Project Assistant at International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD)

Vacancy Reference: 12 P125 V06
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Start date: 05 January 2014
Duration: 1 year (with the possibility of extension)
Eligible nationalities: All, ECOWAS nationalities are particularly invited to apply

Job Description

•     ICMPD, IOM and ILO constitute the consortium that is implementing the project Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa (FMM West Africa).
•     The project aims to maximise the development potential of free movement of persons and migration in West Africa by supporting the effective implementation of the ECOWAS Free Movement of Persons’ protocols and the ECOWAS Common Approach on Migration. The Project Support Unit (PSU), which implements the Project, is based in Abuja. ICMPD leads the Demand Driven Facility (DDF) component of the project, which will offer technical assistance to the national institutions of the ECOWAS Member States and Mauritania, in the areas of border management, labour migration, and counter trafficking.
•     The Project and Administrative Assistant will form part of the PSU and provide administrative and logistical support to the DDF Coordinator, Project Officers, and Finance Officer. Moreover the Project and Administrative Assistant will provide administrative and logistical support to the Project Officers in the selection, development and implementation of DDF projects.
•     S/he will be bilingual in English and French and may need to regularly travel in the ECOWAS region and Mauritania.

Tasks and Responsibilities

•     The Project and Administrative Assistant will perform the following finance and operations related tasks:
•     Support the maintenance of financial project files and records, and archiving of finance related project documentation.
•     Support the maintenance of project accounts and financial project reporting of the ICMPD’s activities.
•     Manage the hard copies of project documentation, such as travel documentation.
•     Verify supporting documentation attached to claims, invoices and requests for payment submitted by project partners, staff, consultants, suppliers and service providers, resolves queries with local suppliers.
•     Check the completeness of project financial documentation
•     The Project and Administrative Assistant will perform the following logistical and administrative tasks:
•     Provide logistical and administrative support to the establishment of the DDF, inter alia by communicating with project partners on routine matters, setting up meetings and arranging the logistics for meetings, and taking notes at meetings.
•     Throughout project implementation, communicate with stakeholders (participants, partners, experts, contractors, project staff) on routine matters related to project activities.
•     Assist in the organisation of DDF inception missions and kick-off meetings by being responsible for logistics and administrative arrangements.
•     Provide administrative support to expert recruitment.
•     Assist in the formulation of work plans and provide inputs to project resources planning in terms of formulation of the budget, such as overview of the costs related to logistics.
•     Draft standard project correspondence, including invitations, meeting agendas and Note Verbale.
•     Organise workshops, meetings, DDF missions, expert travel by being responsible for logistics: visa arrangements, flight bookings, locating/booking meeting facilities and hotel/accommodation (and related procurement process), calculate and request payment of DSA and frequently distribute DSA to participants on site (including carrying cash), backstop meeting arrangements on meeting site, and receive and reconcile travel claims.
•     Assist in the preparation of meeting folders, PowerPoint presentations reports and other documents as needed.
•     Assists the team in all tasks on site at meetings, including note taking.
•     Support reporting on activities.
•     Assist in preparation of substantive project outputs (collects inputs for project publications/policy papers/thematic reports, organise translation).
•     Provide inputs on project implementation to internal project reviews and assessments.
•     Assist in preparation (collect inputs, compile, edit) of operational reports/final reports to partners and donors.
•     Maintains project files and records and institutional project history, including project documentation electronically and on shared drive.
•     Performs such other duties as may be assigned.

Qualification and Experience

•     Three years of experience in project administration and organisational management support in an international organisation context.
•     Proficient in spoken and written English and French. Knowledge of Spanish and
•     Portuguese will be an advantage.
•     Good interpersonal skills, with the ability to work independently, as well as in a team.
•     Good computer skills, including the use of Microsoft Office Word, Outlook and Excel.
•     Knowledge of Nigeria, ECOWAS and the region will be an asset.