Senior Administrative and Finance Assistant

The Senior Administrative and Finance Assistant is responsible for the efficient delivery and oversight of the office’s administrative, financial, human-resources and logistical operations, ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of the project office in Riyadh. The role involves managing office support services, financial operations, travel arrangements, procurement, and coordination of meetings and events.

Responsibilities

• Ensure smooth functioning of the project administration, office management and operation support related functions, in close collaboration with other administrative and operation support staff, through the provision of management and administrative support to the project.
• Advise and assist project staff with interpretation of administrative rules, regulations and procedures.
• Make travel and hotel reservations and assemble information pertinent to the purpose of travel.
• Play a proactive, coordinating role across the office's support services; ensure a smooth flow of office work and information; and oversee, guide and quality-assure the work of other support staff as assigned.
• Undertake financial support operations with a high degree of accuracy: process, verify and effectuate expenditures; monitor budgets and expenditure against the workplan; make adjustments to optimize the use of funds; and prepare budget-related reports, statistics and inputs for programme and budget, workplan and financial and technical progress reports, using the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
• Maintain the office travel plan; make travel and accommodation arrangements; and coordinate visa, residency (iqama), protocol and security requirements with the relevant Saudi government departments and service providers, ensuring the timely and compliant processing of all transactions.
• Participate in the organization of special meetings and coordinate all important administrative arrangements for conducting workshops/seminars and trainings, as required by the project as well as missions and events; coordinate logistical arrangements; oversee the preparation of documents, presentations and briefing files; take minutes; and follow up on the implementation of decisions.
• Prepare on own initiative, draft, review and finalize correspondence and documents, including of a non-routine and confidential nature, in English and Arabic; undertake quality control for accuracy, style and compliance; and provide informal translation and interpretation (Arabic-English) as required.
• Coordinate requests from high-level visitors and establish briefing programmes and handle sensitive and confidential matters with discretion.
• Undertake procurement and contract-administration support in line with ILO rules: prepare requests for quotations and purchase orders, support the evaluation of offers, and follow up with vendors and on the receipt of goods and services.
• Maintain office systems and records - registry and filing, inventory and asset records, attendance and leave, and relevant databases and web pages - and generate periodic and ad hoc reports and statistical tables.
• Keep abreast of changes to administrative rules, regulations, policies and procedures; provide guidance and deliver briefings and training to staff; and evaluate and propose improvements to work methods and processes.
• Represent ILO in the Operations Management Team (OMT) and participate in other interagency initiatives, such as Business Operations Strategy (BOS).
• Perform other relevant duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Requirements

• Completion of secondary school education, with training in an area related to accounting/finance.
• Post-secondary technical or vocational qualifications, or university-level coursework, in business administration, general administration and office support, or a related area are strongly desirable.
• At least seven years of progressively responsible accounting/finance work experience, including the provision of senior-level support services.
• Experience of working with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is required.
• Eight or more years of relevant experience is strongly desirable.
• Experience within the United Nations, an international organization or a diplomatic mission is strongly desirable.
• Demonstrated experience in general administration and office support, procurement and/or human-resources administration is strongly desirable.
• Experience supporting senior management is strongly desirable.
• Sound knowledge of Saudi administrative, visa/residency and procurement procedures is strongly desirable.
• Excellent command of Arabic and English, both written and spoken, is required.
• Ability to prioritize work assignments, organize own schedule, perform routine work independently, meet deadlines and adapt to changing demands.
• Sound knowledge of a range of administrative, financial, HR and logistical operations and of the applicable rules, regulations, policies and procedures, with the ability to interpret and apply them correctly.
• Ability to coordinate and oversee a broad range of operational activities and to coordinate the work of support staff.
• Strong knowledge of PC software (word processing, spreadsheets and presentations) and of ERP systems, and the ability to adapt quickly to new systems.
• Good drafting skills in both Arabic and English, and the ability to search, retrieve and compile information from a variety of sources.
• Analytical skills and a high level of accuracy and attention to detail, including in financial and budget-related work.
• A high degree of discretion and sense of responsibility in dealing with confidential matters.
• Interpersonal skills, tact and diplomacy when dealing with others, including high-level counterparts and visitors.
• Ability to respond to requests and to deal with visitors with tact and diplomacy.
• Ability to search and retrieve information from databases and compile reports.
• Ability to work under pressure, manage competing priorities and deliver to deadline, cost and quality standards.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.
• The Applicant must have a valid KSA ID or a work permit to reside and work in KSA.

Skills

• Accounting
• Finance Support
• Enterprise Resource Planning
• General Administration
• Office Support
• Procurement
• Human Resources Administration
• Senior Management Support
• Saudi Administrative Procedures
• Visa and Residency Procedures
• Financial Operations
• Budgeting
• PC Software
• Word Processing
• Spreadsheets
• Presentations
• Information Retrieval
• Report Compilation
• Analytical Skills
• Attention to Detail
• Confidentiality Management
• Interpersonal Skills
• Tact and Diplomacy
• Multicultural Work Environment

Languages

Arabic, English