The main aim of the FAO Country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner. The position is located in Kampala, Uganda.

Reporting Lines

The Assistant FAO Representative (Administration) reports to the FAO Representative and works closely with the Deputy Representative.

Technical Focus

Programme administration and financial management, including accounting and personnel administration.

Key Results

Effective and efficient provision of administrative support to the programme and project activities of the FAO Representation.

Key Functions

•         Plans, organizes, and coordinates  the office’s administrative services;

•         Provides administrative support in the implementation of FAO collaborative programmes and ensures periodic monitoring of their implementation;

•         Plans and implements procedures, norms and systems in compliance with existing policies, for a full range of administration-related processes including personnel;

•         Manages and supervises the administrative team;

•         Reviews and analyses data from a wide variety of sources, including FAO’s corporate systems and database

•         Prepares reports, financial and budgetary estimates for projects;  plans and organizes the application, control and accounting of approved budgetary allocations by projects and programmes; prepares special reports for budget preparation , audits, and other requests;

•         Reviews accounts, processes payments in accordance with established rules and liaises with local banks and financial institutions

•         Oversees the financial and administrative correspondence and filing system of the office;

•         Monitors the receipt of Government contributions and ensures that all procurement and custom clearances for programmes, projects and the office are properly requested and obtained

•         Ensures the compliance with the Organization’s security guidelines (Minimum Operational Security Standards ‘ MOSS)

Specific Functions

•           Assists in implementing and monitoring effective administrative processes aligned with UN guidelines and FAO rules and regulations and tailored to the needs of the country office; actively reaches out to staff to create awareness and encourage the use of administrative process flows to improve efficiency; monitors improvements in efficiency (timeliness, accuracy etc.) through the clarification and use of process flows;

•         Assists clients (all FAO personnel) on general administrative matters by adopting a client-oriented, problem-solving attitude, provides advice and ensures administrative support is provided by self or colleagues as required; actively develops networks and relationships with and liaises with relevant parties internally and externally (UN family in Uganda, FAO Regional Office, FAO Sub-regional Office, FAO Headquarters) to find solutions to issues faced by FAO’s programme personnel; identifies and tracks follow-up actions;

•           Assists in risk management by following-up on audit report actions and identifying relevant fraud risks, internal controls (processes/procedures) available to mitigate those risks and actions needed to ensure that controls created to manage risks are being applied;

•           Ensures all FAO premises/facilities in Uganda, including and especially field/project offices, are equipped and maintained at all times with the resources required to perform in an agile and timely manner; pro-actively recommend cost-effective upgrades in utilities, ICT, equipment and infrastructure to the FAO Representative for consideration;

•           As FAO Security Focal Point for Uganda assists FAO representative to fulfil security responsibilities; maintains and manages Emergency Notification and Warden Systems within FAO Uganda; ensures that security related information is provided to all FAO Uganda personnel.  Maintains security related documents up-to date; ensures that all security incidents are reported to FAO Representative and United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS); assist FAO Representative in implementation of all security measures as prescribed by the Security Risk Management (SRM) Process, Residential Security Measures (RSM) and Facility Security and Safety Survey (FSSS); prepares and updates FAO’s Business Continuity Plan;  participates in United Nations Security Management System’s Security Cell meetings providing inputs on SRM, RSM, Security Plan on behalf of FAO Uganda and briefs FAO Representative on discussions and recommendations.  

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•         National of the country of assignment

•         Advanced university degree in a field related to business or public administration

•         Two years of relevant experience in office management, administration, accounting and/or audit, budget or finance

•          Working Knowledge (Level C) of the official communication language used for FAO communication with the country (English, French,  Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian)

•         Working knowledge of the local language (if not English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian or Chinese)

•         Limited knowledge ( Level B) of English (if the main communication language is French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian or Chinese)

Competencies

•         Results Focus

•         Team Work

•         Communication

•         Building effective relationships

•         Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•         Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable

•         Extent and relevance of experience in the field of office management and administration including supervisory experience

•         Extent of knowledge of UN or standard operational rules and procedures and project/programme administrative management procedures

•         Extent of knowledge of FAO’s corporate systems and data base, or knowledge of other accounting or financial modules or applications relevant to accounting procedures or project budget management would be considered an asset

•         Demonstrated analytical and judgment skills and ability to apply rules and regulations in the subject field