Programme Assistant at World Food Programme

JOB PURPOSE

• Reporting to the Director, Research and Development Department, the Programme Assistant is responsible for providing a range of specialised operational programme support and administrative support pertaining to the following Departments: Research and Development; Legal; Communications; Monitoring and Evaluation; Outbreak & Epidemics.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

• Provide program and administrative support in the preparation of program of work, plans, budgets, and proposals on program implementation arrangements.
• Liaise with concerned stakeholders to support with effective collaboration and monitoring of project/programme implementation against established milestones, ensuring timely compliance with agreed deadlines.
• Monitor on-going government partnerships, cost sharing arrangements, fund reservations and other data.
• Prepare and assemble briefing materials, prepare presentations, papers and reports for the programme and workshops to be held.
• Identify sources, undertake basic research and performing comparative analysis of project/programme related data.
• Ensure timely and accurate data management, including entry in and extraction of data from Africa Risk Capacity (ARC)/World Food Programme (WFP) systems (e.g., Teamworks/SharePoint Information system; WINGS, etc).
• In line with administrative rules and procedures, initiate, process and maintain records of the administrative actions including support with human resources requests/tracking (contracting of staff, government coordinators and experts, consultants, translators and interpreters including the relevant processing of entitlements and benefits, timely Performance Evaluation completion on PACE system)
• Assist Head of Unit initiating, processing and maintaining records of all procurement actions (issuance of PRs, MPOs, tenders. Liaise with Procurement department on LTA establishments. Request vendor records updates when required. Follow up the procurement cycle ensuring timely payments of the relevant invoices);
• Initiate and provide other office and logistic support including logistical arrangements related to missions, workshops and presentations in the country (e.g., liaising with CO colleagues, raising purchase orders.
• Assist in coordinating the agenda of Programme staff meetings and prepare the minutes.
• Coordinate the Department's schedule; maintain mission plans and calendar.
• Liaise with other units to resolve issues and clarify or obtain additional information.
• Draft office correspondence relating to the area of responsibility for signature by Head of Unit.
• Establish and maintain office records including filing systems (hard copy and electronic); upload and profile required documents in the respective Library and sharing information with project partners. Set up, classify and maintain accurate records and files within the field of work.
• Perform other related duties, as required.

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Specialized knowledge in one or more of the following areas pertaining to travel, HR, procurement, inventory control, record management, budget, etc.
• General knowledge of HR, Travel, Procurement systems
• Good analytical skills and the ability to identify and recommend corrections to procedural issues.
• Organizational, planning and prioritizing skills and abilities.
• High sense of confidentiality, initiative and good judgment.
• Ability to work effectively with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Ability to work in a team environment to achieve common goals and to provide guidance to more junior support staff.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Education: Completion of secondary school education. A post-secondary certificate in Social Sciences and/or Business Administration (or other related functional area is desirable).
• Experience: At least five (5) years of progressively responsible administrative or programme experience. Previous experience working for the UN, will be an added advantage).
• Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English is required. Knowledge of French, Portuguese, Arabic is highly desirable.