Administrative and Finance Assistant

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

BACKGROUND

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the agency for human settlements mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. In West Africa, UN-Habitat has experienced significant growth, expanding from 5 active country programmes in 2020 to 16 by the end of 2025. The regional portfolio now represents nearly USD 80 million and continues to expand, reflecting increased demand from Member States for technical support in urban and territorial development. In response, UN-Habitat has established a West Africa Sub-Regional Hub in Dakar, Senegal, to strengthen its operational presence, enhance proximity to national counterparts, and improve programme delivery, coordination, and resource mobilization across the region.

Senegal is currently at a turning point in its journey towards sustainable urban development. This coastal and Sahelian country shows territorial imbalances, with 75% of its GDP being produced in the Greater Dakar region. Today it is facing the negative externalities of rapid urbanisation, which is meant to reach 70% of urban population by 2050, i.e. almost tripling in size in absolute numbers compared to 2025. It faces several challenges related to weak urban planning and management mechanisms, something being tackled by Senegal Vision 2050 and its 2025-2029 National Development Strategy.

UN-Habitat is currently supporting the Government of Senegal with the development of a National Urbanisation Policy (NUP), which is meant to promote intersectoral coordination, decentralisation for improving urban management and basic service delivery and attracting investments for sustainable urbanisation. In addition, UN-Habitat currently supports government and municipal authorities as well as public entities on issues related to sustainable construction, youth empowerment, improvement of public spaces, urban resilience and solid waste management. This includes the Young Gamechangers Initiative (YGI) which supports co-construction/improvement of public spaces, localization of the Sustainable Development Goals and feasibility studies resilience building in coordination with UN-Habitat headquarters and programmes such as Young Gamechangers Initiative and the Partnership Platform for the SDG Localization.

Therefore, support is needed within UN-Habitat’s Regional Office for Africa (ROAf) for managing the growing portfolio in West Africa, and undertaking the implementation of its activities in Senegal. The increasing portfolio of projects and partnerships in Senegal requires strengthened administrative, operational and financial support to ensure efficient programme delivery, compliance with UN-Habitat regulations, and effective coordination with national institutions, implementing partners and United Nations agencies.

To support all these activities the Regional Office for Africa (ROAf) is looking for an administrative assistant to support the West Africa sub-regional hub and the Senegal country office in administrative tasks.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Within delegated authority, and under the supervision of the Senegal Country Coordinator (First Reporting Officer), the Programme Management Officer for West Africa (Co-supervisor), and the Head of the West-Africa Sub-regional Hub (Second Reporting Officer), the Administrative and Finance Assistant for Senegal will be responsible for the following duties:

Human Resources Management

• Is familiar with the procedures and administrative organization of UN-Habitat and the United Nations System in Senegal;

• Initiates, processes, monitors, reviews and follows up on actions related to the administration of the office's human resources activities;

• Enters, keeps and certifies administrative data, documents justifying all procedures, payments, purchases, budgets for the various projects and the office in general, etc. in electronic information systems;

• Provides advice and guidance to staff on administrative procedures, processes and practices, liaising with central (as well as UNDP) administrative services as necessary;

• Maintains and reviews organizational staffing tables; prints and reviews UMOJA reports.

Budget and Finance

• Monitors status of expenditures and allocations, records variations, updates budget tables ;

• Consolidates data received and provides support to senior staff in relation to budget reviews by relevant intergovernmental and expert bodies;

• Reviews relevant expenditure status and compares with approved budget;

• Reviews requisitions for goods and services to ensure (a) correct objects of expenditure have been invoiced and (b) availability of funds;

• Assists in the preparation of budget performance submissions;

• Prepares statistical tables and standard financial reports.

• Prepares and submits Fund Authorization (FA) requests and follows up on their approval with ROAf and HQ;

• Prepares and processes payment requests for consultants, vendors and implementing partners, ensuring compliance with UN-Habitat financial rules and procedures;

• Maintains and regularly updates budget follow-up tools for the Senegal country office, flagging discrepancies to the programme team;

General Administration

• Prepares, processes and follows up administrative arrangements and forms related to official staff travel;

• Drafts correspondence for the office based on documents/information provided by the program team;

• Maintains files of rules, regulations, administrative instructions and other related documents;

• Maintains up to date work unit files (paper and electronic) as well as tracking and inventory of assets belonging to the UN-Habitat Senegal office;

• Coordinates closely with service units and communicates frequently with internal team members, both at headquarters and in the field;

• Performs other related administrative tasks as required, e.g., operational travel schedule; monitors accounts and payments to suppliers and individual contractors for services; physical office space planning; identification of office automation needs and maintenance of equipment, software and systems; organizes and coordinates administrative arrangements for seminars, conferences and translations.

• Provides administrative and financial support to the West Africa Sub-Regional Hub (HUB), in close coordination with the Programme Management Officer for West Africa (Nairobi);

Contract Administration

• Assists with day-to-day administration of contracts between the UN and external contractors for outsourced services.
• Audits the contractors' invoices against the goods and services provided by the contractor and approved by the UN.
• Processes the payment of contractors' invoices and monitor payments.
• Prepares and processes all UN forms and permissions for contractual and work Unit, Section or Service UN staff, including UN grounds passes, property passes, UN parking permits, swipe-card access and door keys.

• Performing other duties as required.

COMPETENCIES:

• Professionalism: Ability to perform a broad range of administrative functions, e.g., budget/work programme, human resources, database management, etc. Ability to apply knowledge of various United Nations administrative, financial and human resources rules and regulations in work situations. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations; commitment to implementing the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of work. Able to perform analysis, modelling and interpretation of data in support of decision-making.
• Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.
• Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.
• Planning& Organizing: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.
• Accountability: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.
• Creativity: Actively seeks to improve programmes or services; offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs; promotes and persuades others to consider new ideas; takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks “outside the box”; takes an interest in new ideas and new ways of doing things; is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches..

QUALIFICATIONS:

Education: Bachelor's degree or Higher Technician's Certificate, in administrative management, accounting or an equivalent diploma.

Experience: A minimum of five years of experience in administrative services, finance, accounting,

audit, human resources or related area. 1 year or more of experience in data analytics or related area is desirable. Proficiency in Excel and Word; Understanding of multi-sectoral projects or technical programs is an asset; Experience of working with public administration and/or the United Nations system is an advantage.

Language: Fluency in French and English (both oral and written) is required; knowledge of local languages in Senegal is an advantage.

SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION

Those interested in this position should send their application, including a CV and cover letter to the following address: yasmine.baamal@un.org, with the subject line “Programme Management Assistant – Dakar” before August 09, 2026.