Project Assistant

Requisition ID: 642
Grade : SB3 – Local support
Country: Pakistan
Duty Station : Karachi
Category: Local Support Personnel
Type of job Posting: Internal and External
Employment Type: NonStaff-Regular
Application deadline: 12-Jul-2022

Vacancy Announcement

TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT OF PROJECT PERSONNEL

Only nationals or permanent residents of the country of the duty station are considered eligible. 
Female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.

Organizational Context

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mission of UNIDO, as described in the Lima Declaration adopted at the fifteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2013 as well as the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted at the eighteenth session of UNIDO General Conference in 2019, is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States. The relevance of ISID as an integrated approach to all three pillars of sustainable development is recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will frame United Nations and country efforts towards sustainable development. UNIDO’s mandate is fully recognized in SDG-9, which calls to “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. The relevance of ISID, however, applies in greater or lesser extent to all SDGs. Accordingly, the Organization’s programmatic focus is structured in four strategic priorities: Creating shared prosperity; Advancing economic competitiveness; Safeguarding the environment; and Strengthening knowledge and institutions.

Each of these programmatic fields of activity contains a number of individual programmes, which are implemented in a holistic manner to achieve effective outcomes and impacts through UNIDO’s four enabling functions: (i) technical cooperation; (ii) analytical and research functions and policy advisory services; (iii) normative functions and standards and quality-related activities; and (iv) convening and partnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation. Such core functions are carried out in Departments/Offices in its Headquarters, Regional Offices and Hubs and Country Offices.

The Directorate of Digitalization, Technology and Agri-Business (DTA), headed by a Managing Director, coordinates and mainstreams the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in its technical cooperation, strategic, normative activities aiming at fostering the inclusive and sustainable development in the era of 4IR. The Directorate creates new and innovative technical cooperation deliverables in the areas of trade, investment, technology innovation and agro-industry and agri-business. The Directorate comprises the Department of Digitalization, Technology and Innovation (DTI) and the Department of Agri-Business (AGR).

Responding to the growing demand for supporting inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in the era of the new industrial revolution, the Department of Digitalization, Technology and Innovation (DTA/DTI) leads the way in addressing opportunities, challenges and risks stemming from the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and its contribution to sustainable socio-economic progress. The Department is responsible for the strategic coordination of 4IR-related matters with designated focal points in other technical Departments and organizational entities of UNIDO, as appropriate. In consultation with public and private partners, DTI designs and implements holistic interventions that are tailored to specific country needs. The Department’s interventions actively identify and combine complementary services from across three Divisions, namely:

• Innovation and Digitalization Division (DTA/DTI/IDD)
• Investment and Technology Promotion Division (DTA/DTI/ITP)
• Quality Infrastructure and Smart Production Division (DTA/DTI/QIS)

This position is located under the Quality Infrastructure and Smart Production Division (DTA/DTI/QIS), which seeks to build national and regional quality infrastructure systems needed to provide internationally recognized services, including strengthening institutional capacities (i.e. metrology, standardization and accreditation); building conformity assessment capacities (testing, inspection, certification, calibration, etc.); supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to take advantage of new technologies and standards for smart production and thus participate in global value chains; trade facilitation and promoting quality awareness with the public sector, economic operators and consumers.

PROJECT CONTEXT (ID 200183):

Poverty Alleviation and Inclusive Development Across Rural Sindh (PAIDAR) is a five-year programme funded by the European Union to support the Government of Sindh (GoS), Pakistan in implementation of its Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). The long-term objective of PAIDAR is to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction and improvement of livelihoods of poor women, men and young people across Sindh province.

The PRS has three pillars: 1) Community Driven Local Development 2) Addressing Urban Poverty including Urban Economic Clusters and 3) Rural Growth Centres.

Purpose of PAIDAR programme is to support the GoS to implement its poverty reduction strategy as a whole and in particular sub-strategies that aim at:

• Fostering economic development, enterprise development and job creation with the objective of increasing income of the poor women, men and young people
• Optimizing public service delivery to enhance access to livelihood improving services such as water, electricity, health services and education with the ultimate objectives of both improving living conditions and quality of life and reducing poor household’ expenditure that arises as a cost resulting from lack of access to such services and poor living conditions.

To this end, the programme will:

• Provide necessary technical assistance, capacity building and financial support to a significant number of micro and small enterprises in target RGCs with the objective to overcome COVID-19 impacts on enterprises, support enterprise development and business development.
• Contribute technically and financially to building and upgrading public infrastructure for improvement in delivery of basic service with direct impact on poor people’s livelihood as well as services to support business development.
• Strengthen capacity of the GoS at provincial and local level for implementation of the PRS and assist the GoS to strengthen internal coordination and monitoring capacity, and to optimize provincial public resources allocation towards meeting PRS objectives.

PAIDAR will deliver on the above objectives through utilization of three key mechanisms:

1. Co-financing public investment projects of the GoS aiming to build and/or upgrade public infrastructure for delivery of basic services with high impact on livelihood improvement and poverty reduction, as well as for delivery of services with high potential to contribute to economic development of the target RGCs and foster enterprise development.
2. Provision of grants to support MSMEs investment projects which demonstrate strong potential for enterprise development, income generation, job retention and creation.

1. Technical assistance to the GoS and the MSMEs to ensure investment projects (both co-financed public infrastructure development projects and financially supported MSME investment projects) are designed, planned and implemented to deliver results in line with the objectives of the PRS; and to strengthen GoS capacity to plan, implement and monitor results PRS

DUTIES:

The Project Assistant (PA) will work under the overall guidance of the UNIDO Programme Manager (PM) in Vienna. He/she will be reporting directly to the National Technical Advisor (NTA) and the National Operations Officer (NOO), based in Karachi, whom he/she will assist in the completion of all administrative matters. The PA will be part of the Programme Management Unit of PAIDAR and will be providing administrative support to the implementation of the programme.

The PA is specifically expected to:

• Assist in the management, programming and budgeting of the project, in monitoring the implementation delivery status and in providing forecasts for the estimating of operational budget income.

• Support coordination and administrative organization of all programme related activities as per workplan. This will include, but not be limited to, missions of international experts, study tours, field work, training and workshops, meetings, recruitment and procurement activities.

• Facilitate office management and daily organization of the programme office (answering phone calls, organizing and filing, sending and receiving letters, faxes, e-mails and any other written documentation, providing general clerical work etc.).

• Provide logistics support, including organization of workshops and any kind of meetings, training activities in the field, discussions, seminars, etc.

• Make travel arrangements, hotel reservations and expense reports for the NTA, experts, and for UNIDO HQ staff.

• Maintain files (both paper and electronic) and databases related to work, such as Opentext system.

• Support coordination of overarching matters with other UNIDO project offices as well as the UNIDO Office in Islamabad.

• Support in the writing of reports and work plan

• Provide input of project documentation and records into UNIDO SAP system, including input for procurement and recruitment actions into SAP system, when needed.

• Act as a SAP Focal Point; guiding project office for proper utilization of UNIDO ERP SAP and OpenText to improve effectiveness and efficiency.

• Participate in relevant SAP training programmes, seminars and workshops.

• Maintain database of local suppliers and service providers.

• Handle the office petty cash, if requested.

• Make arrangements for purchasing and receipt of office consumables.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Core Values

• WE LIVE AND ACT WITH INTEGRITY: work honestly, openly and impartially.
• WE SHOW PROFESSIONALISM: work hard and competently in a committed and responsible manner.
• WE RESPECT DIVERSITY: work together effectively, respectfully and inclusively, regardless of our differences in culture and perspective.

Key Competencies

• WE FOCUS ON PEOPLE: cooperate to fully reach our potential –and this is true for our colleagues as well as our clients. Emotional intelligence and receptiveness are vital parts of our UNIDO identity.
• WE FOCUS ON RESULTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: focus on planning, organizing and managing our work effectively and efficiently. We are responsible and accountable for achieving our results and meeting our performance standards. This accountability does not end with our colleagues and supervisors, but we also owe it to those we serve and who have trusted us to contribute to a better, safer and healthier world.
• WE COMMUNICATE AND EARN TRUST: communicate effectively with one another and build an environment of trust where we can all excel in our work.
• WE THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND INNOVATE: To stay relevant, we continuously improve, support innovation, share our knowledge and skills, and learn from one another.

MINIMUM ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Education: Completed secondary education. Formal secretarial/clerical training or equivalent desirable. Credit towards total working experience may be considered on a year by-year- basis, up to maximum of four years, for a first university degree or equivalent diploma, in a field relevant to the post.

Technical and Functional Experience:

• A minimum of eight (8) years of working experience in planning and administration of project implementation, is required.
• Experience in office procedures and practices, preferably within the UN system or in a multicultural environment, is desirable.
• Experience in providing support to managerial/professional staff and using administrative skills to assist in the execution of project and programme development and implementation of work, is desirable.
• Experience/proficiency in using Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint), internet, is required.
• Experience with SAP or similar ERP software is desirable.

Languages: Fluency in written and spoken English and Urdu is required

This appointment is limited to the specified project(s) only and does not carry any expectation of renewal.
Employees of UNIDO are expected at all times to uphold the highest standards of integrity, professionalism and respect for diversity, both at work and outside.
Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for jobs at UNIDO.

All applications must be submitted online through the Online Recruitment System. Correspondence will be undertaken only with candidates who are being considered at an advanced phase of the selection process. Selected candidate(s) may be required to disclose to the Director General the nature and scope of financial and other personal interests and assets in respect of themselves, their spouses and dependents, under the procedures established by the Director General.

Visit the UNIDO web site for details on how to apply: www.unido.org
NOTE: The Director General retains the discretion to make an appointment to this post at a lower level.

Notice to applicants:
UNIDO does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. If you have received a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Vacant positions within UNIDO are advertised on the official UNIDO website. Should you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of UNIDO and requesting payment of a fee, please contact: recruitment@unido.org

To apply click on link

careers.unido.org/