Administrative Assistant

“UNOPS plays a critical role in providing management services for our life-saving, peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations.”
-Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General

UNOPS  mission is to expand the capacity of the UN system and its partners to implement peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations that matter for people in need.

Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, our vision is to always satisfy partners with management services that meet world-class standards of quality, speed and cost effectiveness.

UNOPS provides services in sustainable infrastructure, sustainable procurement and sustainable project management, with projects ranging from building schools, roads, bridges and hospitals to procuring goods and services and training local personnel.

By assisting UN organizations, international financial institutions, governments and other development partners, UNOPS makes significant, tangible contributions to results on the ground.

We employ more than 6,000 personnel annually and on behalf of our partners create thousands more work opportunities in local communities. Through our headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark and a network of regional and country offices, we oversee activities in more than 80 countries.

UNOPS is committed to achieving a truly diverse workforce.

Mine Action Cluster

The Mine Action Cluster, as a part of the Global Partnership Services Office, is responsible for implementing projects in over thirty mine affected countries involving the establishment and management of mine action coordination centers in emergency/peacekeeping situations as well as building national capacity for addressing the longer-term socio-economic impact of mines/UXO in a development setting. The support provided is over the entire lifecycle of the project including design, implementation and handover/closure. This involves the recruitment of international experts and national personnel, procurement of specialized demining equipment, complex contracting of mine action services including landmine impact surveys, manual clearance, explosive ordnance disposal, technical survey, mine detection dogs, mechanical ground preparation systems and mine risk education. All aspects of project implementation are conducted in accordance with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS).

In Mali UNOPS is supporting the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) programme which is mandated by UN SCR 2100 (2013), to contribute to the following objectives, namely: (i) reduce the threat to MINUSMA and UN personnel through the provision of specialized training, equipment and mentoring of international combat engineering EOD and IED-Disposal teams as well as the delivery of risk awareness to UN staff; (ii) enhance national capacity to mitigate explosive threats through the specialized training, equipment and mentoring of MDSF and by providing advisory technical support to the National Commission against the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons; and (iii) by improving protection of civilians by supporting and tasking international mine action operators to priority contaminated areas in central and northern Mali.

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Head of Support Services, the Administrative Assistant assists in the overall management of administrative services, administers and executes processes and transactions, ensuring high quality and accuracy of work. The Administrative Assistant promotes a client, quality and results-oriented approach.

The Administrative Assistant works in close collaboration with operations/finance staff, Project Managers and Project teams, as well as with staff of other UN agencies to exchange information and ensure consistent service delivery.

The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.

Summary of Key Functions:

Support to effective and efficient functioning of the office/department/unit

Support to administrative services

Support with respect to protocol issues and requests for official documentation

Support to effective and efficient functioning of the office/department/unit

Ensures effective and efficient functioning of the office, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Perform reception duties and maintain contact with visitors and staff, arrangement of appointments and meetings, acting as an interpreter when required and/or taking minutes.
• Compilation and preparation of briefing and presentation materials, speeches, background information and documentation for meetings and missions.
• Organize and track all correspondence with various departments and external parties;
• Maintenance of hard copy and electronic files,c orrespondence, reference materials and confidential records as required
• Petty cash management under instruction from supervisor
• Provide verbal translation when required from/to Frencha nd English.
• Translate correspondence when required from/to French and English.
• Perform any other programme specific duties as assigned by the SSO, PM or their deputy.

Support to administrative services

Ensures effective administrative and logistical support, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Ensure compliance with UNOPS HR processes and rules.
• Leave and attendance recording and processing;
• Arrangements of travel and hotel reservations, preparation of travel authorizations, processing requests for visas, identity cards and other documents.
• Assist with the payment of travel allowances, DSA, daily wage contracts, F10 claims and payments.
• Provide logistics support for organizing meetings, conferences, workshops, retreats, refreshments, and take meeting minutes when requested.
• Custodian for management of office stationery supplies including maintenance of stock list of stationery, distribution of stationery as required by staff and keeping a log of distribution.
• Follow up on deadlines, commitments made, actions taken and coordination of collection and submission of the reports to head of unit.
• Ensure Certificate of Payments are submitted for review by SSO on time;

Support with respect to protocol issues and requests for official documentation

Provides support with respect to protocol issues and requests for official documentation, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Arrangements with UN departments and Mali Government for official documentation to be provided for import/export or transfer of goods, visas, work permits etc
• Individual monitoring sheet to track the status of submitted documentation for each staff member and dependents, ensuring that official documentation matches the announced schedule
• Accurate information provided to individual/unit upon request for Human Resources on administrative matters.

Perform other related duties as requested by supervisor.

NB: This VA is open for nationals of Mali only.

Planning and Organising -   Ability to manage, organize, plan and implement work assignments.

Teamwork Skills - Ability to build and sustain effective work relationship with subordinates and peers to achieve common goal.

Initiative - self confident and ability to act proactively to make thins happen in the organisation. 

Communication skill - Excellent communication skills and ability to work in a team to achieve organizational goals.

Client Focus - Ensure timely response and support to the client(s) as needed;

Ability to Learn - Willingness to learn and openness to suggestions for self-improvement.

Lives and Breathes UNOPS Values - Takes ownership for all responsibilities and honors commitments.

• High School Diploma
• Bachelor degree in related field would be an asset but not a requirement.

Minimum of 4 years of working experience is required with at least 2 years of experience in the area of Administration and/or office management.