Senior Staff Assistant, FS5

The Senior Staff Assistant provides administrative and secretarial support to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG), and the Head of the Integrated Office of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia. The role involves managing correspondence, calendars, travel arrangements, budget oversight, and coordination with UN components and external stakeholders to ensure efficient office operations.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the SRSG, the DSRSG and the Head of Office to ensure that the mission leadership receives the background materials and incoming correspondence.
• Screen, prioritize, and manage all incoming and outgoing correspondence, including confidential and sensitive materials.
• Support the management of the calendars of the senior leadership and maintain contact with senior government officials, diplomats and visiting delegations.
• Draft, format, edit, and finalize correspondence, notes, submissions, and other documents for the SRSG ensuring accuracy, clarity, and timeliness.
• Oversee and monitor the office budget ensuring the correct budget approval processes are followed.
• Maintain a tracking system to ensure effective follow-up on decisions and action points arising from meetings and communications.
• Ensure coordination on administrative issues between the Office of the SRSG and Mission components, UN Headquarters, and UN agencies.
• Assist in organizing and coordinating the SRSG's and DSRSG’s official travel including itineraries, visas, clearances, and logistical arrangements.
• Provide administrative support related to attendance, leave monitoring, travel claims, requisitions, and other administrative processes within the Office of the SRSG and DSRSG.
• Support workflow management and prioritization in the SRSG and DSRSG's Office contributing to overall efficiency and effectiveness of the Front Office.
• Ensure proper record-keeping and secure handling of sensitive information in accordance with UN rules and standards.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• High school diploma or equivalent is required.
• A high education degree in social, communication, economic or political sciences, or related area, is desirable.
• Technical training in secretarial or administration is desirable.
• A minimum of eight years progressive experience working in administrative support assisting teams with correspondence, events and meetings and budgets is required.
• Experience in providing personal assistance and administrative support in the front office of high-ranking officials is desirable.
• Knowledge of UN systems and/or UN field operations of the UN Common system is desirable.
• Understanding of the Latin America and Caribbean region is desirable.
• English and Spanish language proficiency is required with English at UN Level III for reading, writing, listening and speaking, and Spanish at UN Level II for reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Skills

• Administrative Support
• Secretarial Skills
• Correspondence Management
• Event Coordination
• Meeting Coordination
• Budget Oversight
• Travel Arrangements
• Personal Assistance
• UN System Knowledge
• Office Operations Coordination
• English Language Proficiency
• Language Proficiency in Spanish
• UN Field Operations

Languages

English, Spanish