Administrative Job at The United Nations Office For The Coordination Of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
OCHA is the part of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for
bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to
emergencies. OCHA also ensures there is a framework within which each
actor can contribute to the overall response effort.
Job Code Title: ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
Department/ Office: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Duty Station: Maiduguri
Job Opening number: 17-ADM-OCHA-71413-J-Maiduguri (X)
Staffing Exercise ID: N/A
United Nations Core Values: Integrity, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity
Special Notice
- This temporary position is intended to fill the functions of
short-term duration for nine months, with the possibility of extension.
The selected candidate is expected to start on 01 March 2017.
- Upon separation from service, including, but not limited to,
expiration or termination of, or resignation from, a fixed-term,
continuing or permanent appointment, a former staff member will be
ineligible for re-employment on the basis of a temporary appointment for
a period of 31 days following the separation. In the case of separation
from service on retirement, a former staff member will be ineligible
for re-employment for a period of three months following the separation.
This equally applies, mutatis mutandis, with respect to a former or
current staff member who has held or holds an appointment in another
entity applying the United Nations Staff Regulations and Rules and who
applies for a temporary position with the Secretariat.
- A current staff member who holds a fixed-term, permanent or
continuing appointment may apply for temporary positions no more than
one level above his or her current grade. However, a current staff
member who holds an appointment at the G-6 or G-7 level may also apply
to temporary positions in the Professional category up to and including
the P-3 level, subject to meeting all eligibility and other requirements
for the position.
- The duration of the appointment is subject to the availability of funds.
- Candidates should have no expectation of any fixed-term appointment
possibility after the end of this temporary assignment. If the selected
candidate is an internal staff member of the UN Secretariat, the
selection will be recorded as a temporary assignment.
- Subsequent to the initial temporary appointment, new and successive
temporary appointments may be granted for service in the same office or
in a different office any number of times, for any duration, provided
that the length of service does not exceed the period of 364 calendar
days.
- A staff member holding a temporary appointment shall be regarded as
an external candidate when applying for other positions, and may apply
for other temporary positions at any level, subject to section 5.7 below
and staff rule 4.16 (b) (ii). Therefore, a staff member holding a
temporary appointment in the General Service or related categories may
only apply to positions within those categories.
- An external candidate selected for this position is bound by the
prevailing conditions of the staff selection system under ST/AI/2010/3,
as amended, and ST/AI/2010/4/Rev.1.
- A staff member holding a temporary appointment who is recruited in
the Professional and above categories on a temporary appointment, and
placed on a position authorized for one year or longer may not apply for
or be reappointed to his/her current position within six months of the
end of his/her current service. This provision does not apply to staff
members holding temporary appointments and placed on positions
authorized for one year or more in duty stations authorized for
peacekeeping operations or special political missions.
- The expression 'Internal candidates', shall mean staff members who
have been recruited after a competitive examination under staff rule
4.16 or after the advice of a central review body under staff rule 4.15.
- Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining
to their personal profile and qualifications, including but not limited
to, their education, work experience, and language skills, according to
the instructions provided on Inspira.
- Applicants will be disqualified from consideration if they do not
demonstrate in their application that they meet the evaluation criteria
of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the
United Nations.
- For full information on eligibility requirements, please refer to
section 5 of ST/AI/2010/4Rev.1 on Temporary Appointments. In its
resolution 66/234, the General Assembly further 'stressed that the
Secretary-General should not recur to the practice of temporarily
filling posts in the Professional and higher categories with General
Service staff members who have not passed the General Service to
Professional category examination other than on an exceptional basis,
and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that temporary occupation
of such posts by the General Service staff shall not exceed a period of
one year, effective 1 January 2013…' Consequently, eligible candidates
in the General Service or related categories for temporary job openings
in the Professional category that have not passed the competitive
examination may be selected only on an exceptional basis endorsed by the
Office of Human Resources Management where no other suitable candidate
could be identified.
- While this temporary assignment may provide the successful applicant
with an opportunity to gain new work experience, the selection for this
position is for a limited period and has no bearing on the future
incumbency of the post.
- Applicants are solely responsible for providing complete and
accurate information at the time of application: no amendment, addition,
deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that
have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for
selection will be subject to a reference-checking process to verify the
information provided in the application.
- For more details on the administration of temporary appointments please refer to ST/AI/2010/4/Rev.1.
- For information on special post allowance, please refer to
ST/AI/1999/17. The Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and administrative
issuances governing staff appointments can be viewed at:
http://www.un.org/hr_handbook/English
- Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on
as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no
restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any
capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and
subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking
environment.
- The screening and evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the
basis of the information submitted in the application according to the
evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal
legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United
Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and
Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines.
Organizational Setting and Reporting
This
position is located in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) in Nigeria, Maiduguri. The Administrative Officer reports
to the Deputy Head of Office. OCHA is the part of the United Nations
Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to
ensure a coherent response to emergencies. OCHA also ensures there is a
framework within which each actor can contribute to the overall response
effort.
Responsibilities
Within delegated authority, the Administrative and Finance Officer will be responsible for the following duties
BUDGET AND FINANCE
- Prepare and revise cost plans in line with work plans and financial
rules and regulations and ensure that costs are reasonably estimated.
Prepare quarterly requests for funds (financial authorizations) and
monitor obligations and expenditures against financial authorizations in
line with approved cost plans. Develop, implement, and maintain
internal controls to monitor and ensure that financial resources are
utilized to implement activities in accordance with work plans and cost
plans.
- Monitor and follow up on outstanding NGO and UN Agency reports for
grants and allocations provided to third parties. Manage petty cash in
accordance with established procedures, maintain accurate and complete
petty cash records and receipts, and ensure that replenishments are done
in a timely manner. Prepare payroll for national staff and follow up
with UNDP on monthly payment orders for international staff to ensure
timely payments. Verify inter-office vouchers (IOVs) prepared by UNDP to
confirm accuracy of accounts and to allow for reconciliation with
OCHA's accounting system. Ensure proper management of office assets,
including maintenance of inventory, physical verification of assets and
disposal of assets. Provide information needed to respond to audit
observations/findings.
- Carry out financial, human resources, procurement, assets and
properties management functions through relevant internet applications,
spreadsheets, databases and Enterprise Resource Planning systems (e.g.
OCHA Financial Accounting System, OCHA Contact Management System,
inspira, umoja, atlas).
- Provide guidance to functional units on financial accountability
within programme responsibilities and on the effective use of programme
resources. Coordinate the production of financial reports for
headquarters and donors.
- Review and confirm that proposed obligations or disbursement for
goods and services under third-party agreements, are reasonable and in
conformity with UN Financial Rules and Regulations.
- Provide guidance and leadership to junior staff.
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
- In collaboration with the local UNDP office, coordinate actions
related to recruitment and administration of national staff. Provide
guidance on requirements of performance appraisal system and maintain a
system to track compliance.
- In collaboration with the Department of Safety and Security (DSS)
and Head of OCHA field office assist in ensuring Minimum Operation
Security Standards (MOSS) compliance for vehicles, office and
residential premises. Ensure that the office premises are well
maintained and provided with common services.
- Oversee the identification of office technology needs and
maintenance of equipment, software and systems. Ensure adequate level of
office supplies and maintain a system for office supplies allocation
and tracking. Supervise and/or prepare travel authorizations, ensuring
appropriate justification, costing and approvals are in place. Verify
travel claims submitted for settlement and track outstanding payments.
- Maintain a central filing system; ensuring consistent use and
appropriate archiving of official administrative, finance, and human
resource documents. Represent OCHA at meetings on administrative issues
such as national salary scales, common services, premises, etc.
Supervise national administrative staff on a regular basis, ensuring
support and mentoring.
- Maintain confidential personnel files, ensuring that information is
complete and updated. Ensure that separating staff finalize in-country
formalities prior to their departure. Ensure that staff time and
attendance is properly recorded, verified and submitted in a timely
manner to UNDP for national staff and to the Administrative Services
Branch, for international staff.
- Support procurement of goods through UNDP or Headquarters and ensure
that appropriate procedures are duly followed. Verify receipt of goods
and services, ensuring specification, condition and quantities of goods
are correct and paperwork is complete and properly filed.
- Control and manage equipment (disposal, inventory, NEP/inventory reporting, and fleet management).
- Ensure that the corporate administration of common premises &
Service Agreements are done in accordance to OCHA standard templates.
- Perform other duties and/or assignments as required.
Competencies
PROFESSIONALISM:
Technical competence and proven track record in overall administration
with emphasis on financial activities, and good knowledge of the United
Nations Financial Rules and Regulations as well as accounting practices;
good understanding of general administration and human resources
management; competence in administrative support for field-based
activities. Solid experience in organizational work and cost planning
with the ability to set priorities and to plan, coordinate, and monitor
own work plan and those under the supervision; ability to identify
priority activities and adjust them. Proactively service staff and other
clients to propose appropriate solutions. Technical competence in the
use of Enterprise Planning Systems. Takes responsibility for
incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation
of women and men in all areas of work.
PLANNING & ORGANIZING: Develops clear goals that
are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities
and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate
amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and
allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and
actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.
CLIENT ORIENTATION: Considers all those to whom
services are provided to be 'clients' and seeks to see things from
clients' point of view; establishes and maintains productive
partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies
clients' needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors
ongoing developments inside and outside the clients' environment to keep
informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or
setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or
services to client.
Education
- An advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in
business or public administration, finance, accounting, law or related
area is required.
- A first-level university degree in combination with an additional
two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the
advanced university degree.
Work Experience
- A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in
administration, finance, accounting, human resources management, or
other related area is required.
- Relevant field experience in emergency situations is desirable.
- Experience handling administrative, finance and human resources-related matters is desirable.
- Experience within the United Nations Common System or another international organization is desirable.
- Experience in the region is desirable.
Languages
- English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat.
- For the position advertised, fluency in English is required.
- Knowledge of another UN official language is desirable.
Assessment
Evaluation of qualified candidates may
include a desk review of the applications, an assessment exercise
and/or a competency-based interview.
United Nations Considerations
Job openings posted on the Careers Portal are taken off at midnight (New York time) on the deadline date.
Applications
are automatically pre-screened according to the published evaluation
criteria of the job opening on the basis of the information provided by
applicants.
Applications cannot be amended following submission
and incomplete applications shall not be considered. The selected
candidate will be subject to a reference checking process to verify the
information provided in the application.
Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira.
For
more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the At-a-Glance on 'The
Application Process' and the Instructional Manual for the Applicants,
which can be accessed by clicking on 'Manuals' on the upper right side
of the browser on Inspira.
The United Nations shall place no
restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any
capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and
subsidiary organs. (Charter of the United Nations - Chapter 3, article
8). The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.
Candidates
will be required to meet the requirements of Article 101, paragraph 3,
of the Charter as well as the requirements of the position. The United
Nations is committed to the highest standards of efficiency, competence
and integrity for all its human resources, including but not limited to
respect for international human rights and humanitarian law.
Candidates
may be subject to screening against these standards, including but not
limited to whether they have committed, or are alleged to have committed
criminal offences and/or violations of international human rights law
and international humanitarian law.
No Fee
THE UNITED
NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS
(APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED
NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS' BANK
ACCOUNTS.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should
Click Here to Apply