Administrative Specialist, Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for Aral Sea Basin (CAMP4ASB) project

The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC)

announces a vacancy for the following position: 

Background:

On November 3, 2015, the World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved an allocation of US$38 million from the International Development Association (IDA) to finance the first phase of the CAMP4ASB regional program. This approved financing includes US$9 million for Tajikistan, US$14 million for Uzbekistan, and US$15 million for regional activities to be implemented by the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (EC-IFAS) with support from the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC) for day-to-day regional coordination and implementation.

The Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for Aral Sea Basin (CAMP4ASB) aims to enhance regionally coordinated access to improved climate change knowledge services for key stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, communities, and civil society) in participating Central Asian countries as well as to increased investments and capacity building that, combined, will address climate challenges common to these countries. CAMP4ASB[1] is comprised of three components as follows:

CAREC as the RCU will provide general Program oversight, oversee implementation of activities implemented at the regional level (including liaising regularly with the NCUs to seek inputs and facilitate consensus on proposed regional activities as well as to receive feedback on their implementation), provide as needed technical support/guidance to the NCUs, review bi-annually a sample of national climate investments to ensure their consistency with guiding investment priorities set by the Regional Steering Committee, organize reviews with country TWG members to assess lessons learned from investments, and ensure lessons and results from Program activities are systematically disseminated to support participating country planning processes. The RCU will also oversee, together with the NCUs, the Program’s Feedback/Grievance Redress Mechanism. The RCU will support arrangements for the Regional Steering Committee meetings.

Objectives of the Assignment:

The Administrative Specialist is expected to carry out a full range of administrative support and logistics work. He/she will report to the RCU Coordinator. He/She should be a results-oriented team player who is adaptable to changing business needs and capable of contributing to the Unit’s effectiveness and success. In addition, he/she should be dynamic and resourceful with excellent organizational skills and have a proactive approach and strong attention to details.

Scope of Work:

In his/her activity the Administrative Specialist shall be guided by the Project Operational Manual (POM) and current legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. He/she will be responsible for providing operational support to the RCU in the following activities:

1.      Draft project correspondence, including invitations, letters requests for clearances, and related reports, etc;

2.      Track assigned task/project steps/timetables, coordinate with relevant staff and provide assistance and/or information on project-related matters;

3.      Solve non-routine problems (e.g., responds to requests requiring file search, etc.);

4.      Carry out organizational issues on reservation and acquisition of tickets and others; Securing visa support, arrangement of transport and accommodation in a hotel and etc. during the visits of foreign experts as well as RCU;

5.      Process RCU requests for payments to individual consultants and firms, as well as travel arrangements and submission of the project state of expenses;

6.      Maintain proper filing of the project documents (hard/soft copies);

7.      Organize and support conferences, meetings, workshops and videoconferences; including preparation of handouts and material for conferences/seminars/BBLs/VCs being organized by the RCU unit;

8.      Secure regular record keeping on use of the office vehicle/taxi by RCU;

9.      Undertake ad hoc inquiries in standard and non-standard databases, retrieve and present data;

10. Preparation of unofficial translations and as required, acting as an interpreter;

11. Perform other ad-hoc duties as requested by the RCU Coordinator.

Assignment Duration

Administrative Specialist is expected to begin the assignment once the CAMP4ASB Program enters in its effectiveness phase, on a full-time basis. The assignment will be initially for a period of 1 year. The decision on extension of the contract will be made by the RCU Coordinator in agreement with the Bank.

Reporting

Administrative Specialist will report directly to the RCU Coordinator who has an overall responsibility for Grants Management. The Administrative Specialist is expected to work closely with the CAREC Finance Management Unit, HR and Legal Specialists and other implementation staff and contracted specialists needed.

Assignment Location

The Specialist shall be based in Almaty, Kazakhstan at the CAREC office with some travel to the Program sites.

Client’s input

CAREC will provide the following:

Program documents and Work space with access to office technology facilities.

Qualifications

·         Bachelor degree in any discipline (in the field of accounting, financial management or business administration, or other relevant academic discipline on environment, natural resource management, international relations);

·         At least 3 years of work experience in administrative and financial support of office operating within international or foreign projects or organizations;

·         Knowledge of CAREC rules on payments and administrative management, including logistics and procurement;

·         Excellent organizational, communication skills at all levels, especially report writing skills and email communications;

·         Strong computer skills: MS Word, MS Excel, Email, and Internet;

·         Fluent Russian (verbal and written). Good knowledge of English (written and spoken) is an advantage;

·         Ability to work in a team; and

·         Willingness to travel as needed to project sites (sometimes remote).

NOTE: Only short listed candidates will be contacted.

[1] For more details about the project and description of all components and subcomponents please, refer to the CAMP4ASB Project Appraisal Document (PAD) at http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2015/10/20/090224b083157ebd/2_0/Rendered/PDF/Central0Asia000l0Sea0Basin0Project0.pdf