Administrative Assistant

UNOPS celebrates diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunities. UNOPS encourages qualified female candidates, as well as qualified candidates from groups underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce, to apply. These groups include persons from racialized or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, as well as persons with disabilities.

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the United Nations, mandated to be a central resource to support the successful implementation of humanitarian, development and peacebuilding projects around the world. UNOPS has articulated three contribution objectives that govern and guide its contribution to partners’ operational results and their achievement of development outcomes, integrating and balancing social, environmental and economic dimensions: (i) sustainable project management; (ii) sustainable infrastructure; and (iii) sustainable procurement. 

With a global presence of more than 6,000 people in 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners logistical, technical and management expertise tailored to their needs. UNOPS currently implements around 1,000 projects at any one time and contributes significantly to results on the ground, even in challenging environments.   

• UNOPS is committed to promoting Fair and Equitable Public Management (FPM) to ensure the effective and efficient use of public resources. This commitment involves promoting excellence in public service, enhancing citizen participation and integrating equality and inclusion perspectives. The aim is to invest public resources in the most sustainable and beneficial way for the population, promoting integrity, transparency and accountability. Within its mandate, UNOPS works closely with partners to take advantage of the unique opportunities that public procurement offers. Recognizing public spending as a catalyst for change and development, UNOPS actively promotes FPM by creating transparent, sustainable and resilient procurement models. These models strengthen supply chains, consolidate institutions and contribute to achieving sustainable and inclusive development.
• UNOPS also places emphasis on creating new career opportunities for women, youth, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities. This approach strengthens and fosters inclusive economic growth.
• In Honduras, UNOPS has been supporting the implementation of projects over the years and, since 2013, has had a closer relationship with partners to whom it has provided advisory services, technical assistance in procurement processes and has facilitated procurement services for pharmaceutical products, medical supplies equipment, software and hardware for public institutions, and technical assistance in infrastructure projects.
• In Honduras, UNOPS has been implementing projects to purchase medicines and medical supplies since 2014 with beneficiaries such as the Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS). In these projects, UNOPS provides technical assistance for the implementation of procurement processes, contract management and institutional strengthening under United Nations standards.
• In 2021, UNOPS has renewed the agreement with IHSS to provide assistance for the acquisition of medicines and medical supplies and capacity building, currently valid until 2025.

Functional Responsibilities

• Under the general supervision of the Supply Chain Management Associate and direct guidance of the Supply Chain Management Specialist, the Administrative Assistant will be responsible for carrying out activities necessary for proper management of supplier contracts awarded in the procurement process. The Administrative Assistant must also ensure proper coordination with the project’s technical staff and office support areas.

The activities included in this assignment will be the following:

• Support in monitoring the control and registration of compliance guarantees provided by suppliers.
• Provide support in monitoring the control and registration of contracts and amendments for the acquisition of supplies and/or medical devices.
• Provide support in the monitoring and management of contracts, which allows the unit’s team to know the status of each contract/purchase order in a global manner and at different levels of detail, including the status of deliveries, modifications, calculation and notifications of fines, calculation of withholdings and payments made; raising the necessary alerts in a preventive manner and addressing the appropriate personnel.
• Support in the delivery coordination process between the partner and the supplier, carrying out the necessary communications between both parties
• Support in the process of receiving and reviewing the documentation sent by suppliers for the processing of the corresponding payments; ensuring that the information contained is correct, compliance with the provisions of the contract/purchase orders
• Support the process of amending contracts with suppliers by collecting the necessary documents and transferring the relevant request to the procurement department.
• Share information with the relevant areas/individuals about the suppliers’ performance history, thereby allowing the establishment of performance patterns to be considered for future awards.
• Support supplier strengthening activities in relation to the supply chain process, participating in the logistics of training workshops and good practices. Entering information with quality and promptness in the contract monitoring matrices.
• Support in the archiving and coding of documentation for contract management processes, allowing for the physical and digital records required.
• Regularly and appropriately update the information required in OneUNOPS for due diligence of contract management processes.
• Support the Supply Chain Management Associate in the general activities of the unit and others that are assigned.
• Maintain adequate and fluid communication both internally and externally within the project.
• To learn more about the responsibilities of the position, please review the attached TOR in this vacancy posting.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education 

• Completion of secondary education is required, preferably a bachelor’s degree or a technical degree in administrative area, a commercial expert or a professional technical bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance.
• A university degree at the bachelor’s level, preferably in one of the following university courses: Business Administration, Public Accounting, Finance, Industrial Engineering, Economics or related courses, is desirable and may substitute years of experience.
• Similarly, a technical diploma in a relevant field may substitute for some of the required years of experience.

Work experience 

• A minimum of four years of experience is required, depending on academic credentials, in one of the following areas: administrative support, financial support and/or supply chain support, preferably in international organizations or agencies of the United Nations System. (describe in detail in your application)
• Have experience in document management and/or contract management (administrative and financial) and/or data management.   (describe in detail in your application)

The following will be valued: 

• Experience in one or more of the following areas: administration, accounting, procurement, finance, logistics and monitoring, infrastructure projects/companies, health sector projects/companies.
• Handling of office packages (preferably G Suite or MS Office) and data analysis tools.

Languages:

• Knowledge of the Spanish language (oral and written) is required.
• Intermediate level knowledge of English (oral and written).

Source: https://jobs.unops.org/Pages/ViewVacancy/VADetails.aspx?id=28720