Under the supervision of the Project Manager, the Portfolio Associate will undertake the following activities:

Project Management/Administration

• Ensure that implemented activities are aligned with approved project agreements in terms of technical scope, engagement of resources, budget expenditure and agreed timeframe;
• Input and update of accurate data and information to facilitate effective delivery of the operations;
• Provide inputs to the Project’s work, financial, recruitment and procurement plans as required;
• Contribute to the development of Project’s reports and analysis related to project activities;
• Establish and maintain project documents/files for easy retrieval of archives related to Project’s activities;
• Contribute to the identification, capturing, and assessment of risks/issues and implement mitigation measures in accordance with the Risk Management Strategy;
• Contribute to the identification, capturing, and sharing of the Project’s lessons learned and best practices;
• Draft reports as envisaged by the Project Document/legal agreement, while in particular considering progress against the Key Performance Indicators;
• Contribute to efficient and effective use of Project and UNOPS tools for monitoring of the Project’s performance, outputs and benefits;
• Assist with administration and regular monitoring of all budgetary, financial, procurement and routine aspects of project delivery;

Finance

• Preparing and handling submission process of budget creation and revision in required formats and in compliance with UNOPS requirements for internal approval, monitoring of funds availability; run budget reports including transactions details and exceptions; Monitor expenditures, verification for accuracy of expenditure requests (COPs, invoices, TECs), completeness of documentation submitted;
• Monitoring of payments and follow up when problems arise; Review of Requests for Payments and supporting documentation for completeness, accuracy, compliance with UNOPS FRRs and correctness of account code charges;
• Supporting review of financial information with the concerned team, identify bottlenecks and corrective actions;
• Preparing and analyzing of financial proposals, and financial reports, including investigation and preparation of adjustments as required;
• Creating, importing, reviewing, correcting and processing journal entries in General Ledger. Review and run inquiries included in the journal, ledgers, or accounting entries;
• Petty cash management, including preparation, submission for approval, regular monitoring/reconciliation, and closure;
• Operational Advance management, including preparation, submission for approval and closure;

Travel/Procurement/Grants/HR

• Provide support with event logistics/coordination related to conferences, workshops and retreats. This will include collecting information for the planning phase and execution of related tasks for all events;
• Help analyze administration, travel, procurement and policies, assess changes’ impact, and help management with their implementation. Continuous research of the matters related to service provision and partner requirements;
• Support timely preparation and submission of periodic inventory reports; coordination of physical verification of inventory items;
• Support in the management of project assets, making sure they are properly recorded in oneUNOPS as well as disposed per UNOPS procedures upon project closure;
• Provide guidance on administrative, financial and logistical activities of the projects;
• Assist in communication with colleagues on areas requiring verification, correction, and additional information to improve the quality of output and /or account submission and increase the knowledge base in the process;
• Help ensure that requests from projects to engage with grantees and implementing partners are initiated and processed in a timely and high-quality manner;
• Act as the focal point for drafting and facilitating conduct of calls for proposals, grant awards and relevant contracts, facilitating the creation of the respective arrangements between UNOPS and its partners and management of respective contracts to ensure delivery as per project agreements;
• Support administration of calls for proposals in line with UNOPS policies and procedures, collection of proposals, review of proposals through a selection committee, preparation and finalization of evaluation reports, as relevant and required;
• Help projects liaise with implementing partners to monitor the performance of grants, highlight issues and risks involving grantees, and ensure timely delivery;
• Facilitate the creation of grant agreements and disbursements of funds in a timely manner and in accordance with project requirements;
• Manage day-to-day administration of the grant management activities, track reports, and process grantee registrations and payments, as required;
• Carry out activities related to procurement for various thresholds;
• With guidance from the support services team and the Project Manager, contribute to the development of documentation needed for procurements, travel, and engagement of consultants
• Identify potential service providers for standard supplies, maintenance, furniture etc. and maintain good relationships with existing ones;
• Support when required in travel activities and related processes, including Travel Authorizations, Visas, Travel Expense Claims etc;
• Draft procurement awards, contracts, and grant support agreements;
• Maintain contracts and grants tracking plan to review contractor invoices and supporting documentation and ensure that services provided and claims are in conformity with the terms of the contract;
• Register supplier details in the system and approval follow-ups;
• Enter Certificate of Payments for retainers/lump sum contractors and validate monthly payrolls
• Liaise and resolve any payroll-related issues with relevant parties.
• Support creation and maintenance of HR contract tracker
• Perform a backstopping role during the absence of the Project Manager, under the overall supervision of a DSIP Project Manager and/or DSIP Senior Portfolio Manager;
• Perform other duties as may be reasonably required and in line with the incumbent’s scope of services above.