Admin & Finance Assistant_ACCD-VN2019-001

Project background: 

MASAR for Local Governments is a programme funded by the EU MADAD trust fund. The overall aim of the programme is to strengthen the long-term resilience of targeted subnational governments and their host, refugee and IDP populations to deal with displacement.

Subnational governments in Iraq and Lebanon have been the first to be confronted by the repercussions of the Syrian refugee crisis: increased pressure on local services, competition for local employment opportunities, corroding social cohesion, faster urbanisation trends, rent-seeking behaviour and inflation due to externally injected funds in the local economy, and so forth.

MASAR for local governments focuses on the urban setting, which is the background of processes of displacement, investment, employment and service delivery.

The programme in Iraq aims to help municipal and governorate bodies in Dohuk and Ninewa. In Lebanon, the programme aims to help governorates of Baalbek-Hermel, Akkar, coastal plain north of Tripoli and their unions of municipalities to deal with accelerated urbanisation caused by the crisis.

This programme will mobilise municipal experts from Iraq/Lebanon and Europe to contribute to build the capacity of subnational governments. This will include, among others, provision of technical advice; training; coaching and mentoring addressed to municipal Planning Units or Service Departments. Capacity building activities will be complemented by concrete pilot quick impact projects aiming to, for instance, designing an urban layout to improve an existing network of streets and roads to better accommodate a higher influx of traffic, or to set up a municipal solid waste sorting plant to better cope with increasing volumes of litter.

MASAR project is being implemented by a consortium of European entities: VNG International (the association of municipalities of the Netherlands), the Polish Center for International Aid (Polish acronym PCPM), the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (Catalan acronym ACCD), and Local Government Denmark (Danish acronym KL).

The successful candidate will work with ACCD under direct supervision by the Front Officer in the coastal plain north of Tripoli, including areas within the Governorate of Akkar. See annex for ACCD’s geographical area of intervention.

Key Responsibilities:

Under the supervision of the Front Officer, and in close coordination with the Project Manager in Barcelona, the successful candidate will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Bookkeeping and accounting of project expenditure including archive of supporting documents to be submitted to Project Manager at the Home Office (Barcelona).
• Collect invoices, tickets, timesheets and all necessary reporting documents from project staff, experts and participants on mission. Prepare travel/mission authorisations and expense claim documents.
• Assist the Front Officer in all matters related to staff and consultants’ contracts and payments.
• Day-to-day office management: ensure purchase and availability of office equipment, material and supplies under the instructions of the Front Officer. Prepare purchase orders/contracts with suppliers and act as primary contact person with them.
• Assist in organizing project activities and liaise with the Driver/Security officer for logistic organisation of staff and experts movements in Lebanon.
• Maintain electronic and paper databases ensuring information is updated, organized and easily accessible
• Perform such other duties that may be assigned.

Minimum qualifications:

1. Education

• Degree in Accounting, Business Administration, Executive secretary, Financial Management, or similar relevant field.

1. Professional Experience

• A minimum of 5 years work experience as office assistant, administration and logistics
• Minimum 3 years experience working with international donors (preferably EU)

3. Competencies:

• Proficient in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint,)
• Excellent organizational and time-management skills
• Ability to work flexibly, independently and as part of a small team.
• Cultural sensitivity and cross-cultural skills (religion, ethnicity, gender).
• Ability to build collaborative relationships between diverse communities.

4. Languages

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic.
• Working knowledge of French is an advantage.