Administration Assistant

Volunteering Admin Human Resources

Overview

Provide administrative support and assist operations in the Country Office

You have:

• 0-3 years of professional work experience at the national or international level in HR, operations, or administration, or other relevant programmes
• Excellent oral and written English skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Strong organizational skills
• Strong communication and coordination skills
• Strong interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners
• Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment
• Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.)
• Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines
• Have affinity with, or interest in, volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development

Contract

This is a UNV National Youth contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Youth contracts.

UNDP’s role is to help fortify development outcomes among local communities, government partners, and the private sector, using the SDGs as both a destination and a guide. Through the SDGs, a transformative shift from a war economy to a peace economy is possible, helping Afghanistan to meet its global commitments, its internal targets (such as those set by the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework-ANPDF), and, most importantly, the expectations and ambitions of the Afghan people. While this bold vision demands investments from UNDP, among all development actors, UNDP Afghanistan Country Office is providing insights on understanding and overcoming multidimensional poverty. UNDP’s perspective is that meaningful poverty alleviation requires a different development approach – one that monitors and attempts to affect the systemic interplay of socioeconomic factors, regional differences, and shifts in the political economy. To deliver this value proposition, the CO needs to ‘raise the bar’ on its development policy expertise and engage national and local policy makers on disrupting the complex systems contributing to intractable poverty. This UNV assignment is part of a new office structure with UNDP Afghanistan, which is designed to support a more integrated and collaborative way in supporting Afghanistan achieve sustainable development and sustainable peace. The Country Office has aligned the new office structure with the thematic vision of the emerging Country Programme and designed new ways of working that will facilitate more collaboration across the office, create the foundations for more sub-national level work and higher delivery and emphasize learning and support to national staff capacity development.

Under the direct supervision of the General Operation Specialist the National Youth UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: • Submission of service provider's invoices for payment in compliance with Finance Unit’s Standard Operating Procedure (SOP); • Preparation of PO and non-PO vouchers for recurring services. • Creation of requisitions in QUANTUM for General Services Unit, register of goods receipt. • Assist the operations in the Country Office (CO) in accordance with UNDP rules and regulations and policies. • Support the Bi-annual physical inventory verification exercise to ensure accuracy of records and location of property ensure that managers sign off on the physical count and correctness of the inventory system database. • Support in Assets/custodial items & Inventory managements (incl. verification, tagging). • Preparation of routine correspondences under the supervision of Administration Associate/Supervisor. • Managing documents and files (incl. copying, printing). • Daily support to administrative and logistical services. • Support in collecting of information requested by non-accredited Agencies and performance of other administrative surveys. • Copying and searching documents for VAT returns. • Tickets booking/issuance/cancellation for non-accredited UN Agencies. • Daily support to travel management processes. • Arrangements of travel and hotel reservations for visiting UN/UNDP officials. • Administrative support to UNDP conferences, workshops, retreats. • Administrative support to conferences, workshops requested by non-accredited Agencies. • General administrative support in the office (can include procurement of office needs, stationary, furniture; kitchen appliances); • Monitors updated schedule of renovation/cleaning/painting of office building scheduled and all office facilities hygienic and in smooth and always in running conditions. • Assist in overall daily operations and other relevant duties upon request by Supervisor.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day). • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country. • Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc. • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers. • Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

• Professionalism: demonstrated understanding of operations relevant to UNDP; technical capabilities or knowledge relevant or transferrable to UNDP procedures and rules; discretion, political sensitivity, diplomacy and tact to deal with clients; ability to apply good judgement; ability to liaise and coordinate with a range of different actors, especially in senior positions; where appropriate, high degree of autonomy, personal initiative and ability to take ownership; resourcefulness and willingness to accept wide responsibilities and ability to work independently under established procedures; ability to manage information objectively, accurately and confidentially; responsive and client-oriented; • Integrity: demonstrate the values and ethical standards of the UN and UNDP in daily activities and behaviors while acting without consideration of personal gains; resist undue political pressure in decision-making; stand by decisions that are in the organization’s interest even if they are unpopular; take prompt action in cases of unprofessional or unethical behavior; does not abuse power or authority. • Teamwork and respect for diversity: ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries; excellent interpersonal skills; ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and harmonious working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, mixed-gender environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity; sensitivity and adaptability to culture, gender, religion, nationality and age; commitment to implementing the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of UN operations; ability to achieve common goals and provide guidance or training to colleagues; • Commitment to continuous learning: initiative and willingness to learn new skills and stay abreast of new developments in area of expertise; ability to adapt to changes in work environment. • Planning and organizing effective organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner; ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities. • Communication: proven interpersonal skills; good spoken and written communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presentations, articulate options and positions concisely; ability to make and defend recommendations; ability to communicate and empathize with staff (including national staff), military personnel, volunteers, counterparts and local interlocutors coming from very diverse backgrounds; capacity to transfer information and knowledge to a wide range of different target groups; • Flexibility: adaptability and ability to live and work in potentially hazardous and remote conditions, involving physical hardship and little comfort; to operate independently in austere environments for protracted periods; willingness to travel within the area of operations and to transfer to other duty stations within the area of operations as necessary. • Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement, which includes solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self-reliance; and commitment towards UNDP’s mission and vision, as well as to the UN Core Values.

0-3 years of professional work experience at the national or international level in HR, operations, or administration, or other relevant programmes; experience with document and management is an asset, as is experience working in the UN or other international development organization; 

• Excellent oral and written English skills; • Excellent attention to detail; • Strong organizational skills; • Strong communication and coordination skills; • Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners; • Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment; ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel; • Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.) and email/internet; familiarity with database management is an asset • Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines; • Have affinity with, or interest in, volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN System.

As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials.

Conditions of Service for national UN Volunteers : Note on novel coronavirus – COVID-19. The rapidly changing nature of novel coronavirus COVID-19 has placed significant and increasing restrictions on the freedom of movement of people, even within countries. Such restrictions may affect the ability of UN Volunteers to begin their assignments at their assigned duty station or limit the ability to enter UN premises. Thus, UNV cannot guarantee assignments will proceed as normal. Candidates for UN Volunteer assignments requiring travel to the duty station may be exceptionally granted during this period alternative working arrangements to work from their place of recruitment until restrictions are lifted. Candidates for UN Volunteer assignments may also need to begin their assignments remotely in cases where access to UN premises is restricted. These are decisions at the discretion of the host entity. Candidates proceeding to interview are recommended to discuss travel requirements, any restrictions, and possible alternative arrangements with the host entity. If selected, candidates should carefully consider the circumstances before accepting UNV’s offer. The contract lasts for the period indicated above with possibility of extensions subject to availability of funding, operational necessity and satisfactory performance. However, there is no expectation of renewal of the assignment. Travel to duty station (if applicable) and a Settling-In-Grant will be provided in the event the duty station is not within commuting distance from the place of recruitment. The applicable Volunteer Living Allowance is provided monthly to cover housing, utilities and normal cost of living expenses. Life, health and permanent disability insurance are included (health insurance for up to 3 dependents), as well as final repatriation (if applicable) and resettlement allowance for satisfactory service. Furthermore, in non-family duty stations that belong to hardship categories D or E, as classified by the ICSC, a Well-Being Differential (WBD) will be provided monthly.

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Potential interview questions

Added 1 year ago - Updated 26 days ago - Source: unv.org