Summary

We are seeking a Programme Associate to join Giga, an initiative to connect every school in the world to the Internet and every young person to information, opportunity, and choice. Under the supervision of the Senior Advisor Innovation (Giga UNICEF Co-Lead), the Programme Associate is accountable for communications, programme and operations, and administrative support services to enhance the smooth running of the supervisor’s day-to day activities.

Your main responsibilities will be…

Procurement Support:

• Facilitate the processing of contracts for consultants and external partners that provide a service to the section. This includes preparing and filing documents, completing necessary forms and templates, uploading TORs in VISION, and making necessary logistical arrangements.
• Guide managers in the process of PCA/SSAs in line with the policies and guidance issued by FRI, supply division and DHR.
• Facilitate the processing of institutional contracts in collaboration with HQ supply Division. This includes preparing and filing documents, completing necessary forms and templates, and making necessary logistical arrangements.
• Keep abreast of activities of importance, latest policies, procedures, and organizational changes affecting the team.
• Maintain up-to-date vendor lists, partners, and consultant rosters.
• Support management of administrative supplies, office equipment, and updating the inventory of items.

Administrative Support:

• Maintains office calendar and arrange appointments and meetings, including with high-ranking partners and counterparts with a particular focus on the Head of Initiative/Giga.
•  Support organization of internal as well as high-level meetings including taking responsibility for finalization of the meeting agenda, invitations, the production and distribution of documentation, and preparation of minutes of meetings.
• Provide travel assistance to the supervisor as well as the other team members including the visa/hotel arrangements.
• Prepare, collect, and share briefing materials for supervisor concerning official trips or meetings with external counterparts. Select and make pertinent abstracts and undertake searches for information. Brief supervisor of important developments.
• Prepare documentation for the supervisor’s signature reviewing for style, factual and grammatical accuracy. Draft non-substantive correspondence based on first-hand knowledge of work schedule or events, rough notes, or verbal instructions, for supervisor’s approval.

Communications Support:

• On behalf of supervisor, manage incoming and outgoing correspondence, e-mails, and telephone calls. Apprise the supervisor of urgent and important issues. This includes continuous monitoring of correspondences and actions requiring his personal attention and preparing responses as appropriate.
• Determine routing-for-action to senior staff, follow-up on the actions taken and provide information updates regarding subsequent developments and issues. Establish/manage follow-up system for timely response.
• Establish and maintain a records management system containing reference materials and confidential records as required.
• Communicate sensitive information to senior level managers and coordinate responses on behalf of the supervisor.
• Follow up on established deadlines and ensure timely submissions by staff of reports, correspondence, briefing notes and other documents for supervisor’s reference.
• As appropriate, provide information and guidance to staff at all levels within the organizational unit to ensure understanding of intent and deadlines.

To qualify for this position, you will have…

• Completion of secondary education is required, preferably supplemented by technical or university courses related to the field of work.
• A minimum of six (6) years of relevant administrative and/or clerical work experience is required.
• Training and experience using MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other UNICEF software such as SharePoint; knowledge of integrated management information systems required.
• Strong organizational, planning, and prioritizing skills and abilities is considered an asset.
• Ability to deal patiently and tactfully with visitors, as well as have a high sense of confidentiality, initiative, and good judgment.
• Ability to work effectively with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Ability to work in a team environment to achieve common goals and to provide guidance to more junior support staff.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of a second UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is considered.

Applicants must be nationals of Switzerland or in possession of a valid work permit in Switzerland. Please attach a copy of your work permit to your application submission.

About Our Team

We are a fast-paced, multi-disciplinary team of software engineers, finance specialists, data scientists, policy experts, and much more. Our team is a distributed workforce and plans to remain distributed into the foreseeable future. We are growing fast. Our team has grown by over 400% in the last 6 months as we rapidly scale to meet our stated mission.