Duties and Responsibilities
About UN-Habitat BACKGROUND UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable and resilient towns and cities. It is the focal point agency for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system. UN-Habitat envisions well-planned, well-governed and efficient cities and towns, with adequate housing, infrastructure and universal access to employment and basic services such as water, energy, and sanitation. The Planning, Finance and Economy Section (PFES) of UN-Habitat supports countries in developing urban planning methods and systems that address current urbanization challenges. It promotes urban planning approaches to address urban expansion and transformation. Reporting and Communication The Project Administrative Assistant will be hired to collaborate closely with the Planning, Finance and Economy Section. The consultant will be reporting to the Programme Management Officer of PFES. Duties and Responsibilities Under the overall supervision of the Programme Management Officer, the consultant will be responsible for the following duties: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT • Coordinates various actions related to the administration of the unit’s human resource activities, e.g., recruitment, placement, promotion, relocation, performance appraisal, job classification reviews, separation of staff members, training etc., ensuring consistency in the application of UN rules and procedures. Liaises with central administration/executive services as required. • Oversees the maintenance of vacancy announcement files and keeps track of status of vacancy announcements. • Advises staff on visa matters. • Provides advice and answers general queries on classification procedures and processes. • Provides information and advice to staff/consultants with respect to conditions of service, duties and responsibilities, and privileges and entitlements under the Staff Rules and Regulations. • Monitors Umoja staffing tables for a variety of human resource activities, e.g., appointments, retirement, expiration of appointments, reassignments, transfer and movement of staff. BUDGET AND FINANCE • Collects data from relevant databases and prepares customized financial reports. • Provides assistance in the review, and preparation of the medium-term plan and its revisions. • Reviews, analyses and assists in the finalization of cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements from departments/offices at headquarters and in the field, including programmatic aspects; ensures compliance with the medium-term plan and other legislative mandates. • Assists managers in the elaboration of resource requirements for budget submissions. • Monitors budget implementation/expenditures and recommends reallocation of funds as necessary. • Reviews requisitions for goods and services to ensure (a) correct objects of expenditure have been charged, and (b) availability of funds. • Monitors extrabudgetary resources, including review of agreements and cost plans, ensuring compliance with regulations and rules and established policies and procedures. • Assists in the preparation of budget performance submissions. • Assists in finalization of budget performance reports, analyzing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures. GENERAL ADMINISTRATION • Provides guidance, training and daily supervision to other general service staff in the area of responsibility. • Provides assistance in drafting of host country agreements, budget agreements, or contributions for grants or other activities as appropriate. • Identifies and resolves diverse issues/problems as they arise, and determines appropriate actions. • Coordinates extensively with service units and liaises frequently with internal team members both at Headquarters and in the field. • Performs other related administrative duties, as required (e.g., operational travel programme, monitoring accounts and payment to vendors and individual contractors for services, physical space planning and the identification of office technology needs and maintenance of equipment, software and systems, organize and coordinate seminars, conferences and translations). • Assists with the collection and analysis of data as well as preparation of data presentations and reports for information sharing, responding to queries, knowledge management, planning and decision making. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION • Prepares and processes all UN forms and permissions for contractual and work unit, section or service staff, including UN grounds passes, property passes, UN parking permits, swipe-card access and door keys.