Administrative Assistant

The UN Alliance of Civilizations seeks to reduce tensions across cultural divides that threaten to inflame existing political conflicts or trigger new ones. Through preventive diplomacy initiatives, it works at grassroots level, promoting education, youth, media and migration projects aimed at building trust and respect among diverse communities.

The Alliance was established in 2005, as an initiative of the Secretary-General, and under the sponsorship of the Governments of Spain and Turkey. In March 2013, the United Nations Secretary-General appointed Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, former President of the General Assembly, as High Representative.  UNAOC is supported by a Group of Friends – a community of over 120 member countries and international organizations and bodies. The UNAOC Secretariat is based in New York, and is funded by multiple donors, with operations-level support provided by UNOPS. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the UNAOC Director the incumbent will perform the following tasks:

Administrative and Office Management Support:

• Manage everyday office work under the guidance of an Administrative and Programme Operations Specialist;
• Answer and route calls of UNAOC office and handle inquiries from the public;
• Meet and greet visitors to the UNAOC office;
• Provide office orientation to the new UNAOC personnel and interns;
• Submit requests to UNOPS to arrange UN IDs for the UNAOC personnel and facility passes (if needed); establish or extend the network accounts;
• Prepare and submit request to UNOPS for all office supplies;
• Maintain UNAOC FedEx account; brief AOC personnel on shipping procedures and keep track of all FedEx invoices;
• Maintain leave requests and keep time and attendance records updated for all AOC personnel; assist Administrative and Programme Operations Specialist in other human resources issues as requested;
• Assist project personnel in logistical support as requested;
• Under the guidance of the Administrative and Programme Operations Specialist, liaise with UNOPS on processing travel requests and claims, vendors invoices and other claims;
• Assist Administrative and Programme Operations Specialist in processing payments related to office and projects as requested.

Meetings and Correspondence:

• Placing and receive calls for the UNAOC Director; assist Director in arranging meetings;
• Circulate agendas, take notes and prepare minutes of the staff meetings;
• Act as a Focal Point for requests of meeting rooms in the UNAOC office; and in the UNHQs for UNAOC corporate events;
• Provide logistical support to the UNAOC corporate events in the UNHQs and abroad;
• Receive general correspondence, check general UNAOC email, respond/forward as appropriate;
• Draft/edit and/or send general correspondence; circulate agendas and other documents related to the UNAOC events in New York and abroad.

Filing and tracking:

• Keep all contact directories updated, including local missions, UNAOC staff, etc;
• Keep all office documentation and publications duly filed;
• Track publications available in the office, as well as inventory of durable equipment and supplies.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the management.

Education:

• Secondary education or high school diploma equivalent is required. A first-level degree or Bachelor's Degree may be in lieu of required years of experience.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in administrative support or one year with a first-level degree or Bachelor's Degree.  
• Applicant must have strong communications skills (both spoken and written) and excellent writing skills.
• Excellent IT skills and knowledge of basic MS office applications.

Language:

• Fluency in spoken and written the English language. Knowledge of another UN language is an asset.

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• 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 supports the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to serve people in need by expanding the ability of the United Nations, governments and other partners to manage projects, infrastructure and procurement in a sustainable and efficient manner.

Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, our vision is to advance sustainable implementation practices, always satisfying or surpassing our partners’ expectations.

With over 7,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical and management knowledge they need, wherever they need it.

A flexible structure and global reach means that we can quickly respond to our partners' needs, while offering the benefits of economies of scale. 

Based in Geneva, the Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECR) supports UNOPS offices throughout the region through: management, financial and programmatic oversight of global and country-specific portfolios, clusters and operations centres, including hosting services; fund and management advisory services; project implementation; procuring goods and services; and managing human resources.

ECR ensures that projects are executed to the highest standards, providing a shared knowledge base and ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are disseminated between business units and projects across the entire region.

 ECR strategy is to:

• Strengthen UNOPS role in operationalizing the Sustainable Development Goals with particular emphasis on health, environment and economic development.
• Position UNOPS in the Balkan sub-region, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
• Strengthen the implementation of ECR global and regional programmes, with revitalized partnerships in infrastructure, procurement and project management.

ECR operates global portfolios from offices in Geneva, Brussels and New York, and country-specific programmes from its operations and project centres located in Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries.