Finance and Administrative Assistant - G5(DC)

Introduction

The informal economy is ubiquitous in The Gambia. More than three quarters of the employment (77.6%) is informal, the majority in enterprises in the informal sector. Women (81.5%) are more exposed to informality than men (75.5%) and face the most severe decent work deficits. In addition, the Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated the vulnerability of already vulnerable groups, particularly those dependent on daily wages and the informal sector, as highlighted in the 2020 Common Country Assessment carried out by the UN System in the Gambia.

In this context, the ILO will launch a project aiming at creating decent employment opportunities and increasing post-crisis resilience for women and men in the informal economy by supporting the Gambian Government in facilitating the transition from the informal economy to the formal economy.

The expected results of the project will be the following : (i) The tripartite constituents’ knowledge of informality in the country is enhanced by conducting a national diagnosis of the informal economy and information sessions on the principles of ILO Recommendation 204 and Convention 144 on tripartite consultations ; (ii) a national strategy for formalising the informal economy is developed through a tripartite dialogue process (iii) a digital platform ‘Formalize and Develop Your Business’, enabling enterprises and workers in the informal sector to have access to information and tools to support the development and formalisation process, taking into account the specific challenges relating to women’s entrepreneurship and access to social protection is available; (iv) a strategy for the implementation of the ILO principles of quality apprenticeship, applied to the informal economy, and its action plan is developed, validated and implemented through pilot initiatives.

The intervention is linked to the National Development Plan’s strategic priority 1 “Stabilizing our economy, stimulating growth, and transforming the economy”, and also contributes to the achievement of UNDAF’s priority I (2017-2021) “Governance, Economic Management and Human Rights”. The project will contribute to SDG 8.3 and to strengthening the tripartite constituents’ capacity to facilitate the transition from the informal to the formal economy. The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment of the Gambia and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Gambia, together with the workers’ organizations active in the informal economy, will be the direct beneficiaries of the project. The final beneficiaries will be women and men entrepreneurs and workers in the Gambian informal sector.

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The Administrative Assistant will be responsible in assisting the Project Manager to execute all the necessary administrative and financial management of the project including management of the project budget and expenditure, contracting and sub-contracting with external collaborators and other partners, biding, contracts, procurement, organising training, workshops and conferences, and reporting to ILO’s technical back stoppers.   

1. Reporting Lines:  

The Administrative Assistant will work under the supervision of the Project Manager of the ILO Office in The Gambia. He/She will receive technical support and guidance from the ILO’s financial, administrative, and human resources units in the DWT/CO_Dakar Office, and will work in close collaboration with the following ILO Specialists based in Dakar: the Senior Employers’ Activities Specialist, the Enterprises Development Specialist, the Skills and Employability Specialist, the Senior Workers’ Activities Specialist and the Social Protection Specialist.

Description of Duties

• Carry out all operations required for authorising and effectuating expenditures under all types of funding, including making calculations, requesting funds and making payments.
• Prepare and modify budget data based on requests such as budget proposals, budget revisions, rephasings, programme allocation changes, modify budget codes and salary transfers.
• Maintain the office condition including purchase of necessary equipment and goods.
• Maintain and update the related databases on the above administrative operations.
• Control the work unit’s accounts regarding allocations and expenditures and make adjustments to optimise utilisation of funds. Maintain tracking, monitoring and/or reporting systems regarding allocations and expenditures.
• Maintain and reconcile a variety of records and administrative files.
• Provide administrative support to meetings and seminars organized in and outside The Gambia. This includes preparing budgets, coordinating travel and lodging of participants, paying DSA, recruitment and payment of resources persons, and drafting relative correspondence.

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• Initiate action for recruitment or transfer of staff, experts, consultants and other external partners. This includes entering contract information in a database, drafting correspondence and maintaining files.
• Help to verify the completion of work done by external consultants.
• Brief staff, experts and/or consultants on administrative procedures.
• Respond to queries from inside and outside the organization.
• Participate in internal meetings to provide information on administrative matters.
• Draft correspondence and reports relating to above duties.
• Contribute to the development of computer-assisted administrative procedures.
• Perform any other job-related duties as required.

Required qualifications

Education

Successful completion of secondary education or commercial school. Certified training in accounting and/or finance or a related discipline is an advantage.             

Experience

At least five years’ experience of administrative work

Languages

Excellent command in written and spoken English. Working knowledge in French is an advantage.

Competencies

The applicant should have the following ILO core competencies as they relate to the job:

• Orientation to change - acts as a role model for positive change and helps others understand the benefits of, and rationale for change.
• Collaboration - work effectively with a large team of the international and national professionals, various government agencies, funding and development partners and ILO technical units.
• Communication - write and edit reports and publications; lead workshops, conferences and working teams.
• Sensitivity to diversity - work effectively with multi-national, multi-ethnic project team members and have a gender sensitive behaviour and attitude.
• Client orientation - understand and respond to needs of various government agencies, representatives of employers and of trade unions, other international agencies, NGOs, and other partners.
• Orientation to learning and knowledge - teach staff, assess progress and recommend them or training and other professional development activities.
• Taking responsibility for performance - manage the staff, funds, time and other resources efficiently in order to achieve results.

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In addition to the ILO core competencies, this position requires:

• Knowledge of rules and regulations governing area of specialisation (finance, personnel, relations, publications).
• Good knowledge of administrative procedures and accounting principles.
• Ability to search and retrieve information from central databases and compile reports.
• Ability to operate computer program and software packages for various administrative actions.
• Good drafting skills.

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• Ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with officials at all levels.
• Ability to work accurately with administrative data.
• Demonstrated ability to work with word processing and spreadsheet software, including retrieval functions.
• Ability to communicate effectively both in writing and orally.
• Ability to deal with clients and to respond to their queries.
• Ability to work in a team and to work under pressure. Works with material that needs to be kept confidential.

NB: "The ILO attaches great importance to ethical values, to diversity among its staff and aims to ensure a balance between the sexes within it".