Operations Specialist

Ensure effective operations management for regional and country offices

This opening expired 5 years ago. Do not try to apply for this job.

UNFPA - United Nations Population Fund

Open positions at UNFPA
Logo of UNFPA

Application deadline 5 years ago: Wednesday 19 May 2021 at 23:59 UTC

Open application form

Overview

Ensure effective operations management for regional and country offices

You have:

  • Must be a national of or legal resident in Senegal.
  • Master degree or equivalent required.
  • At least 3 years of progressively responsible professional experience in administration, finance or office management required.
  • Fluency in English is mandatory.
  • Fluency in French is mandatory.
  • Strong analytical and leadership skills are required.
  • Excellent working knowledge of MS Office and other corporate IT systems is required.

Contract

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

Eligibility criteria

Minimum age: 22 years old. Applicants must be nationals of or legal residents in the country of assignment.

Description of task

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the International Operations Manager or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UN Volunteer Operations Specialist will:

ensures a fully accountable, well-managed and results-oriented Regional Office with efficient and effective support to Country Offices. You will contribute with your operational expertise to facilitate programme and project implementation in close collaboration with the Regional Office, Headquarters and field offices staff. The incumbent provides expert guidance and leadership on the Business Operations Strategy (BOS) implementation.

You would be responsible for:

  • Reviews and analyses issues, trends and financial reports received from Finance Branch or other related documents from Headquarters pertaining to the Regional Office and Country Offices dashboards.
  • Prepares and sends on a regular basis personalized correspondences to each country office, signalling discrepancies and advising on appropriate corrective actions to be taken.
  • Follows up and monitors with each country office on any bottlenecks and proposes proper solutions.
  • Supports the achievement of programme and project results for both Regional Office and Country Offices through your operational expertise, including Human Resources, Administration, Procurement, Information Technology and other project-related events.
  • Ensures strategic and efficient management of financial resources pertaining to the Regional Office and Country Offices through tracking of available resources, ensuring financial policy compliance, advising on corrective actions and proposing alternative solutions to meet outcomes.
  • Organizes monthly meetings with the 23 Country Offices, including preparation of agenda, recording of minutes, preparing and delivering presentations underscoring pain points, challenges, areas of improvement, best practices and how best to support the field offices.
  • Organizes training to keep Country Offices staff abreast of latest developments, tools and IT applications in the field of finance, procurement, Human Resources and any other related areas.
  • Coordinates with Country Offices focal points, maintaining direct and regular contact with Headquarters resource staff alerting on issues faced by COs in order to find the best way forward.
  • Assists in Implementing partner management both for RO and COs, e.g. HACT compliance, spot checks, regular monitoring of IPAS or any other related issues.
  • Follows up with the Country Offices on pending audit recommendations under Team Central as well as Remote Audit results.
  • Supports IOM in reviewing and approval of transactions, e.g. purchase orders in Atlas, vendors portal, AODOCs internal systems.
  • Carry any other duties as may be required by the Management.

Qualifications/Requirements

Required degree level:

Master degree or equivalent

Education - Additional Comments:

Advanced University degree (Master’s) in business administration, operations management, public administration, financial management or other related disciplines.

Required experience:

36 Months

Experience remark:

  • At least 3 years of progressively responsible professional experience in administration, finance or office management at the national and international level. This should ideally include direct field or country experience.

Language skills:

  • English(Mandatory), Level - Fluent
  • French(Mandatory), Level - Fluent

Area of expertise:

Finance, accounting and audit, Administration and administrative assistance, Other finance, economics and administration related experience

Area of expertise details:

  • At least 3 years of progressively responsible professional experience in administration, finance or office management at the national and international level. This should ideally include direct field or country experience.
  • Strong analytical and leadership skills.
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills.
  • UN common system knowledge and work experience with the United Nations Efficiency Agenda including BOS implementation is highly desirable.
  • Excellent working knowledge of MS Office (in particular, applications related to database and data analysis), Atlas (PeopleSoft or alternatively Oracle), E-filing system and other current office software applications and corporate IT systems is an asset.

Driving license:

No

Competencies values:

Accountability, Adaptability and Flexibility, Building Trust, Client Orientation, Commitment and Motivation, Commitment to Continuous Learning, Communication, Creativity, Empowering Others, Ethics and Values, Integrity, Judgement and Decision-making, Knowledge Sharing, Managing Performance, Planning and Organizing, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity, Self-Management, Technological Awareness, Working in Teams

Application procedure:

* Not yet registered in the UNV Talent Pool?

First register your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/signup.

Important: After creating your account, complete all sections of your profile and submit it. Then go to ‘My Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink. Lastly, select the special call to which you would like to apply.

* Already registered in the UNV Talent Pool?

First update your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/profile.

Then go to ‘My Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink to select the special call to which you would like to apply.

This is a national UN Volunteer assignment, therefore only nationals of Senegal and legal residents in Senegeal with a residency permit, the status of refugee or with the status of being stateless are eligible to apply. Don’t forget to tick the yes box for: “I am interested in serving as a volunteer in my own country.”

Application deadline: 19-05-2021

Potential interview questions

Can you describe a challenging operational issue you faced and how you resolved it? The interviewer wants to assess your problem-solving skills and ability to handle challenges in an operational context. Provide a clear example of a specific challenge, the steps you took to address it, and the outcome.
How do you ensure effective communication among diverse teams? This question gauges your communication and collaboration skills across different cultures and regions. Pro members can see the explanation.
What strategies would you implement to improve program results in the country offices? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
Added 5 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unv.org