Background

The Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA) is responsible for positioning UNDP as the world’s leading global development agency, promoting its global authority and thought leadership on sustainable development and the interconnected issues of poverty, inequality, and climate change. BERA leads and supports UNDP in building and nurturing strategic relationships and alliances essential to achieving its mission and ways of financing the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. It is also responsible for global campaigns on critical development issues, which aim to inform government policies and build partnerships around high-impact solutions. BERA coordinates and sets corporate standards across the functions of partnerships, marketing and communications within UNDP and leads on internal communications. The Bureau is positioned around three service lines; Public Partnership; Advocacy, Marketing and Communications; and Private and Finance Partners, all working in close collaboration and coordination under the guidance of the Directorate and with the support of the Management Support Unit and Strategic Analysis and Engagement team. BERA has a robust network of Representation Offices (Brussels, Copenhagen, Geneva, Tokyo and Washington D.C.) and Regional Teams in five hubs (Africa, Arab States, Asia Pacific, Europe and CIS, and Latin American and the Caribbean) co-led with Regional Bureaus. 

In April 2021 UNDP opened a representation office in Germany. The office, located in Berlin, reflects the complementary agenda between UNDP and Germany and the shared ambition of supporting country-led efforts to achieve the SDGs through the promotion of democratic governance, poverty eradication, stabilization and conflict prevention in fragile contexts and action on inequalities, climate change and the environment, making for a highly convergent partnership agenda. The Office is expected to deepen the partnership with Germany, increase the visibility of UNDP and its work among German constituents and support UNDP at headquarter, regional and country levels in better positioning with German counterparts. The office builds and nurtures strategic relationships with parliament and its committees, Ministries, KFW, civil society, the private sector, foundations, academia, think tanks and the media. In addition, GRO has taken the lead on supporting the substantive coordination of UNDP engagement in the Hamburg Sustainability Conferences on behalf of UNDP and in close cooperation with BMZ, the City of Hamburg and the HSC organization.

BMZ has been supporting the GRO through the provision of grants for thematic activities incl. on the HSC. Currently the GRO has three smaller-scale projects that it implements with BMZ resources focused on the following thematic areas ‘climate partnerships with the private sector’, ‘Financing for development and INFFs’ and ‘Digital partnerships.

The GRO is now looking for an Admin and Coordination Assistant that supports the implementation of the three grants and fulfills administrative, finance and procurement support duties. These responsibilities encompass various clerical and coordination tasks, such as coordination and scheduling, basic financial operations, filing and record-keeping, logistics, and basic procurement. All activities will be carried out within the designated timeframe and budgetary limits.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the GRO Director and the indirect supervision of GRO Deputy Director the GRO Admin and Coordination Assistant, will perform the below duties and responsibilities:

Provide Administrative Support: 

• Organizing and maintaining the office and director's calendar, scheduling meetings, appointments, and events.
• Arranging meetings, preparing agendas, taking minutes, and following up on action items or next steps.
• Develop and prepare official meeting agendas for the office’s engagements, ensuring that all necessary materials are ready in advance.
• Drafting, editing, and proofreading documents, reports, and presentations.
• Organizing business trips, including booking flights, hotels, transportation, and preparing travel itineraries.
• Liaise with internal and external stakeholders to facilitate smooth and productive meetings.
• Track and ensure follow-up actions after meetings are completed.
• Assist in the management of budget related issues of the office and in the financial operations of the office
• In close collaboration with the Admin/Finance assistant, perform administrative, operational and coordination duties necessary for the effective day-to-day management of the office

Provide effective logistical services for the project, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Assist project personnel and national/ international consultants to arrange travel, i.e. support in development of itinerary, ticket booking/purchasing, arrangement of hotel reservation/apartment, transportation, translation/interpretation services.
• Ensure timely submission of correctly completed travel claims through UnALL/ Quantum. 
• Make logistical arrangements for seminars, workshops, trainings and other project related events, including venue reservation, arrangements of meals, translation/interpretation services, and required equipment, office supplies, arrangement of printing handouts materials.
• Arrange translation of documents when required.

Provide procurement support, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Provide Procurement support to events of UNDP-GRO and FIT Projects. 
• Support Coordination with various suppliers/service providers needed for workshops and conferences (e.g. venue, equipment, consultants, etc.) obtain quotations and process payments to these suppliers. 
• Ensure sufficient supplies have been acquired and venue arrangements are provided timely and complete. 

Support the office with partnership building and engagement

• Provide support to the Deputy Director in the management of partnerships to foundations and German philanthropies (e.g. ensuring appropriate correspondence, organizing events, arranging meetings, ensuring follow-up actions)
• Assist in the preparation of missions of senior UNDP officials to the Germany Representation Office, including by providing logistical support as well as preparing meetings with German political counterparts
• Draft meeting preparations (e.g. for panels or for meetings with external stakeholders) for the Director and ensure follow-ups

Support knowledge building and knowledge sharing relevant to the assigned project.

• Make sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Competencies

Core

Achieve Results - LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline.

Think Innovatively - LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements. 

Learn Continuously - LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback.

Adapt with Agility - LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible. 

Act with Determination - LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident

Engage and Partner - LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships.

Enable Diversity and Inclusion - LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination. 

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies

Administration & Operations - Registry & correspondence management 

• Ability to collect, register, maintain and deliver mail and UNDP pouch. ability to manage archives.

Business Direction and Strategy - Project Management

• Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Business Development - Knowledge Generation

• Ability to research information and to turn it into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or
• responsive to a stated need. 
• Ability to apply existing concepts to new situations, and to develop new concepts to generate workable solutions and new approaches. 
• Knowledge of relevant concepts, conceptual models, and theories that can be useful in addressing new situations.

Operations Administration, Procurement, Logistic, Finance – Accounting (General)

• Knowledge of accounting concepts, principles, frameworks, standards, regulations, policies and trends, and ability to apply this to strategic and/or practical situations.

Administration and Operations – Events Management (Including retreats, training and meetings)

• Ability to manage events, including venue identification, accommodation, logistics, catering, transportation, and cash disbursements, etc.

Procurement – Procurement Management 

• The ability to acquire goods, services or works from an outside external source.

Stakeholder Management – Partnership Management 

• Knowledge in partnership management and ability to communicate with internal and external stakeholders.

Required Skills and Experience

Min. Education requirements

• Completion of Secondary Education is required. or
• University Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Financial Management or equivalent field will be given due consideration, but it is not a requirement.

Min. years of relevant work experience

Minimum 4 years (with secondary education) or 1 year (with university degree) of administrative and procurement experience is required at the national level.

Required skills

• Demonstrated experience in working with multiple stakeholder groups (e.g. government counterparts, international organizations, NGOs, donors, private sector partners, or service providers). 
• Experience in the provision of administrative and logistical support in the context of a project or an office. 
• Solid overall computer literacy (MS office applications
• Proficiency in office software and tools for communication and document management.
• Legal eligibility to work in Germany (UNDP will not provide visa support for this position, as it is locally based.)

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section

• Experience working with UN organisations or other international development organisations an asset
• Experience arranging events, workshops, and meetings is an asset.
• Experience in working with the German philanthropic sector are an asset.
• Experience in communication with different actors including the coordination with high-level officials is an asset.

Required Language(s)

• Fluency in English and German (oral and written) is required.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination. 

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles. 

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Scam alert

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