Quality orientation, Collaboration], this position requires:

Ability to interpret and work within applicable rules, regulations, policies and procedures.

Ability to adapt quickly to new software and systems.

Ability to coordinate and oversee a broad range of administrative activities.

Analytical skills with ability to make sound judgments and decisions on operational issues.

Good drafting skills and ability to prepare analytical reports on a range of operational areas.

A high degree of discretion with sense of responsibility in dealing with confidential matters.

Interpersonal skills, tact and diplomacy when dealing with others.

Ability to manage competing priorities.

Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.