Senior Administrative assistant (Kingston, Jamaica) contract

Post Number : 3JMADM0702RP

Grade : G-6

Parent Sector : Sector For Administration and Management (ADM)

Duty Station: Kingston

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) : 04-NOV-2024 – EXTENDED

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

(Only candidates who are entitled to work in Jamaica may apply to this position).

Under the overall authority of the Director and Representative of the UNESCO Regional Office in Kingston and the direct supervision of the Finance and Administrative Officer, the incumbent provides high-level administrative and support services in a range of specialized areas and plays a lead role within the unit in ensuring application and compliance with the rules, regulations, policies and practices in place.

In particular, the incumbent will carry out the following responsibilities:

General Accountabilities:

• Act as certifying officer up to an authorized level delegated by the CFO.
• Provide guidance and interpretation on administrative rules, regulations and procedures.
• Advise on operational and technical routine transactions.
• Recommend process and system related modifications and improvements to support successful administration and financial monitoring and control.
• Interpret provisions and provide guidance on complex and non-recurring issues.
• May supervise activities related to office maintenance, security, transport and similar services.

Finance Accountabilities:

• Ensure that the Office’s financial resources and expenditures are fully and properly accounted for and that internal control systems are adequate and functioning; schedule payments and disbursement of funds.
• Ensure accurate and timely processing of assigned accounts, developing budget estimates and monitoring expenditures, participating and advising in the preparation of financial statements and budgets.
• Assist in the preparation and coordination of financial activities under RP funds and Voluntary Contributions.
• Compile and consolidate data from various sources into financial statements, prepare worksheets.
• Monitor expenditures, review payments and reconcile accounts.
• Investigate  anomalies and erroneous charges and take corrective action.
• Provide assistance and guidance to undertake coding and data entry task and to extract information, to run reports from iRIS, CORE or other online financial system.

Budget Accountabilities:

• Prepare RP and voluntary contributions budget reports and communicate on them.
• Assist and advise on planning and budgeting and recommend modifications.
• Prepare budget proposals and cost estimates and ensure that data is correct.
• Identify Irregularities and undertake transactions to correct errors/omissions.

HR Accountabilities:

• Handle non-routine or complex cases, prepare associated documents/correspondence for personnel actionsbased on oral instructions and previous experience.
• Follow up on coming HR actions and oversee maintenance, update and clean up of database.
• Issue non-staff contracts, advice on recruitment process and entitlements.
• Liaise with contract services (ADS, HRM,BFM, etc) to discuss and obtain additional information, clarificationsand policy interpretation.

Logistics Accountabilities:

• Procurement: research and retrieve information on supply sources, vendors by commodity and obtainspecifications on the market.
• Review contractual documents (TOR, budget, contract nature and type).
• Resolve issues/ problems related to delivered goods.
• Prepare requisitions for supplies and equipment; ensure that payments are processed and provide informationto the assigned sector on invoicing and payment issue.
• Arrange for control and distribution of inventory records.
• Security; ensure compliance of staff with security travel requirements and monitor completion of mandatorysecurity trainings.

Additional activities that may be required to ensure the success of the work team.

Education

• Completed secondary, technical or vocational school education.

Work experience

• Minimum of 8 (eight) years of relevant work experience in the area of general administration, finance and budget, HR, and logistics.

Skills and competencies

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; strong service orientation and ability to deal efficiently with partners at different levels. 
• Ability to prepare reports and analyze, interpret financial data, and monitor budgets.
• Excellent organizational and coordination skills; ability to take initiatives, establish priorities and monitor own work plans. 
• Good knowledge of MS office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint) and database packages.
• Ability to work as part of a team and under tight deadlines, to deal with complex and sensitive situations and flexibility to adjust work schedules.

Languages

• Excellent knowledge (spoken and written) of English language.

Education

• Specialized training or courses in one or more of the following disciplines: Administration, Finance, Accounting and/or Human Resources or related fields.

Work experience

• Relevant experience in similar functions within the UN system or any international organization/institution.
• Proficiency in word processing, financial spreadsheet applications and ERP systems.

Skills and competencies

• Knowledge of internal control systems and principles would be an asset.

Languages

• Knowledge of another official language of UNESCO (Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

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 3 819 974 JMD.

For full information on benefits and entitlements, please consult our Guide to Staff Benefits.