UN Women: Administrative Assistant

Contract

This is a GS-5 contract. This kind of contract is known as General Service and related categories. It is normally only for nationals. It usually requires 5 years of experience, depending on education. More about GS-5 contracts.

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division (PPID) develops and implements UN Women’s programme of work across its normative, coordination, and operational triple mandate and provides policy advice and guidance and technical support to intergovernmental processes, UN system, and UN Women regional and country offices, among other partners and stakeholders. The Division is organized in thematic sections, which undertake policy research; analyze data on country, regional and global trends; and propose evidence-based options for global policy, norms and standards as well as for UN Women’s policy advocacy and global programme strategies. The Division also undertakes substantive preparations for the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and drafts reports on behalf of the Secretary-General on multiple topics. To support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) towards achieving gender equality and women's economic empowerment by 2030 to benefit all women and girls, UN Women works in partnership with governments, multilateral organizations, the UN System, civil society organizations, feminist and women’s movements and the private sector.

Economic empowerment (EE) is one of the priority areas of UN Women. UN Women works with governments, civil society and other development partners to promote women’s income security, decent work, and economic autonomy. Under UN Women’s Strategic Plan (2022-2025), the Economic Empowerment section is undertaking three gender equality accelerators on Transforming the Care Economy, Women in the World of Work and Women’s Climate Action and Green/Blue Economies, as well as a hub on Sustainable Finance, and will continue to engage in normative, policy and coordination work in line with UN Women’s mandate, including the production of three biennial reports on behalf of the Secretary-General and involvement in numerous intergovernmental and interagency processes.

The Administrative Assistant is under the direct supervision of the Chief of the Economic Empowerment Section, and supports the Economic Empowerment section on administrative, human resources, procurement, travel, and documentation processes and procedures.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide administrative support:

• Perform the full range of office management and administrative support functions;
• Maintain liaison with the other sections in PPID regarding on-going programmes and other administrative matters;
• Monitor processes and schedules related to the unit’s outputs, products, tasks, etc.;
• Ensure smooth and efficient information flow within the unit;
• Prepare and processes confidential information;
• Assist in the development of office administrative systems and procedures;
• Perform a variety of administrative duties (e.g. leave recording, meeting organization, reservations, office supply and equipment orders, etc.); including preparing and/or processing administrative requests/documents (e.g., travel requests, expense claims, vouchers, visa applications, etc.);
• Maintain files (both paper and electronic) and databases for work unit;
• Maintain calendar/schedules; monitors changes and communicate relevant information to appropriate staff inside and outside the immediate work unit;
• Provide some specialized support to unit (e.g. technology support, editing, desktop publishing, etc.), as required;
• Provide assistance in Biennial Work Plan preparation and entries in Results Management System (RMS) as required;
• Submit documentation through gdoc to DGACM.

2. Provide administrative support to meetings, missions and calendar:

• Undertake all logistical, administrative and financial arrangements for organization for meetings, workshops, events, and missions;
• Arrange the logistics of the Chief’s and section’s meetings, including booking conference rooms, arranging catering, and facilitating building access for meeting participants;
• Manage the Chief’s calendar and organize meeting documentation in consultation with relevant colleagues

3. Provide administrative support to p****rocurement and h****uman r****esources:

• Prepares submissions to Procurement Section in HQ for required services and goods;
• Coordinate with Procurement Section different solicitations, informal and formal based on the needs of the section;
• Monitor and track receipts of goods and services against contract provisions;
• Prepare Purchase Orders and process invoices;
• Process micro-purchase procurement requests as necessary;
• Monitor status of all generated purchase orders under the section cost center;
• Perform the role of travel processor making sure compliance with UN Women duty travel policy, including the monitoring of all travel cases until closure (pre and post travel);
• Prepare submissions to HR Division for recruitment and extension of contracts for non-staff members;
• Support section chief in the monitoring of all procurement and HR contracts.

4. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Ability to administer administrative processes and transactions;
• Ability to perform work of confidential nature exercise discretion;
• Good knowledge of administrative rules and regulations;
• Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
• Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints;
• Ability to perform a broad range of specialized activities aimed at effective and efficient functioning of office, including data/schedule management, maintenance of protocol, information flow
• Good IT and web based management skills;
• Knowledge of Quantum;

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Completion of secondary education is required;
• Bachelor’s degree in Business or Public Administration or related fields is an asset.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in administration, procurement, HR, or logistic support service;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) is required;
• Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Proficiency in another UN working language is desirable.

GS fixed-term appointment (FTA) positions located in New York are open to candidates who are either US Permanent Residents, US Citizens or holders of a valid G4 visa at the time of their application and whose G4 visa has been acquired on account of their employment in the UN Systems based in New York.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (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.)