Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

Under the direct supervision of the UN Women Deputy Country Representative, the Operations Associate provides the overall administrative support and carries out varied and inter-related operational, financial and logistical activities ensuring high quality and accuracy of work. The Operations Associate is results and client oriented producing administrative services of the highest quality in a timely and proactive fashion.

The Operations Associate works in close collaboration with the Operations, Programme and projects staff in the CO, the Regional Office and HQs Units to exchange information and ensure consistent service delivery.

Duties and Responsibilities

Administration and implementation of operational services:

• Lead the activities of the Operations Team, review the quality and timeliness of services provided by reference to corporate standards and by reference to standards/indicators established within the Office and Operations Unit;
• Carry out business processes mapping and establishment of internal standard operating procedures in Finance, Human Resources Management, Procurement, logistical, and ICT services;
• Ensure Office compliance of operations with UN/UN Women rules, regulations and policies, implementation of corporate operational strategies, establishment of management targets and monitoring of achievement of results;
• Lead the preparation for audit visits and work closely with the Regional Office and HQs on follow-up to audit recommendations and observations;
• Create and maintain office filing systems.

Oversee the work of the Finance Associate in budgetary and financial administration:

• Ensure full compliance with UN Women rules and regulations of financial processes, and implementation of the effective internal control framework;
• Support Office Management in the budgetary planning and monitoring;
• Ensure all financial transactions are identified, recorded and verified in compliance with IPSAS as outlined in the corporate policies and procedures;
• Performance of Manager Level 1 role in Atlas for voucher and PO approvals;
• Monitor financial exception reports for unusual activities, transactions and ensure investigation of anomalies or unusual transactions;
• Monitor that all supporting documents on financial transactions are secured and properly filed.

Human Resources Management services:

• Ensure full compliance with corporate human resources policies and strategies under the guidance of the Deputy Country Representative;
• Oversee and facilitate recruitment processes in accordance with UN Women rules and regulations;
• Manage contracts, ensure appropriate use of different contractual modalities;
• Administer staff benefits and entitlements and ensure staff is advised on request on entitlements;
• Maintain and implement proper performance management and learning strategy for the office.

Procurement and Logistical services:

• Ensure full compliance of procurement activities with UN/UN Women rules, regulations, policies and strategies; implement effective internal control, proper functioning of a client-oriented procurement management system;
• Prepare procurement plans for the office and ensure their implementation monitoring;
• Review of procurement processes including submissions to the Contract, Asset and Procurement Committee and Advisory Committee on Procurement;
• Organize joint procurement processes for the UN Agencies in line with the UN reform;
• Ensure proper management of UN Women assets, facilities and logistical services;
• Identify and promote different systems and applications for optimal content management, knowledge sharing, information provision and learning including e-registry, web-based office management systems, as required.

Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing:

• Contribute to knowledge building and sharing with regards to management and operations within the Office;
• Organize trainings for the operations/ projects staff on Operations related issues;
• Synthesis of lessons learnt/best practices and sound contributions to relevant knowledge networks and communities of practices;
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

Impact of results:

The key results have an impact on the overall Iraq CO efficiency and success in implementation of operational strategies as they relate to the use of corporate resources. The results also impact on staff morale within the Iraq CO.

Competencies

Core Values / Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
• Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others

Conflict Management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

• Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

• Strong knowledge of administrative, human resources, and financial rules and regulations;
• Ability to administer and execute administrative processes and transactions;
• Ability to extract, interpret, analyze data and resolve operational problems;
• Ability to manage business processes re-engineering, and implementation of new systems;
• Ability to perform work of confidential nature and handle a large volume of work;
• Ability to support a team and team building skills, and coach and guide more junior staff;
• Excellent IT skills;
• Ability to priorities work and to multi-task;
• Ability to focus on results for the client and respond positively to feedback;
• Ability to handle web-based management systems;
• Excellent knowledge of office software packages.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Secondary Education;
• University Degree in Business, Administration and Finance, would be desirable, but it is not a requirement.

Experience:

• 7 years of progressively responsible experience in administration, finance, procurement, human resources or logistic support services at the national or international level;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.).

Language:

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required;
• Knowledge of Kurdish is considered as asset.