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.

UN Women - in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and European Commission - is proposing the regional programme “Win-Win: Gender Equality Means Good Business” to contribute to the economic empowerment of women, recognizing them as beneficiaries and partners of growth and development, by increasing commitment of private companies to gender equality and women´s empowerment and strengthening companies’ capacities to implement these commitments. The action will ultimately contribute to the achievement of gender equality through enabling women’s labour force participation, entrepreneurship, economic empowerment and thus their full and equal participation in society. 

The guiding platform will be the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). The WEPs are a set of Principles for business offering guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. Coordinated by UN Women and the UN Global Compact, the Principles emphasize the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women's empowerment and are informed by real-life business practices and inputs gathered from across the globe.

Targeting women led enterprises and networks, multi-national companies, and relevant stakeholders in Europe and selected Latin American and Caribbean countries, the project will promote business links, joint ventures and innovation between women from both regions, while supporting inter-regional dialogue and exchange of good practices to increase the capacity of the private sector more broadly in the implementation of gender equal business.

The programme will be implemented in six (6) Latin American and Caribbean countries:  Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Uruguay.  It will also have a regional component under the responsibility of the UN Women Brazil Country Office.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the National Private Sector Specialist, the Administrative Assistant supports the “Win-Win: Gender Equality Means Good Business” Programme in Costa Rica by providing a variety of administrative processes to ensure high quality and accuracy of work.  The Administrative Assistant promotes a client, quality and results oriented approach.

The Administrative Assistant works in close collaboration with the programme and project staff in Costa Rica and Brazil – where the regional coordination of the programme is based - and with the operations team at UN Women Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean based in Panama, to ensure consistent service delivery.

Duties and Responsibilities

Functions / Key Results Expected:

1. Support the implementation of operational strategies

  • Provide basic inputs to the preparation and implementation of administrative team results-oriented work plans;

  • Assist in the preparation of budget and provide information for audit;

  • Assist in the preparation and review the financing agreements and supporting documentation. Assist in the monitoring activities related to the internal system management of financing agreements and support the management of contributions in the Atlas system;

  • Assist in the follow up on deadlines, commitments made and actions taken.

2. Support the management of accounting and financial monitoring services

  • Prepare Non_PO and PO vouchers for the Project at country level;

  • Maintain control of travel claims ensuring accuracy and compliance in a timely manner;

  • Contribute to ensure accuracy and relevancy of the supporting documents for payments and financial reports;

  • Generate regular management reports on the status of the Project’s financial resources;

  • Maintain proper filing system of finance records and documents – hard and soft copies;

  • Prepare templates and supporting documentation for payments and advances (PO and non-PO vouchers) for the Project;

  • Maintain the internal expenditures control system including timely corrective actions on unposted vouchers, including the vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions and unapproved vouchers.

3. Provide general administrative and logistical support to the regional programme at country level

  • Provide administrative support for the organization of conferences, workshops, training, technical meetings, seminars, among others, including arrangements related to travel, transportation and national and international lodging;

  • Obtain quotations for all the processes of acquisition of goods and services (micro purchasing);

  • Support travel processes and follow the processes until their conclusion – arrangements of travel and hotel reservations, preparation of travel authorizations, processing requests for visas, identity cards and other documents. Collect information for DSA, travel agencies and other administrative surveys;

  • Liaise with local counterparts for provision of common services and take required actions;

  • Create e-Requisitions in Atlas for the Project, register of goods receipt in Atlas;

  • Update, on a monthly basis, the financial control spreadsheets for the Project;

  • Support the review of the financial reports submitted by counterparts, when applicable.

4. Provide administrative support to knowledge building and knowledge sharing

  • Contribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice;

  • Provide necessary administrative support for effective knowledge management and sharing among project staff.

Key Performance Indicators:

  • Adherence to UN Women rules and regulations;

  • Accurate data entry;

  • Quality support to conferences and events;

  • Quality organization of files and reports;

  • Timely support to team.

Competencies

Core Values:

  • Respect for Diversity

  • Integrity

  • Professionalism

Core Competencies:

  • Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues

  • Accountability

  • Creative Problem Solving

  • Effective Communication

  • Inclusive Collaboration

  • Stakeholder Engagement

  • Excellent networking and interpersonal skills

  • Leading by Example

  • Awareness and sensitivity Regarding Multi-Cultural Environment

Functional Competencies:

  • Ability to administer and execute financial and accounting processes and transactions;

  • Ability to extract, interpret, analyze data and resolve operational problems;

  • Ability to perform work of confidential nature and handle a large volume of work;

  • Ability to support a team and team building skills;

  • Good knowledge of financial rules and regulations;

  • Good IT and web based management skills;

  • Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback;

  • Attention to detail.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Undergraduate degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Social Sciences or related fields is required.

Experience:

  • Minimum 3 years of relevant administrative/project or programme experience at the national or international level is required;

  • Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, Access etc) is required.

  • Knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web based management systems is an asset;

  • Knowledge and familiarity with UN Women’s ERP System (Atlas) is an asset.

Language Requirements:

  • Fluency in Spanish and English is required.

  • Working knowledge of Portuguese is an asset.

Other requirements:

  • The person to be hired must be an Costa Rican citizen (natural or legal), or foreigner with legal residence and domicile and wish to remain in the territory of the Argentina for the entire time that the tasks involved in the contract requires it.

  • Note: Applicant cannot be a public servant from the State, Departmental Government, State Entity and Decentralized services, whatever the nature of the link (paid or not), or hired under any modality by said state public persons. It is permissible to be a teacher of public education.

Application:

Applications consists of one attachment that include of a motivation letter, completed and signed UN Women Personal History Form (P11) together with an updated CV and a copy of ID.  Applications without the completed P11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document. The electronic version of the P11 can be downloaded from the following website: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment.

UN Women 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.

If you are experiencing difficulties with online job applications, please contact jobs.help@undp.org.