Executive/Administrative Associate

Africa Region Office of the Regional Director

The Africa (AFR) region currently consists of Operational Hubs (a cluster of neighboring countries) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tunisia and Kenya, and 2 major Country offices Somalia and South Sudan.

Located in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Office of the Regional Director (RD) for Africa (AFR) manages a geographically defined portfolio of engagements, including leading strategy and business development for the region, overseeing management of operations, and ensuring appropriate risk management.

Ensures effective and efficient functioning of the Regional Director’s office focusing on achievement of the following points:

1.    Administrative support

• Provide accurate solutions for travel purposes and ensure the appropriate procurement of visas;
• Monitor Africa Region personnel missions schedule;
• Monitor Africa Region personnel missions  schedule via  Regional Location List (held on intranet) and follow up on the timely provision of travel reports and quarterly travel plans from the Operation Hub/Operation Centre/ Project Centre 
• Liaise with HQ Admin team for all protocol issues in the Regional Director’s office, particularly in relation to the request of visas
• Organize regular and ad-hoc meetings; prepare minutes and summaries  of  actions  to be  taken; track progress on planned issues; follow-up with focal points;
• Monitor and facilitate Regional Director’s approval for all documents received from Africa Region Hub/Operation Centre offices; Compile reports and administrative documentation;
• Provide  accurate  and  timely information  on  processes  and  pending  issues  to  the concerned individuals/unit.
• Management of the Regional Director’s office, ensuring an environment of professionalism and teamwork at all times, and setting exemplary standards of conduct for the office team;

2.    Operational support

• Support the Regional Director's office in organizing regional retreats, training and workshops for personnel as appropriate including agenda preparation, documentation, review of budget and authorization of expenses;
• Organize high-level events including invitees from embassies, governments, UN agencies, governmental/non-governmental organizations and other partners;
• Coordinate preparation of meetings with key partners/donors (logistics, talking points, background notes, presentations, etc.)
• Provide assistance to the Regional Director in  managing  and  monitoring  the  utilization  of  the regional administrative budget, ensuring regular update and reporting are prepared and submitted to the Regional Director;
• Contribute to the engagement review process: quality assurance review for engagement submitted for approval to the Regional Office and facilitate their recommendations and approvals;
• Contribute to the annual budget process (consolidation of Africa Region budget, and preparation of the Regional Office budget submission)
• Verify invoices for the settlement of the Regional Office due payments.
• Provide administrative and logistical support to the Regional Director’s Advisors Unit based in the region as well as the Business Development and Oversight/Operations team in Copenhagen
• Liaise with Support Services Center/Integrated Practice Advice and Support for any support Africa Region Country offices may need from Support Services Center/Integrated Practice Advice and Support;
• Responsible for compilation of reports and administrative documentation as requested by the Regional Director;

3.    Support to people and information management

• Facilitate and manage the ongoing network and exchange of information with internal partners and important business clients;
• Screen all incoming communications to Africa Region mail boxes, filter outgoing correspondence for supervisor’s signature, clearance and further action by other  personnel; Adherence to  appropriate  protocol  and  correspondence guidelines by the office team when communicating with Government and other external partners;
• Development  of  effective  systems  and  procedures to  improve  and  streamline  work  and communication flow within the team, to meet high-paced job demands and business requirements;
• Contribute to the Africa Region gender parity initiative: support the implementation and monitoring of  Gender Action Plans implementation status
• Act with the Regional Management and Oversight Advisor as the regional focal point for learning activities: coordinate regional Learning needs assessment, facilitate, and coordinate planning, nominations and logistics of training activities in Africa Region 
• Act as the people focal point: including coordinating the annual people survey preparation, and action plan implementation
• Performs any other task as requested by the Regional Director.

• Secondary/high-school education required as minimum. 
• First level university education (BA) in relevant field highly desirable. Relevant technical diploma (such as secretarial), or diploma or certification in a field related to business administration or public administration would be an additional asset.

• Min. 6 years of relevant work is required. Experience as an administrative assistant, customer support, commercial assistant or similar role would be an asset. Note that a higher educational level can be accepted in lieu of work experience, i.e. with a BA degree 2 years of relevant work experience would be required
• Knowledge of ERP software or accounting software an asset
• Knowledge of UNOPS financial regulations and rules is considered an added asset
• Knowledge of UNOPS management systems an asset 

• Fluency in written and oral English and French required. 

Contract type: Local Individual Contractor Agreement (LICA)
Contract level: LICA 6
Contract duration: Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time (CET)
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.