Administrative Associate, GS6, Public Partnerships Division, Brussels, Belgium #13262 (REQ#558771)
Execute specialized administrative tasks for UNICEF's Brussels office
Overview
Execute specialized administrative tasks for UNICEF's Brussels office
You have:
- Completion of secondary education is required, preferably supplemented by technical or university courses related to the field of work.
- A minimum of 6 years of relevant administrative or clerical work is required.
- Fluency in English and French is required. Knowledge of Dutch or another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, or Spanish) is an asset.
Contract
This is a G-6 contract. This kind of contract is known as General Service and related categories. It is normally only for nationals. It usually requires 6 years of experience, depending on education. More about G-6 contracts.
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, a future
The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.
UNICEF PPD Brussels Office manages UNCIEF’s relationship with the European Institutions (namely the European Commission (DG DEVCO, ECHO, NEAR; HOME and etc) , the Council of the EU, the European External Action Service, the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions) in order to make children a priority for EU institutions in terms their policies and financial allocations. The office is responsible for analyzing the EU funding environment and various financial instruments in view of identifying and mobilizing quality resources in support of UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. The office strives to profile UNICEF’s as a strategic partner and a broker of knowledge for children and women issues towards the EU Institutions with a clear positioning for an up-stream policy role and a results driven approach. The office also works to enhance Country and Regional offices understanding about UNICEF’s partnership with the European Institutions while supporting their strategic interactions with respective EU Delegations and ECHO offices at country level. The office also closely coordinate with other UN agencies with a presence in Brussels.
How can you make a difference?
Under the supervision and guidance of the Director, the Administrative Associate is responsible for executing a broad variety of procedural and specialized administrative tasks for the office requiring in-depth knowledge of UNICEF administrative procedures, processes and policies. The Administrative Associate acts as a focal point for administration (procurement of goods and services, travel, security and business continuity, property management and office management) and is accountable for ensuring efficient and cost effective administrative support as well as supporting staff in office administrative assignments. The Administrative Associate also acts as Human Resources focal point, the ICT focal point and is the office budget and finance focal point. The Administrative Associate ensures the office’s administrative operations and services are in compliance with the organization's administrative policy, procedures, rules and regulations.
Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:
Budget Monitoring
- Monitors budgets and financial expenditures of the office, ensuring compliance with UNICEF rules and regulations, keeping supervisor informed and advised on actions for decision/follow up.
- Recommends and prepares estimates on office premises, supplies and equipment requirements for budget preparation purposes.
- Provides support on budget revision/preparation, implementation status, determination position of funding utilization, operational, and financial closure.
- Prepares and maintains records, documents and control plans for the budget monitoring of activities.
- Ensures resources are adequately allocated in the systems to reflect management decisions on expenditure and activities. Advises on measures to ensure all funding is appropriately committed and spent.
- Processes invoices for all office-related goods and services and submits them to the Global Shared Service Centre (GSSC) for payment (Service Gateway) after ensuring certification and approval processes.
Human Resources
- Drafts vacancy announcements for positions within his/her office for review by supervisor to help attract ideal candidates.
- Ensures timely and efficient screening of applications for minimum eligibility, taking into account qualifications, competencies, and post requirements.
- Liaises with candidates in the various stages of the recruitment process.
- Coordinates the scheduling of interviews and technical assessments.
- Records and maintains recruitment files, ensuring all necessary documentation has been prepared.
- Monitors life-cycle of recruitment process to update supervisor as necessary.
- Supports staff on-boarding and liaison with Government of Belgium for resident cards for international staff.
Procurement
- Guides managers in the process of contracting vendors and suppliers for goods and services line with the policies and guidance issued by supply division and the Division of Human Resources.
- Facilitates the processing of contracts for consultants and external partners that provide a service to the office. This includes preparing and filing documents, completing necessary forms and templates, uploading terms of references (TORs) in the organization’s enterprise resource planning system (VISION), and making necessary logistical arrangements.
- Raises purchase requisitions and purchase orders in VISION for goods and services
- Maintains up-to-date vendor lists, partners, and consultant rosters.
Travel
- Provides travel assistance to staff members in section for travel arrangements and entitlements based on the organization’s rules and policies. Liaises with relevant travel focal points to ensure that the organization obtains the best service and price for all travel.
- Briefs/de-briefs staff members on issues relating to related administrative matters such as visas, security clearance, and documentation procedures.
- Extracts, inputs, maintains, and verifies correctness of travel records in the organization’s travel system to ensure accurate transactions related to travel costs and staff travel.
- Assists in the preparation of budgets on travel costs and maintain travel plan and budgetary control records.
- Monitors travel certification and report back to the team.
Invoice Processing
- Responsible for collecting invoices and filing documents for approval and, thereafter processing in VISION.
- Uploads electronic files and verifies results to destination system.
- Responds to client transaction status and other inquiries.
Supplies/Equipment
- Supports management of administrative supplies, office equipment, and updating inventory of items.
- Monitors and supervises adequate and appropriate use of supplies. Ensures that services and maintenance of premises are in accordance with organizational standards.
- Arranges for the purchase and timely distribution of office supplies.
- Ensures that services and maintenance of premises are in accordance with organizational standards.
Attendance
- Maintains and updates a system which monitors the absence of staff.
- Assists staff in correcting attendance records.
Administrative support and services
- Assists the Director in the establishment and maintenance of security arrangements and related administrative services; acts as security focal point.
- Undertakes delivery and improvement in administrative support and office services including space management, equipment, conference and travel arrangements, document reproduction, mail and delivery services, local procurement and bill payments of utilities.
- Supports the Inter-Agency approaches for enhancing UN common services to attain efficiencies and effectiveness.
- Helps negotiate and administer matters relating to office premises, utilities and services with vendors and agencies.
- Acts as administrator for the organization’s enterprise resource planning system (vision) to assign required accesses and roles to users (IRC administrator)
- Acts as focal point for Organizational Resilience Management Systems (ORMS) and Business Continuity (BCP)
- Acts as administrator to maintain table of authority and approving/certifying officer lists in systems (VISA administrator)
- Acts as focal point for the office Environmental Footprint and Accessibility Assessment (EFAAT) and completes the annual reporting exercise for the office
- Acts as travel administrator (TRAA): verifies and approves travel authorizations raised by the executive assistant and posts them for payment.
- Acts as ICT focal point: supports users with local helpdesk, liaises with ICT Geneva for more substantive issues, prepares ICT equipment for new staff.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- Completion of secondary education is required, preferably supplemented by technical or university courses related to the field of work.
- A minimum of 6 years of relevant relevant administrative or clerical work is required with experience in office management, administration, finance, accounting, ICT, human resources, supply or any other relevant function.
- Fluency in English and French is required. Knowledge of Dutch or another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.
For every Child, you demonstrate...
UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values
UNICEF competencies required for this post are…
(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.
During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.
UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.
Remarks:
General Service (GS) staff are locally recruited staff and therefore, candidates are personally responsible for any travel and accommodation arrangements. UNICEF does not facilitate Ministry of Foreign Affairs 'MFA) accreditation for locally recruited staff.
Applicants must be nationals of EU countries or in possession of a valid work permit. Please attach a copy of your work permit to your application submission.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.
Potential interview questions
| Can you provide an example of how you ensured compliance with administrative procedures? | This assesses your knowledge of and adherence to essential administrative policies. | Discuss a specific instance where your actions directly supported compliance. |
| Describe a time when you had to monitor a budget. How did you handle discrepancies? | The interviewer wants to gauge your financial oversight abilities. | Pro members can see the explanation. |
| How do you prioritize multiple administrative tasks? | Pro members can see the explanation. | Pro members can see the explanation. |
| What techniques do you use to maintain confidentiality in HR matters? | Pro members can see the explanation. | Pro members can see the explanation. |
| Can you discuss your experience with procurement processes? | Pro members can see the explanation. | Pro members can see the explanation. |