Surigao del Norte Jobs Finance And Administrative Assistant – G4 (dc) Position at INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION

The vast agro-economy of the central and southern Philippines has been hard-hit by the series of natural and man-made crises at an unprecedented scale. After suffering from the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on jobs and income, 11 regions in this part of the country have been swept by the Super Typhoon Rai (locally named Odette – hereinafter “ST Odette”) in mid-December 2021. Surprisingly, ST Odette’s total damages figure of the six most affected regions (USD 3.9 billion) went substantially higher than that of the ST Yolanda (USD 2.2 billion). This time, the suffering did not stop there. Within four months when the signs of recovery were barely seen, Tropical Storm Megi/Agaton hit almost the same areas, once again destructing the agro-economy of these regions and affecting anew 2.3 million population. Simultaneously, the country was starting to see the impact of the war in Ukraine that accelerated the price hike on food and energy globally to become the largest commodity shock since the 1970s.

The livelihood recovery of the agro-economy in the six regions is slow and deemed heavily constrained by the funding and capacity gaps. Although the Rehabilitation and Recovery Programs (RRPs) have been approved by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) at the end of June 2022 with a USD 7.1 billion total funding requirement, it is expected that only small part of it will be funded by the government considering the unprecedented scale of damages and the tight fiscal space after the prolonged pandemic. The impact and needs assessment conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) noted that, despite the well-developed sector recovery plan elaborated by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) – CARE COCO, the replanting of coconut trees has been slow. The assessment study identified key bottlenecks in the efforts of the coconut sector recovery such as the weak attention to the land preparation (e.g., tillage, harrowing, levelling, etc.); limited value chain linkages to the high-growth economic centres, sectors and value-added products; and the capacity of the local government units (LGUs) to plan and coordinate a multi-year integrated recovery plan and access to available funding such as the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (LDRRMF), rehabilitation and livelihood programmes of NGAs, and private sector financing windows of IFIs. Further, the LGUs are also challenged to operationalize the major devolution that began in 2022 as a result of the Mandanas-Garcia ruling.

Against this backdrop, the ILO project will support select LGUs of a target local area damaged by ST Odette by addressing implementation bottlenecks of CARE COCO and supplementing it with value chain linkages, packaging of recovery support into a multi-year integrated job-rich recovery plan and supporting LGUs’ access to funding. It will generate the following outcomes: Outcome 1: Bottlenecks of CARE COCO programme addressed and the programme implementation accelerated (through cash-for-work); Outcome 2: Farmers better linked to multiple value chains (e.g., construction, urban market, tourism, high value-added coconut products); and Outcome 3: Local economy recovery made more integrated, better funded and experiences disseminated. Through the demonstration effect of this project, ILO aims to contribute to the learnings of other LGUs facing similar challenges across the six affected-regions to follow suit and replicate the model in the context of the significant devolution.

The incumbent will be based in the Field Office in one of the severely-affected regions (tentatively assumed Surigao City) and report to and work under the supervision of the National Project Coordinator. She/he will be guided by the Operations Officer of CO-Manila for the internal procedures and financial processing of the project activities.

• Maintain project financial records and monitoring system to record and reconcile expenditures, balances, payments, statements and other data for daily transactions and reports.
• Process contracts for financial clearance and payment. Ensure the correctness and appropriateness of types of contracts used with each activity and ensure all necessary supporting document are attached.
• Prepare correspondence on own initiative to verify data, address and answer queries and follow-up as necessary with ILO staff, consultants and counterparts. Draw the attention of the NPC to matters requiring immediate attention.
• Review and request additional information on the financial reports of partners, ensuring compliance with ILO rules, before submitting to the Finance Unit.
• Classify and assign budget codes, verify and process claims for payment, and check payment vouchers, prices and claims invoices.
• Consult with the CO-Manila Operations Unit and project team on rules, regulations and procedures, and inform project staff, partners, consultants, interns of new or revised procedures and practices.

• Provide administrative and financial backstopping and guidance for project staff and consultants, with respect to payments, entitlements, travel claims and other requirements relating to accounts and finance.
• Prepare recurring reports as scheduled and special reports as required for donor reporting, for budget preparation, audits or other reasons.
• Calculate and compile cost estimates and participate in budget analysis and projects as required.
• Draft correspondence, faxes, memoranda and reports on administrative matters from oral instructions, previous correspondence or other available information sources in accordance with standard office procedures.
• Responsible for all administrative tasks, including logistical support to the project personnel, travel arrangements, visas, hotel reservation, etc. and provide logistics arrangements for conferences, seminars, workshops and meetings.
• Undertake other duties as required.

Completion of secondary school education with training in accounting and/or finance and administrative field.

At least three to four years of progressively responsible financial and administrative work, and some training in administrative field. Familiarity with UN administrative and financial procedures constitutes and advantage.

Excellent command of English, ability to draft report in English. Good knowledge of the local language.

• Knowledge and understanding of a complex body of financial and administrative rules, guidelines and procedures.
• Knowledge of in-house procedures for the preparation of documents and administrative forms, and for the creation and maintenance of filing systems.
• Good analytical skills. Ability to reason and make sound judgments.
• Ability to maintain financial records and prepare clerical accounting reports and statements.
• Must demonstrate responsible behaviour and attention to detail.
• Ability to deal with confidential matters with discretion.
• Must display high standards of ethical conduct.
• Proficient in basic computer software (MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Adobe Reader).

• Ability to evaluate correspondence and inquiries for best course of action.
• Ability to respond to work related inquiries in an appropriate manner.
• Ability to obtain services from other work units inside or outside the office for completion of tasks.
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
• Ability to work on own initiatives as well as a member of a team.
• Organizational skills.
• Ability to clarify information.
• Ability to deal with people with tact and diplomacy.
• Ability to work in multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.