THIS IS A LOCAL POSITION

BACKGROUND:

IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organizations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organizations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together. Created in 1948, IUCN is the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,400 Member organizations and over 15,000 scientists and experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.
The IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) operates in twenty-four countries in the Horn of Africa, east Africa, southern Africa, and the Western Indian Ocean. The ESARO region is extremely rich in biodiversity with a high number of endemic species and the largest remaining populations of iconic wildlife left on the continent. ESARO’s Programme focuses on biodiversity conservation through a diverse portfolio of projects and programmatic initiatives ranging from activities at the level of individual protected areas to shaping regional policy on biodiversity conservation. ESARO defines and delivers on its programmatic priorities in collaboration with IUCN members, commissions and other strategic partners.
The Coastal and Ocean Resilience (COR) Programme is responsible for marine and coastal issues, including biodiversity conservation, area-based management measures including other effective conservation measures (OECMs) and their networks, regenerative blue economy, ecosystem and fisheries management, High Seas, blue carbon, marine spatial planning, marine pollution, integrated management and governance of coastal areas, adaptation to climate change and disaster risk reduction.
In order to accelerate and scale up efforts in the region towards coastal and ocean resilience, IUCN has been coordinating efforts, together with countries and partners, in developing the Great Blue Wall initiative. The Great Blue Wall is a Western Indian Ocean (WIO)-born, Africa-driven roadmap to achieve a nature positive world by 2030. It aims at unlocking unprecedented nature-based recovery efforts through the establishment of a transformational movement. Its goal is to dramatically accelerate and upscale ocean conservation actions while enhancing socio-ecological resilience and the development of a regenerative blue economy by catalyzing political leadership and financial support. This will be achieved by spearheading the establishment of a connected network of nature-people positive seascapes (or regenerative seascapes). This network of seascapes will be connected by a living blue wall that will act as a regional ecological corridor formed by conserved and restored critical blue ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses and corals. While the Great Blue Wall will act as a wall against climate change impacts and biodiversity loss, it will also shelter coastal communities and create the enabling conditions and necessary mechanisms to empower local stakeholders to become stewards of the ocean while accelerating the development of a regenerative blue economy. The Great Blue Wall is an action-focused and action-driven regional response to 3 interconnected crises, i.e. Biodiversity – Climate – Socioeconomic with three clear objectives to be achieved by 2030: (i) Effectively and equitably conserve at least 30%of the ocean by 2030; (ii) Conserve and restore critical blue ecosystems to achieve net-gain by 2030; and (iii) Unlock the development of a regenerative blue economy that directly benefits coastal communities while also delivering conservation outcomes.

Five flagship seascapes have been earmarked including, Tanga-Pemba in Tanzania, Kilifi – Northern Kenya, Inhambane/Vilanculos – Mozambique, Antsiranana (Diego Suarez) – Madagascar and Moheli – Comoros, to spearhead the overall implementation of the vision. This position will be based in Moheli Island in Comoros and will work directly with the seascape team under the guidance of Finance and Administration Officer based in Moheli Comoros to ensure overall functioning of the seascape office.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Seascape administrative assistant will work under direct supervision of Finance and Administration Officer to provide both administrative support to project management for effective achievement of results and contribute to the delivery of operational priorities of the COR country and regional programme. The incumbent is expected to exercise full compliance with IUCN and donor programming, financial, procurement and administrative rules, regulations, policies and strategies, as well as implementation of the effective internal control systems.

SPECIFIC DUTIES:

Project management: Develop, organize and maintain an administrative system for the COR programme, including projects correspondence, files, invoices, contracts, agreements and communication.
Administrative support: Prepare agendas and arrange field visits, appointments and meetings both internal and external related to the project; This includes drafting minutes of Project Steering committee and other project related meetings.
Record system: support the establishment and maintenance of an efficient records system. This includes maintaining donor and other contractual records. Ensure inclusion of relevant information in the IUCN Project Portal.
Maintain records on all project personnel/national consultants and their respective status (contracts, ToRs, time and attendance – if appropriate, etc.) in accordance with accepted policies and procedures.
Establish and maintain a proper inventory of all contracts issued in the project with relevant disbursement timelines and ensure entry into the IUCN Project Portal.
Initiate and prepare disbursements in accordance with activities and budgets of approved contracts.
Provide logistical support to programme activities (training, meetings, conferences and workshops), making sure that all aspects and details of such events are covered. This includes coordination of all aspects of travel, accommodation and conferencing facilities and potentially preparing relevant background documentation and publicity materials for the event. Arrange for procurement of equipment, supplies and services as required in accordance with the project work plan.
Manage clearance processes for Purchase Orders (POs) and all contractual arrangements for works and services (including consultant contracts and sub-contracting institutions). This includes preparation of clearance documents, obtaining approval in accordance to Internal Control System (ICS) procedures;
Financial administration: Assist with basic financial tasks, such as processing invoices, expense reports, and reimbursements. Collaborate with the finance department to ensure accurate record-keeping and compliance with financial policies and procedures.
Continuous improvement: Identify opportunities for process improvement and efficiency gains within the administrative functions of the organization. Propose and implement changes to streamline workflows and enhance productivity.
Perform other duties as may be assigned from time to time.