Regional Office Assistant

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty and hunger. It does so by investing in rural people. IFAD finances programmes and projects that increase agricultural productivity and raise rural incomes, and advocates at the local, national and international level for policies that contribute to rural transformation.

The Programme Management Department (PMD), under the leadership of an Associate Vice-President, is responsible for the overall programme of loans and grants of the Fund and is composed of five regional divisions and an Operational Policy and Results Division.

The Office Assistant position is located in an IFAD Regional Office and reports directly to the respective Director.

The Regional Office Assistant works under the direct supervision of the Division Director and with a dual reporting line to Regional Office Administration and Resource (ROR) Analyst.

Job Role  

The Regional Office Assistant (OA) is accountable for the management of administrative services and workflows at divisional level and responsible for providing administrative and secretarial support, with a primary focus on supporting the Director, executing a broad variety of routine tasks and some specialized for the respective area, requiring thorough knowledge of IFAD administrative procedures, processes and policies.

The incumbent provides support for administrative activities including business support to the Regional Director, logistics support to the RO; and collaborates closely with the ROR Analyst to ensure a smooth flow of the Regional office, to monitor Front Office budget and expenditures and create synergies with other Office Assistants across Regional Offices and with the PMD Front Office to ensure consistency in administrative related matters.

The accountabilities/key results expected are:

• Business support to Director
• Support to Resource management and planning
• Divisional outputs and activities
• Divisional Communications and Information Management
• Managerial functions

Key Functions and Results  

1. BUSINESS SUPPORT TO DIRECTOR: The Office Assistant organizes and manages the office business and support RO Director, to ensure integrity and adherence to established rules and procedures. Accountabilities typically include but are not limited to:

• Maintaining the supervisor’s calendar and managing the travel arrangements (including related ERP transactions handling of visas and logistical arrangements and compliance with UNDSS recommendations on travel);
• Prepare briefing materials for official trips or meetings;
• Draft responses to written inquiries on routine and non-routine queries and coordinating responses to sensitive or complex issues;
• Liaise with internal (Field and HQ) and external clients for the smooth functioning obusiness operations;
• Organize the logistics of internal and external meetings/committees;
• Review all correspondence and official documents for style, factual and grammatical accuracy, as well as conformance with established guidelines and procedures;
• Prepare the submission of correspondence for the supervisor’s signature. 

2. SUPPORT TO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING: The Office Assistant provides support in the planning and delivery of the divisional work plan(s) and budget. Accountabilities typically include but are not limited to:

• Contribute to coordinating office work plan(s) and generating regular reviews and final reporting;
• Originating the procurement of goods and services (e.g. non-staff recruitments, commercial and non-commercial entity contracts);
• Maintaining accurate travel expenses documentation and records of other expenditure, Handling payments; tracking deliveries, etc;
• Managing and following up on procurement of necessary office goods, supplies and services; gathering quotations;
• Initiating HR-related actions for recruitment/contract extension and ensuring timely and efficient completion of actions;
• Supporting office asset administration (including maintenance of IFAD office furnishings and equipment, inventory control and vehicle/fleet management, if any;
• Contribute to the coordination with the host agency at the country level is effective and collaborative. 

3. SUPPORT TO DIVISIONAL OUTPUTS AND ACTIVITIES: The Office Assistant is responsible for ensuring timely submissions of reports, correspondence and documentation within stipulated deadlines, as well as adherence to corporate standards and processes. Accountabilities typically include but are not limited to:

• Coordinating and follow up on work flows for divisional documents/correspondence going to or through the Division Director;
• Effect quality checks of official documents/correspondence;• Ensure organization and logistics for meetings and events;
• Providing guidance on corporate administrative processes, through induction and briefing/debriefing of staff and consultants;
• Ensuring proper office management of goods and tools for an effective running office;
• Coordinating divisional travel plans;
• Recording divisional absences. 

4. DIVISIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT: The Office Assistant coordinates the communication and workflow of the office of Division Director to ensure the effectiveness, efficiency and timeliness of office operations and outputs. Accountabilities typically include but are not limited to:

• Maintaining the office filing and reference systems, both traditional and digital;
• Ensuring the inter/intra-net websites are up to date and accurate;
• Maintaining and updating corporate IT platforms;
• Provide inventory support through corporate IT tools.

5. MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS: The Office Assitant is accountable for integrity, transparency, and equity in the management of assigned IFAD resources, including equipment, supplies and, as applicable, staff supervised.

Key Performance Indicators  

The Office Assistants typically report to a Division Director. The incumbent is accountable for applying a broad range of specialized administrative rules and procedures in the coordination of administrative support to the organization served. Initiating, monitoring and ensuring provision of administrative services allows the professional staff of the organization to focus on substantive core work. This may include supervisory responsibilities with accountability for the work of administrative assistants, temporary and/or contract staff.

Working Relationships  

The Office Assistants represent the supervisor in initiating, following up on and resolving issues pertaining to administrative requests. The incumbent undertakes a specific coordination role for specific cross-cutting activities or services. External contacts include counterparts in international organizations, bi-lateral and multi-lateral institutions and national governments to organize meetings and events. Communications involve the exchange of information across the Fund at the most senior levels and externally to governing body representatives.

Job Profile Requirements  

Organizational Competencies:

Level 1:

• Building relationships and partnerships - Builds and maintains effective working relationships;
• Communicating and negotiating - Communicates effectively; creates understanding between self and others;
• Demonstrating leadership - Personal leadership and attitude to change 
• Focusing on clients - Focuses on clients;
• Learning, sharing knowledge and innovating - Continuously seeks to learn, shares knowledge & innovates;
• Managing performance and developing staff;
• Managing time, resources and information - Manages own time, information and resources effectively;
• Problem-solving and decision-making - Demonstrates sound problem-solving and decision-making ability;
• Strategic thinking and organizational development - Personal influence;
• Team working - Contributes effectively to the team.

Education: 

• High school certificate (e.g. A level and Baccalaureate) Areas of focus - accounting, business administration, economics, finance, or related areas. 

Experience: 

• At least four (4) years of progressively responsible experience in secretarial and administrative support. 
• Qualifying work experience in supporting office administration, communication and information management, resource planning and output monitoring. Experience with International financial institutions, development cooperation agencies, etc., would be an asset. 

Languages: 

• English (4 - Excellent) 

Skills: 

• Budgeting, resource management: Know-how in budget administration and accounting, resource allocation and planning at divisional level,
• Conferences management: Know-how in conference management, including optimal utilization of human and physical resources;
• Record management: Know-how in record keeping (e.g. proper handling of records and systems to preserve institutional memory, including correspondence logs, office filing and reference systems, etc.);
• Topical expertise - Administration: Expertise relevant to the specific role (e.g. For ethics office assistant, procedures outlined in the Code of Conduct, Discipline and Anti-harassment provisions of applicable rules and guidelines);
• Time management: Adherence to deadlines under time constraints and pressure (e.g. to deliver governing body documents on time); ability to coordinate and manage complex workflows and in-house and external teams;
• Basic ICT & digital fluency: High level of digital literacy and ability to quickly get familiar with new digital tools (e.g. ability to carry out EPR data entry and extraction when budgeting; monitoring security systems, uploading content to inter/intra-net websites, etc.);
• Initiative and good judgment: High sense of proactive initiative-taking and good judgement (including on security matters);
• Interpersonal skills: Ability to deal patiently and tactfully with others (e.g. visitors, clients, callers, etc.), including senior individuals (e.g. high-level meeting participants)

Other Information  

IFAD is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of ethnic, social or political background, colour, nationality, religion, age, gender, disability, marital status, family size or sexual orientation. 

Please be aware of fraudulent job offers. IFAD does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process. Official communication from IFAD will always come from e-mails ending in @ifad.org.

In accordance with IFAD’s provisions, all new staff members will normally be placed at the first step in the grade level for which they have been selected. For information on IFAD’s remuneration package, please visit IFAD’s compensation and benefits page on our website. Applicants are invited to use the ICSC compensation calculator to estimate the salary and benefit entitlements. See here. 

Applicants for National positions at General Service level must be legally authorized to live and work in the country of recruitment at the time of application. Any job offer is subject to evidence from the candidate to have obtained and be able to maintain the legal status to live and work in the country of recruitment.