UNDP Jobs - 41243- Executive Associate

Executive Associate

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

TA Local

Starting Date :

11-Nov-2013

Application Deadline :

30-Oct-13 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

GS-7

Duration of Initial Contract :

six months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

six months

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Under the leadership of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) Chair, and with the guidance of the UNDG, the overall objective of the United Nations Development Operations Coordination Office (DOCO) is to support the strategic priorities of the UNDG, and related coordination goals, and to meet DOCO’s responsibilities under the Management and Accountability (M&A) system, in furtherance of the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review (TCPR) framework. DOCO supports the UNDG at all levels to better support national partners in meeting the MDGs/IADGs and other critical national development priorities, specifically, the UNDG and its Advisory Group at Headquarters, Regional UNDG Teams, and RCs and UNCTs. In carrying out its responsibilities, DOCO works closely with other UN entities and stakeholders (including DPA, DPKO, DSS, WB, OCHA and the Policy Committee in case of crisis countries), and through various interagency mechanisms.

The Director provides strategic leadership for DOCO, and advice and guidance to the UNDG Chair; oversees and leads DOCO’s efforts to facilitate and support implementation of UNDG strategic priorities, and related coordination goals, and to meet DOCO’s Management and Accountability (M&A) system responsibilities, in furtherance of the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review (TCPR) framework. The Director will ensure that DOCO meets its responsibilities to enable the UNDG at all levels to better support national partners in achieving the MDGs/IADGs and other critical national development priorities.

In meeting these responsibilities, the Director will be supported by the staff in the Office of the Director. The Office of the Director’s principal focus and orientation will be external, strategic, and long-term, its internal priority being the continuous improvement of DOCO’s effectiveness within the context of broader UNDG strategy and operational priorities, as implemented by DOCO’s Senior Management Team.

The Office of the Director will perform the following services:

Support to the UNDG Chair and UNDG Advisory Group at Principal and ASG level;
Support to the UNDG in the development and on-going review and refinement of UNDG strategy and the implementation of the M & A system;
Support to the UNDG in the systematic implementation of its strategy;
Progress Reporting to the UNDG;
Support of UNDG governance;
UNDG Strategic communications;
Overall management of DOCO;
DOCO External Relations;
Representation of UNDG;
Corporate reporting requirements.

The Executive Associate reports to the Director, DOCO, for general guidance and supervision and is responsible for providing a variety of executive administrative support to the Director and, in close coordination with the Special Assistant to the Director, in managing the efficient flow of information and communication to ensure expeditious dissemination of information and timely action. The Executive Associate participates in weekly planning meetings convened by the Special Assistant to the Director.

Duties and Responsibilities

Administrative support:

Manage the Directorate’s calendar of activities, events and travels. Schedule requests for meetings from DOCO staff and UN system and agency partners, and external partners, e.g. government officials, members of Permanent Missions to the UN and other delegations. Follow appropriate protocol procedures in scheduling meetings and events;
Arrange travel, hotel accommodations and other logistics for the Directorate;
Draft routine correspondence for the Director;
Collect, review and organize briefing materials for the Director for appointments, meetings, official missions and other critical and key events;
Maintain the roster of Directorate’s contacts for easy access and reference;
Arrange coverage and backstopping for the Director whenever required;
Monitor leave and absences of staff members in the Directorate;
Provide any other ad-hoc support to the Directorate, as needed.

Manage the information and communication flow in the Director’s Office:

Review, prioritize and route correspondence to and from the Office of the Director. Take proactive follow-up action and keep the Director informed;
Promptly route all correspondence, directives and requests to the Director for timely action and/or signature;
Review correspondence for proper internal clearances prior to the Director’s signature;
Respond and/or direct inquiries to the appropriate DOCO Unit for timely action and/or response;
Maintain and organize up to date hard and electronic files for easy access and retrieval and organize the share drive. Ensure safekeeping of confidential materials;
Facilitate the flow of information/communication between Director of DOCO and other Units within and outside DOCO. Recommend and/or establish systems and streamline procedures to enhance the flow of information/communication between the Office of the Director and other units, in close coordination with the Special Assistant to the Director;
Follow up on deadlines, commitments made, actions taken and coordinate the collection and submission of reports to Director.

Support to the activities of the UNDG:

Coordinate the timely preparation and communication of invitations/documentation for all meetings of the UNDG/Advisory Group. Perform follow-up with participants;
Coordinate and oversee meeting logistics, including venue, video/teleconferencing and hospitality for participants;
Ensure briefing materials are compiled and made available to the Special Assistant to the Director in advance of UNDG-related meetings;
Keep up to date the lists of UNDG/Advisory Group members and DOCO donors;
Create, manage and maintain up-to-date templates of email groups of UNDG/Advisory Group;
Utilize the content management system, post documents related to UNDG events and list of members on the UNDG web site and perform revisions to posted documents when required.

Support to external relations activities:

Keep abreast of activities in DOCO and keep the Director informed for his/her attention, action or intervention;
Facilitate the Director’s interaction with various external partners such as ambassadors, donor country delegations, parliamentarians and high-level senior officials through collaborative and proactive relationship with counterparts and colleagues in those offices;
Organize official events/hospitality for the Director.

Support to financial services and operations:

Review and verify accuracy of supporting documents for payments and approval and review of project financial reports;
Monitor the Directorate Operating Budget to ensure compliance, completeness and accuracy of transactions according to rules, regulations, allocations and objectives;
Maintain internal expenditures control system to ensure vouchers processed are matched and completed.
Prepare budget revisions of the Directorate budget;
Initiate procurement activities related to the Directorate.

Support to the Deputy Director & the RC Leadership Team:

Re-organize the filing in the DOCO shared drive if needed;
Re-organize available electronic files, if needed, in the designated folders on the shared drive;
Scan and digitalize all hard documents not available electronically;
Upload all the digitized documents in designated folders on the DOCO shared drive;
Re-archive the hard copies and ensure proper labeling (if needed);
Undertake any other actions related to Executive Associate functions in support of the Deputy Director & RC Leadership Unit as required;

Knowledge management:

Organize and/or resource specialized trainings for protocol, administrative/logistic functions.

Impact of Results:

The efficiency and effectiveness in the exercise of responsibilities directly and broadly impact on the image of DOCO and the Director in the UN system. Accurate analysis and presentation of information strengthens the capacity of the Office of the Director to respond appropriately to requests.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Advocates and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the UN;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Demonstrates and promotes the values of the UN in actions and decisions and acts in accordance with the standard of conduct for international civil servants;
Shows willingness to work without bias with all persons regardless of gender, nationality, religion or culture;
Contributes effectively to team-based activities, working collaboratively and sharing information openly; works effectively with colleagues inside the UN as well as its partners and other stakeholders to pursue common goals.
Facilitates and encourages open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
Remains calm, composed and patient when facing conflict, manages conflict productively, focusing on mutually acceptable solutions;
Takes initiative and seeks opportunities to initiate action;
Actively produces and disseminates new knowledge; creates/contributes to mechanisms to collect and share knowledge;
Actively seeks learning opportunities; demonstrates commitment to ongoing professional development
Proposes innovative ideas and new solutions to work.

Functional Competencies:

Ability to perform a broad range of specialized activities aimed at effective and efficient functioning of the Director’s office, including data/schedule management, maintenance of protocol, information flow;
Ability to maintain confidentiality and discretion;
Ability to provide input to business process re-engineering, elaboration and implementation of new data management systems;
Creates, edits and presents information in clear and presentable formats, using appropriate IT functionality;
Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities;
Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints;
Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Secondary Education is required;
University Degree is an advantage but not required.

Experience:

A minimum of 7 years of administrative experience in a large and/or international organization or corporation is required;
Good knowledge in computers applications and software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) of web based management systems is required.

Language Requirements:

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