Business Support Assistant SC4, (12 Months renewable) Windhoek, Namibia

.

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to end global hunger. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

In emergencies, WFP gets food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After an emergency, WFP uses food to help communities rebuild their shattered lives. Present in nearly 80 countries, the organization has the global footprint, deep field presence and local knowledge and relationships necessary to provide access to nutritious food and contribute to the lasting solutions, especially in many of the world’s most remote and fragile areas. We manage an operating budget of approximately $5.9 billion each year, distributing 12.6 billion rations to those most in need. We reach an average of 80 million people with food assistance in around 80 countries each year. The World Food Programme office in Johannesburg is a Regional Office coordinating and supporting the delivery of humanitarian assistance to 11 Southern Africa countries including, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Malawi, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazaville.

For more on WFP and what we do, please go to http://www.wfp.org/videos/zero-hunger

JOB PURPOSE

Namibia, an Upper Middle-Income Country, has made significant economic and social progress since its independence in 1990. The Namibian economy, until recently, recorded strong and steady economic growth while the country’s poverty rate was reduced significantly from 69% in 1993 to 17.4% in 2018.This impressive achievement has been underpinned by sustained political stability, sound macroeconomic management and good governance. Some progress in reducing the pervasive income inequality has also been made. Despite these gains, Namibia remains amongst the most unequal nations in the world. Stunting and malnutrition continue to stagnate. According to the preliminary findings of a recent assessment carried out following the 2018/2019 drought and COVID situation, an estimated 400,000 people are food insecure with food insecurity more prevalent in the north-western regions mainly due to prevailing chronic poverty, drought and the prevailing COVID impact on households. Main contributing factors to food insecurity and under-nourishment are the high poverty rate, inequality of the income distribution, and the incidence of HIV/AIDS. This position will therefore be core to WFP’s contribution to the Government of Namibia and other stakeholders in addressing stagnating food and nutrition security situation while putting in place interventions to accelerate the journey towards zero hunger. The position will enable WFP to 2 actively engage in the Namibia Market Systems and Financial landscape in order to co-lead, review, refine and develop programmes and products that support a range food system activities in order to contribute positively to the accelerated journey towards Zero Hunger.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Under the direct supervision of the Country Director, the Business Support Assistant, will have the following responsibilities:

1. Gather information with clear direction to support the drafting of documents and preparing reports by other staff.
2. Respond to queries and escalate where appropriate, in order to provide a timely and accurate service to clients.
3. Support processing and managing routine administrative and financial tasks in various functional areas, to contribute to the effective and timely management of resources.

4. Provide revision and proof-reading services for standard documents, to contribute to the development of accurate documentation.
5. Take responsibility for the maintenance of set standard systems and files, to ensure information is accurate and readily available for the function.
6. Identify simple discrepancies in statistics and data, such as missing information, and report to senior staff in order to support clients to deliver their work.
7. Take responsibility for data integrity to facilitate availability of accurate information in corporate systems.
8. Provide guidance on routine business support methods and practices to junior colleagues to ensure services are delivered consistently and to the required standards.
 9. Work with a variety of individuals, taking on feedback where appropriate to assist in business support delivery for staff.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Helps teammates articulate WFP’s Strategic Objectives.
•  Be a force for positive change: Suggests potential improvements to team’s work processes to supervisor.
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Explains the impact of WFP activities in beneficiary communities to teammates.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Articulates how own unit’s responsibilities will serve WFP’s mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Trains junior teammates on new skills and capabilities.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Seeks opportunities to work with people from different backgrounds.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Serves as a peer coach for colleagues in same area of work.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Tracks progress toward goals and shares this information on a regular basis with supervisor.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Explores ways to consistently be more efficient and accurate in own areas of work and shares new methods of work with colleagues.
•  Focus on getting results: Focuses on getting results and tracks trends in completion rates for own tasks to identify opportunities for efficiency.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Takes responsibility for own tasks and notifies supervisor as soon as possible of potential delays in meeting deadlines or commitments.
•  Be Decisive: Independently decides what action to take when faced with critical choices in the workplace or in dangerous situations in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Suggests opportunities for partnering with other units to supervisor.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Identifies opportunities to work with colleagues and partners in the field towards common goals.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Develops an understanding of the value of WFP’s teams and external partners in fulfilling team’s goals and objectives.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Aligns own activities with supervisor’s priorities to fulfill internal and external partner needs.
   

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Completion of secondary school education.
Experience: Three or more years of progressively responsible work experience in the relative business stream with experience in general administrative work.
Knowledge & Skills: Proficient in the use of office equipment and computer software packages, such as Microsoft Word. Knowledge of work routines and methods in order to complete processes under minimal supervision. Uses tact and courtesy to give and receive information to a wide range of individuals. Ability to offer guidance or basic on-the-job training to more junior staff.
Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English. Fluency in the official languages used in Namibia is desirable.

 

CONTRACTUAL INFOMATION

• This is a 12 Months renewable Service Contract
• Net monthly salary range: NAD20174 - NAD26631
• Benefits: Annual Leave & Medical Insurance

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Wednesday, 6 October 2021, 11:59 Namibian Time Zone GMT

.

This position is only open to Namibian Citizens and Permanent Residents.

Qualified female applicants are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero-tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.