Project Operations Assistant

Organizational Setting

For more than four decades, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has been working with the Government of the Philippines, civil society, community-based organizations and the private sector to address challenges in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector. Joint efforts have included increasing sustainability in agricultural production, promoting value-adding practices, improving post-harvest management, enhancing productivity and increasing the resilience of agriculture-based livelihoods to natural disasters, climatic hazards, and armed conflict.
The Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Disease (ECTAD) Country Team is dedicated to working with governments in preventing and controlling emerging infectious and zoonotic diseases by working closely with national and international stakeholders in the animal production and health sector. The tasks envisaged for this assignment are to be carried out through the Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), which is currently implementing several projects in the country.

Reporting Lines

The Project Operations Assistant reports directly to the ECTAD National Project Coordinator in coordination with Assistant FAO Representative for Programme.

Technical Focus

Providing support in projects under ECTAD in administration and project implementation are the main responsibilities ensuring coherence with FAO’s policy in finance and operations.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Project Operations Assistant shall perform the following tasks\:

• Provide support in the preparation, monitoring and compliance of Letters of Agreement (LoA), and other agreed works and deliverables, by partners;
• Support the implementation and monitoring of One Health project operations related to cash and non-cash activities and other areas of FAO’s mandate;
• Assist the team in the timely delivery of operations in line with project work plans and provide suggestions to overcome any potential bottlenecks;
• Provide support to the monitoring, evaluation, and learning of the programme.
• Participate in the development of project work plans and subsequent activities’ implementation in consultation with relevant FAO personnel, partners and stakeholders, including government counterparts;
• Prepare HR plans based on existing and fore-coming project documents and monitor relevant resource allocations and expenditures;
• Liaise with the Project Team, the Administrative Unit and support the Programme Unit of the FAO office in the Philippines on relevant issues related to programme implementation (i.e. budget preparation and/or revision, financial control, human resources management, travel/logistics operations, missions, procurement, and operational backstopping to the field);
• Provide assistance in the use of relevant FAO systems-based tools in project management; including the generation of Transaction Listing and Financial Statements in collaboration with the Project Administrative and Finance Assistant.
• Ensure quality review of the Purchase Requisitions prepared by the Project Administrative and Finance Assistant (including project code used and specifications).
• Maintain close coordination with the FAOPH Procurement Unit to monitor progress and ensure prompt delivery of procurement transactions;
• With support from the Project Administrative and Finance Assistant, coordinate and support missions from the FAO Offices, donors, governments, and other partners;
• Participate in project monitoring by maintaining current registers and controlling tools on the status of projects at various stages;
• Assist in preparing minutes of meetings, presentation materials, and project reports;
• Carry out any other relevant duties within his/her technical competence as may be requested by the FAO Representative.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in Business Administration, Agribusiness Management or other related disciplines;
• At least three (3) years of relevant and progressive experience in project management and operations
• National of the Philippines
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and Filipino;

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Ability to work under pressure and adapt to an evolving and complex humanitarian context and within multidisciplinary and different cultural background teams;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Tagalog;
• General knowledge and skills in the use of standard software, such as MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point);
• Experience in ERP (Oracle, SAP, etc.) is an advantage.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION