JOB DESCRIPTION

E (most hardship)

Non Family with Residential Location

Non Family with Residential LocationDanger Pay

Addis Ababa,Eth Fed Dem Rep

GS6

General Service

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

2025-10-01

August 17, 2025

Administrative Associate

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Administrative Associate is responsible for the office management in assisting the concerned manager in the implementation of general administrative and resource management tasks.

The Administrative Associate is normally supervised by a (Senior) Administrative Officer or a National Administrative Officer who defines general work objectives and provides necessary advice and guidance. The incumbent may supervise some support staff. S/he keeps frequent contacts with staff at various levels in the office and occasionally with staff at the same level in other duty stations and/or Headquarters; with local suppliers and/or officials and/or partners on subject matters which may be of importance to the Organization.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

• Assist the supervisor in the provision of resources (human, material and services) necessary to support the day-to-day activities of the staff in the office.
• Assist the supervisor in ensuring the UNHCR Office premises provide a healthy, safe and respectful working environment.
• Provide administrative support in the areas of finance, administrative and human resources as well as up to date and accurate data and records in Cloud ERP and other systems.

• Provide interpretation of administrative rules, regulations and procedures. Perform personnel work including processing of entitlement, issuance of contracts maintenance of various personnel records and files.
• Assist in the recruitment of General Service staff for non-specialized work including evaluating candidate applications, administering recruitment exams if applicable, conducting preliminary interviews of candidates; assign General Service staff to meet work requirements.
• Collect information and assist in conduct of surveys on local cost of living, daily subsistence allowance criteria, local salaries for office and servicing staff, house rentals.
• Brief international personnel on general administrative matters relating to visas, licences, security; provide advice and ensure administrative support as required.
• Arrange for and/or attend meetings on day-to-day administrative matters, participate in discussions of new or revised procedures and practices, interpret and assess the impact of changes and make recommendations for follow-up action.
• Prepare, on own initiative, correspondence, reports, evaluations and justifications, as required, on general administrative or specialized tasks which may be of a confidential nature within the assigned area of responsibility.
• Assist in the preparation of office budgets applicable to staff and servicing costs and maintain necessary budgetary control records.
• In addition to general administration responsibilities, may also supervise directly or indirectly, activities concerned with office and grounds maintenance, security, transport and similar services.
• Arrange for requisition of office supplies and equipment and arrange for control of distribution and maintenance of appropriate inventory records.
• Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
• Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level

For G6 – 3 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 2 years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher

Field(s) of Education

Not applicable.

Certificates and/or Licenses

Business Administration, Finance, Office Management, Human Resources or other related fields.;

(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience

Essential

Not specified.

Desirable

Completion of UNHCR learning programmes or specific training relevant to functions of the position.

Functional Skills

*IT-Computer Literacy

UN-UN/UNHCR Administrative Rules, Regulations and Procedures

FI-Application of Financial Rules, Regulations and Procedures

SC-UNHCR Procurement Rules and Procedures

BU-PeopleSoft EPM/Budget

(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements

For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.

For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.

For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

Competency Requirements

All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below.

Core Competencies:

Accountability

Communication

Organizational Awareness

Teamwork & Collaboration

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies:

Managing Resources

Cross-Functional Competencies:

Analytical Thinking

Planning and Organizing

Change Capability and Adaptability

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

The desired candidate should have the following skills and knowledge:
 Knowledge about Cloud ERP, COMPASS and Workday Applications.
 The role requires the incumbent to possess resilience and adaptability skills to operate under extremely difficult situations.
 The position requires solid experience in financial accounting – modified cash-based accounting as per international standards, financial auditing, ability to work with ERP Financial Management (SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Workday and other), and financial management.
 In addition, the incumbent should have a track record of working with culturally diverse teams. Strong interpersonal and communication skills are a must for this position.
 The incumbent must be a collaborative team player with adaptability and strong interpersonal skills.
 It is desirable for the incumbent to be a self-motivated individual with a readiness to introduce creative ideas in the operation.
 The incumbent should have strong skills in developing effective two-way communication with staff, partners, and the affected population.
 Prior demonstrated experience in the field and knowledge of Ethiopia operational context
 Knowledge of the local languages is desirable and will be considered an asset.
 By accepting deployment to a high-risk duty station, staff acknowledge their responsibility to work in challenging environments and uphold the protection and rights of displaced communities.
 Applications may be subjected to a pre-screening process to verify the information presented. False declarations will result in disqualification.

Personal Qualities:
 Adaptability and resilience: S/He should be capable of working in a challenging and sometimes volatile operational context, including emergency situations.
 Cultural sensitivity: An understanding and appreciation of the local culture in the region and a respectful approach to working with a diverse population.
 Strong teamwork and collaboration: The ability to effectively work in a team and foster a collaborative work environment.
 Integrity and ethical conduct: Highest standards of professional and ethical behaviour in all administrative management activities.

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

Nature of Position:

The armed conflict in Sudan, which started in April 2023, has led to over 23,000 forcibly displaced persons crossing into Ethiopia through the Metema Point of Entry (PoE) on the Eastern Sudanese border. The refugees are settled in the Aftit refugee settlement, West Gondar Zone, Amhara Region. The refugees and asylum seekers are largely of Sudanese and Eritrean origin, with a small pocket of other nationalities, including South Sudanese. UNHCR has been on the ground from the onset – providing life-saving assistance, addressing various protection needs, and ensuring effective referrals to appropriate services as needed.

Similarly, the conflict in northern Ethiopia led to difficult humanitarian conditions, including limited access to basic social and life-saving services for camp and urban refugees in the Tigray region. As a result of the conflict, many refugees moved from the Mai Ani and Adi Harush camps to the Alemwach refugee settlement, North Gondar Zone, in Ethiopia’s Amhara region.

UNHCR has a presence in Gondar and is working very closely with the Government of Ethiopia’s Refugee and Returnees Services (RRS), local authorities, and several humanitarian partners to respond to the needs of refugees and asylum seekers in the region. UNHCR has been actively engaged in the humanitarian response in the Amhara Region, providing comprehensive support across multiple sectors to ensure the protection of refugees and asylum seekers.

The operational response is principally focused on screening and recording persons seeking international protection, addressing critical life-saving needs, including food and healthcare access, establishing a protection desk to handle diverse protection issues, and facilitating referrals to relevant services. There are two refugee-hosting settlements, Aftit and Alemwach, in West Gondar and North Gondar Zones, respectively. In addition, the Metema Transit Center (TC), 5km from the Point of Entry (PoE) on the Ethiopian-Sudan Border at Metema Yohannes, is set up to respond to the influx from the Sudan Emergency.

There are pockets of refugee returnees coming in from Sudan through the Metema Point of Entry. The current security situation in the region continues to be challenging and move further in-country to their places of initial displacement or other regions. Over 2,840 refugee returnees have been recorded at the Metema PoE, as of March 2025.

A substantial number of Eritrean refugees who were forced across the border from Sudan had started and were at various stages of resettlement processes before crossing over to Metema. In addition, UNHCR remains engaged in seeking other complementary pathways as part of the solutions orientation to the plight of the refugees and asylum seekers in the operation.

The Administrative Associate works under the supervision of the Assistant Administrative Officer. The Office relies on the incumbent to implement general administrative and resource management tasks. The incumbent assists the supervisor in all administrative matters, addressing day-to-day tasks and contributing to delivering administrative activities.

Amongst other tasks, the Administrative Associate will perform administrative finance-related tasks, including the following:

• S/he will be the focal point for the “Smart Fleet” management.
• S/He will serve as travel focal point and perform/support all travel-related tasks in the operation, including management of drivers and fuel records.
• S/he will serve as the Asset focal point for the operation.
• S/he will support with the management of security guards and cleaning services providers.
• Maintain financial records and monitoring systems to record and reconcile expenditures, balances, payments, statements and other data for day-to-day transactions and reports.
• Select and enter data from a wide variety of documents, verifying accuracy by checking sources, making necessary calculations, and assuring inclusion of all relevant data.
• Support preparations of required reports.
• Advise and assist staff members, experts and consultants on all aspects of allowances, salary advances, travel claims and other financial matters, calculate and authorize payments due for claims and services.
• Maintain liaison with officials of local banks to obtain day-to-day information on exchange and interest rates, changes in procedures and regulations and matters pertaining to maintenance of office bank accounts.
• Prepare detailed cost estimates and participate in budget analysis and projections as required.
• Initiate correspondence to verify data, answer queries, and obtain additional information on accounts and financial transactions, as required.
• Verify that the financial transactions are correct and in accordance with UNHCR rules and procedures.

Living and Working Conditions:

Gondar is a category E, non-family, high-risk duty station. The UNHCR Field Office has an office on the ground. However, staff members are expected to arrange their own living accommodation. Generally, there are few UNDSS-approved hotels; tap water is not reliable and quality is not guaranteed, hence the need to drink bottled or boiled drinking water as alternatives. Water storage containers are a necessity. The R&R cycle is 6 weeks, and national staff are eligible for SCWS (9 in 10). The electricity supply could be unstable, depending on the season, resulting in blackouts. The office relies on WiFi for internet connectivity. Staff need to be aware therefore that internet may not be accessible after working hours.

In Genda Wuha, West Gondar Zone, where the Aftit refugee settlement is located, temperatures vary between seasons. During the hot season between March and May, temperatures could rise to as much as 43 degrees centigrade. The rainy season starts from about June to October and experiences strong winds and periodic storms.

In Dabat, North Gondar Zone where the Alemwach refugee settlement is located, temperatures are a bit low and could vary from 10o C to 25o C during the day. Nighttime temperatures could drop to as low as 5oC.

The incumbent will be based in Gondar Office, sometimes spelled as Gonder, is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on the Lesser Angereb River and southwest of the Simien Mountains. As of 2016, Gondar has a population of 299,969. Gondar previously served as the capital of both the Ethiopian Empire and the subsequent Begemder Province. The city holds the remains of several royal castles, including those in the Fasil Ghebbi UNESCO World Heritage Site for which Gondar has been called the “Camelot of Africa”.

Staff members should be prepared to operate under challenging conditions with limited resources. There are both Government hospitals and private health providers in Gondar including pharmacies. There is a referral medical hospital in Gondar but limited equipment.  However, for severe medical conditions, patients are referred to Addis for treatment.  Staff with medical conditions should come with at least 3 months of prescribed medication. The town has a central market where most of the common items can be found.

Although there are functioning banks in Gondar, transacting in dollars is not possible. Staff are also advised to always have a cash reserve on them. It is recommended that first time travelers to the duty station dispense sufficient funds from the ATMs in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Ethiopian regulations do not permit the transportation of more than $ 4,000 or its equivalent into the country.

The security situation is fluid and staff members should always get the latest travel advice and support prior to travel to Gondar. There is an existing curfew

Additional Qualifications

Skills

BU-PeopleSoft EPM/Budget, FI-Application of Financial Rules, Regulations and Procedures, IT-Computer Literacy, SC-UN/UNHCR Procurement Rules and Procedures, UN-UN/UNHCR Administrative Rules, Regulations and Procedures

Certifications

Business Administration – Other, Finance – Other, Human Resources – Other, Office Management – Other

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Change capability & adaptability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Managing resource, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Additional Information

Position is open to ONLY Ethiopian nationals
Qualified female applicants are strongly encouraged to apply to promote gender balance within UNHCR.
Candidates may be subjected to an assessment (written or oral interview).

This position doesn”t require a functional clearance