Programme Assistant (Apia, Samoa) contract

Post Number : 4WSADM0700RP

Grade : G-4

Parent Sector : Field Office

Duty Station: Apia

Job Family: Administration

Type of contract : Fixed Term Field

Duration of contract : 2 years, renewable

Recruitment open to : Internal and external candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 02-JAN-2025

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

Only Nationals of Samoa or those with a legal right to live and work in Samoa can apply for this position

Under the overall guidance of the Director of the UNESCO Office for the Pacific States and direct supervision of the Programme Specialist or as may be determined by the director in the interest of efficiency and equity in attention to work of various sectors in the Office, the incumbent shall assist the Programme Specialists and other office personnel in the implementation of the regular and extrabudgetary programmes and office activities by carrying out a range of procedural, administrative and operational tasks to help develop, implement and monitor the country-level and sub-regional activities, ensuring timely and effective delivery is consistent with UNESCO rules and regulations.

The incumbent shall also perform other duties as may be required by the Director of the Office to ensure the overall management of the office, as:

General

• Contribute to the development of the office’s monitoring and evaluation work plan to meet a variety of reporting needs arising from UN Development Assistance Frameworks, Member States, Universal Periodic Reports, UNESCO Regular and Extrabudgetary Programme management, audits and evaluations, etc;
• Provide information, including data from the past work, for development of programme/project concept note and proposals, baselines, logframes;
• Review all partner proposal documents to ensure performance indicators have clearly defined baselines and targets and outputs linked to payments;
• Contribute to development of routine as well as ad hoc survey;
• Ensure compliance with the Office procedures and regulations, rules and policies of the Organization, and participate in research and assessments.

Information Management 

• Maintain e-files as well as paper files in close compliance with the Organization’s records management policy and for audit and evaluation purposes;
• Proficiently use the digital workspace, applications, and tools; collects, compiles and collates data and information required for programme planning, monitoring and evaluation;
• Put together data in logical sets for analysis by programme staff; update, maintain and further develop internal databases;
• Provide programme-related routine as well as ad hoc data and information; update and maintain databases including those drawn from progress reports of implementing partners and contractors;
• Ensure that contracts with partners include reporting templates and follow up to ensure timely submission of progress reports by implementing partners;
• Keeps track of each contract outputs and timelines, alert the partners and contractors and programme staff timely for them to investigate the problems and take corrective steps;
• Prepare notes to file, memos and monthly updates on progress of each contract for review and meetings; prepare information and documents for audits and evaluations; follow up to ensure that recommendations are implemented; and updates the monitoring data in corporate applications of UNESCO and the UN, etc.

Communication

• Research, compile, and present basic information for use in the preparation and production of communications products/services;
• Update the Office website and the Office’s social media accounts based on events, progress, upcoming events and activities, and UNESCO’s authorized executive’s and official statements;
• Generate a variety of standard and non-standard statistical and other information from various databases and progress reports to include in web-stories, news, press releases, etc.;
• Serves as a photographer and a social media broadcaster for UNESCO activities when held in the country; coordinate media coverage and provide communication support to important events, including UNESCO senior official visits;
• Liaise with news and media agencies to provide advance notice of, and information on, upcoming meetings, briefings and special events; contribute to or develops the Office newsletter; and ensure visibility for the Organization, donors and partners.

Meetings and Office Events

• Take minutes of meetings; assist in the planning and coordination of special events, major exhibits, campaigns, and/or conferences, liaising with relevant partners/government departments/UN Organizations;
• Support programme staff in preparation of event budget and coordination with resource persons and participants; prepare meeting participant and media packs, ensure availability of products for distribution at special events, exhibits, conferences, media functions, etc;
• Draft minutes and meeting reports, ensure each meeting is evaluated by the participants using online questionnaire and post-event-self-review of the quality by the programme and admin and finance event to improve quality in future;
• Support registrations of participants and overall event management; help with or conduct online events, for example, virtual meetings, social media polls, online surveys and conferences, etc.

Programme Administration

• Prepare contracts; initiate payment requests; maintain financial records and tracking systems to record and reconcile expenditures, balances, payments, statements, and other data for daily transactions and reports for project related activities;
• Review data and documents for verifying accuracy, making necessary calculations and ensuring the inclusion of all relevant data prior to processing of requests concerning contracts, payments and procurements;
• Arrange for the recording and administrative processing of government and other implementation partner request for support (both financial and non-financial) in line with the Organization’s rule and Office procedures; verify the conformance of project terms of reference, request for contracts with workplans and set objectives;
• Identify operational risks in day to day work and reports appropriately to the risk focal points/AO/Director and through maintenance/reporting; get approval for action to address any gaps or deficiencies identified in programme administration and the remediation or problems;
• Ensure equitable attention to assistance needs of all programme sectors; and continuously update professional knowledge and skills to remain updated and provide quality work outputs;
• Additional Activities that may be required to ensure the success of the work team.

Education

• Completion of secondary, technical and/or vocational training.

Work Experience

• Minimum 3 years of relevant work experience in the field of administration/financial management at the national or sub-regional level.
• Experience of working to support the implementation of national and/or sub-regional development projects or programmes.

Skills and Competencies

• Good interpersonal and communication skills, including very good writing skills.
• Good organizational, planning, monitoring and reporting skills.
• Ability to work as part of a team, to take initiative and to provide quality and timely support and services.
• Discretion and capacity to deal efficiently and tactfully with people of different cultural backgrounds.
• Flexibility to adjust work schedules and priorities, Capacity to work under pressure.
• Good ICT skills with proficiency in the use of MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc).

Languages

• Excellent knowledge of English and Samoan.

Education

• Completed higher education in business administration or management.

Work Experience

• Relevant experience within the United Nations System or in an international organization.

Languages

• Good Knowledge of another language from the Pacific Region.

UNESCO’s salaries consist of a basic salary and other benefits which may include if applicable: 30 days annual leave, family allowance, medical insurance, pension plan etc.

The approximate annual starting salary for this post is 23, 547 in TALA.

For more information in benefits and entitlements, please consult ICSC website.