Technical Support Assistant

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) in Cambodia, the functional supervision of the Assistant FAOR (Administration), and the direct and day-to-day supervision of the Thematic Team Leader(s) and concerned Project Manager(s), the incumbent, in close collaboration among others with the Operations, Programme and Admin Units, national and international technical specialists, and Government counterparts, will specifically carry out the tasks listed below.  

The Technical Support Assistant supports and contributes to effective operations and implementation of the projects in the following thematic areas: Data and Digital Transformation, Forestry, Land and Water, and Food System. 

Responsibilities:

• Assist in arranging travel for staff and non-staff travelers including transportation, flight and hotel booking, relevant clearances, travel authorizations and claims;
• Assist in organizing workshops, meetings, trainings and study tours including budget estimation, invitation of participants and procurement of venue;
• Assist in liaising with the Logistics Focal Point on visas, import of equipment/materials and custom clearances;
• Assist in liaising with the IT Focal Point on deploying and the repair of computers, IT equipment and software;
• Ensure that equipment/assets are properly labelled and documented according to status and custody;
• Assist in keeping and maintaining good filing and archive system;
• Act as front-line support to project personnel on travel, logistics and administrative matters;
• Coordinate the overall hiring plan for hiring of national and international affiliate workforce;
• Develop and/or review Terms of Reference of affiliate workforce and ensure compliance with current standards and regulations;
• Provide administrative support, including recording worked hours for the payment of fees to national and international consultants and other related tasks;
• Assist in the performance evaluation process of national and international consultants, providing logistical and administrative support for the preparation and recording of their performance evaluation reports (QAR);
• Assist in reviewing and ensuring all payment requests, cash advances and liquidations are in line with FAO’s rules, regulations and procedures;
• Assist in reviewing all invoices and certifying for payment, and liaising with the Finance Unit to resolve any constraints faced with releasing payments;
• Be responsible as Outposted Petty Cash (OPC) holder and prepare at least once a month expenditures report and request for replenishment;
• Act as front-line support to project personnel on financial matters including assisting project personnel on cash advance clearance;
• Assist in preparing the project(s) procurement plans and consolidating the plans under his/her thematic team;
• Assist in carrying out procurement actions under his/her Delegation of Authority (DoA) and sourcing vendors to ease procurement actions undertaken by the Procurement Unit;
• Assist in drafting specifications, LoAs and obtaining necessary clearances;
• Assist in liaising with the Procurement Unit to resolve any constraints faced with procurement actions;
• Act as front-line support to project personnel on procurement matters including raising Purchase Requests, recording receipts as well as proposing for Purchase Order closing;
• Provide support to Project Manager(s) in developing project(s) work plans;
• Ensure compliance with corporate and programme quality requirements, including obtaining appropriate clearances where required;
• Assist in monitoring work plans and preparing expenditures plan;
• Assist in providing secretarial support to Project Steering Committee (PSC) and Project Task Force (PTF) meetings;
• Assist in reviewing and monitoring project budgets, and preparing requests and revisions as required; maintain shadow expenditures reports;
• Assist in coordinating and supporting the production of progress and terminal reports for the Government, FAO and the Resource Partners;
• Perform other duties as required.

Minimum Requirements:

• University degree in public or business administration or other related fields;
• At least five (5) years of relevant experiences in project/programme management; administration, finance and operations;
• Working knowledge of Khmer and English languages;
• A National of Cambodia.

Technical/Functional Skills :

• Extent and relevance of experience in supporting, advising and guiding the implementation of multi-stakeholder project in the context of his/her area of expertise;
• Ability to develop plans for the implementation and coordination of project operations, in partnership with UN agencies, international entities, NGOs and other relevant actors;
• Extent and relevant of experience in programme/project formulation, analysis, planning and implementation;
• Understanding FAO/UN policies and programmes is considered a strong asset;
• Familiarity with UN administrative, operational and financial procedure is an asset.
• Proficiency in relevant computer applications such as word processing tools, spreadsheets and desktop publishing software (MS Office Word, Excel etc.).

Source: https://jobs.fao.org/careersection/fao_external/jobdetail.ftl?job=2402903