Human Resources Assistant, Pensions

Introduction

The position is based in the Pension Unit (PENSION) in the Policy and Social Benefits Branch of the Human Resources Development Department. PENSION is responsible for managing the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) membership for ILO staff, the Special Payments Fund entitlements for former ILO staff, and the closed ILO Staff Pensions Fund. PENSION interacts on a daily basis with the UNJSPF and advises staff members and other counterparts on eligibility and entitlements, ensuring that the rules and procedures of the Fund are applied correctly in the ILO. UNJSPF is a defined benefit pension plan that consists of 25 member organizations. The Fund has offices in New York (United States) and Geneva (Switzerland) and two liaison offices, one in Nairobi (Kenya) and one in Bangkok (Thailand).

The incumbent is responsible for providing administrative support to the ILO Pension Team regarding UNJSPF memberships and benefits. This includes processing of affiliation and membership data, electronic and physical record keeping, responding to queries regarding participants/beneficiaries, calculating entitlements and preparing related administrative correspondence under the guidance of the supervisor and other senior colleagues. Daily work requires the use of the UNJSPF computer system (Integrated Pension Administration System) and the ILO enterprise resource planning (ERP) system (Integrated Resource Information System (IRIS)) and liaising with other HRD units and Payroll. Work procedures are determined by UNJSPF Regulations. 

The incumbent reports to the Head of the Pension Unit.

Specific Duties

1.    Assist with the administration of UNJSPF membership records for ILO employees with less than five years of contributory service. Update and maintain membership and affiliation files.

2.    Prepare and send welcome information packages to new members (UNJSPF participants) and follow-up as necessary on validation and restoration requests under the guidance of the supervisor.

3.    Review personnel action forms in IRIS to identify and process those affecting pension status or entitlements. Input new pension numbers assigned by the UNJSPF interface portal into IRIS.

4.    Examine and reconcile employee records for UNJSPF participants under the guidance of the supervisor to ensure quality control and investigate data discrepancies, following-up with administrative staff at ILO headquarters and in the field on corrective action within deadlines.

5.    Collect and review documents submitted by participants, survivors, or their representatives and follow up with the supervisor and UNJSPF as necessary.

6.    Reply to internal inquiries, including those related to the UNJSPF "self-service" website, and external inquires.  Assist with the monitoring of generic mailboxes, or refer to the supervisor and senior colleagues, ensuring consistent and timely follow-up.

7.    Upload content to update the PENSION intranet pages on sharepoint and provide administrative support for the organization of information sessions (such as the pre-retirement seminar), webinars and other events. 

8.    Perform other relevant duties as assigned.
 

These specific duties are aligned with the relevant ILO generic job description, which includes the following generic duties:

Generic Duties

1.    Upon receipt of authorisation, prepare contracts and assemble documentation required for staff appointment, promotion, transfer, separation, etc.

2.    Examine requests for information on staff entitlements and benefits, determine staff members’ eligibility to entitlements and benefits, calculate benefits for more straightforward cases, obtain information from other sources where necessary to justify eligibility, and draft appropriate letters to staff as well as personnel action forms to incorporate allowances where applicable.

3.    Initiate actions relating to changes in staff status, examine and process personnel action documents, obtain clearances and complete necessary forms, and follow up with related personnel and administrative services accordingly.

4.    Draft correspondence and personnel actions on a range of standard personnel matters as required. 

5.    Verify and update staff personal data, and incorporate information into staff files and automated specialised databases. Maintain staff files and compile data for the preparation of statistics.

6.    Provide information to staff on HR procedures, benefits and entitlements

Required qualifications

Education

Completion of secondary school or equivalent technical or commercial school. Specialised training in pension administration, human resources administration, payroll processing or a closely related field. 

Experience

At least five to seven years of experience in human resources administration or a closely related field.

Languages

Excellent command of one official language (English, French, Spanish) of the Organization, and working knowledge of another official language.

Competencies

In addition to the ILO core competencies, this position requires:

Technical

Good knowledge of ILO personnel and pension rules, regulations and procedures. Knowledge of the work performed by other ILO support services related to pension administration (payroll, IT, etc.). Ability to use spreadsheets as well as software to upload content on websites, including sharepoint. Ability to extract and evaluate relevant personnel data, using an ERP system, documents and information. Proven ability to check information and correct errors and omissions in contracts, official documents or databases. Proven ability to apply and explain the staff rules and regulations. Good time management skills. Good drafting skills. Problem solving skills. Good communication skills.

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