Under the general authority of the Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Central Africa in Yaoundé and under the direct supervision of the Financial and Administrative Manager, the Administrative Assistant provides a range of administrative support services in accordance with the rules and regulations, practices, standards and procedures of UNESCO.

General responsibilities

• Act as a certifying agent up to the authorized level delegated by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
• Write and prepare routine correspondence, memos and non-substantive reports.
• Maintain confidential and general records and establish reference systems.
• Assist in the preparation of budgetary and financial reports, statistics or projections for use by managers.
• Review draft reports, verify overall accuracy and consistency, cross-check figures for consistency.
• May help supervise activities related to office maintenance, security, transportation and similar services.
• Provide advice and interpretation on non-complex administrative rules, regulations and procedures.

Financial responsibilities

• Assist and inform the supervisor on the financial situation, using management information systems and reports.
• Code, record and reconcile accounting transactions.
• Verify and process payments.
• Maintain specific accounts, calculate and compile financial data, prepare routine reports.
• Generate expense reports from automated systems.
• Provide assistance and advice to staff on basic financial procedures, payment requirements and banking and currency arrangements.
• Act as banking focal point in charge of reconciliation.
• Follow up on banking documents.

Budget Responsibilities

• Track and control commitments and expenses.
• Prepare detailed cost estimates and other data for use in budget analysis and proposals.
• Monitor budget levels and alert the supervisor and relevant managers to avoid possible funding shortfalls (validation of information and identification of possible errors or irregularities).
• Generate expense reports from automated information system databases; compile budget data.
• Assist in the preparation, cost estimation and finalization of budget reports, perform a preliminary analysis of variances between budgets and actual expenditures; check the consistency of the figures.
• Review the overall accuracy and consistency of draft reports; check the consistency of the figures.
• Identify any other anomalies and errors; alert the supervisor and take action to correct errors/omissions.

Human Resources (HR) Responsibilities

• Assist with HR administrative issues.
• Draft correspondence and other documents for personnel actions, follow up on upcoming HR actions, maintain the database.
• Retrieve and analyze HR-related data from automated systems; alert supervisor of inconsistencies/errors and suggest corrective actions.
• Process salaries, rights, claims, contracts of non-civil servants, etc. in accordance with established guidelines and procedures.
• Provide assistance, advice and briefings to newly arrived staff, experts and consultants on basic procedures; assist and support matters relating to visas, identity cards, driving licenses and other necessary personnel documents in accordance with the requirements of the Organization and the host country (liaise, where appropriate, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ).
• Assist with pre-recruitment formalities and provide support in the conduct of the recruitment process; coordinate interview schedules, prepare agenda and documentation.

Logistics

• Shipping: arrange, assist and advise on shipping; liaise with customs.
• Purchasing: help launch procurement actions, prepare purchase orders and contracts, monitor the status of requests and maintain contact with suppliers.
• Travel: assist and provide advice in the preparation of travel plans, review travel requests, prepare travel orders; issue travel advances.
• Assist in all security related matters. May liaise and cooperate with UNDSS on matters related to safety and security.

Skills (Fundamental and Managerial)

For more information, please consult the UNESCO Skills Framework.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Training

• Completed secondary, technical or vocational education.

Professional experience

• At least five (5) years of relevant professional experience in administration, human resources, finance and purchasing or related fields.

Abilities & Competencies

• Soft skills: professionalism, integrity and team spirit.
• Excellent analytical and technical skills.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, including preparing correspondence and proofreading documents.
• Planning and coordination skills and demonstrated ability to set priorities and organize own work.
• Ability to take initiative and provide quality and timely support and services.
• Ability to identify errors or irregularities and propose corrective actions.
• Very good computer skills using MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.).

LANGUAGES

• Excellent knowledge (oral and written) of French or English and good knowledge of the other language.