Programme Assistant - PCREEE

The Pacific Community (SPC) invites applications for the position of Programme Assistant – Pacific Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in the Geoscience Energy and Maritime Division, located in Tonga.

The Pacific Community (SPC) is the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, supporting development since 1947. We are an international development organisation owned and governed by our 26 country and territory members. In pursuit of sustainable development to benefit Pacific people, our organisation works across more than 20 sectors. We are known for our knowledge and innovation in such areas as fisheries science, public health surveillance, geoscience, and conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

The Geoscience Energy and Maritime Division provides advice, technical assistance, research and training support to Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs). There are three (3) areas of scientific programming and two areas of focus within this division:

1. Oceans and Maritime – Driving growth in blue economies through well-informed and inclusive action from integrated solutions for ocean and coastal management and maritime and transport.
2. Geo-resources and Energy – Strengthening the management of the Earth’s non-living resources through responsible harnessing of mineral resources, including metalliferous and development minerals, and clean and renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, and geothermal for sustainable development.
3. Disaster and Climate Resilience – Improving resilience and sustainability through the management of disaster risk and assessment of hazards. This includes building resilience through wider support for climate change, disaster risk management (DRM) initiatives, and water and sanitation initiatives. Ridge to Reef is a stand-alone programme that pulls expertise from the three scientific areas and is located within Disaster and Climate Resilience.

The other two focus areas within this division are Programming and Operations, which is responsible for driving integrated programming excellence and operational support across the division, and Geo-informatics, which is responsible for providing diverse, integrated, and unique and demand driven services across SPC work programmes, projects and countries. This includes developing, managing, building on and retaining or preserving spatial data and information for the benefit of all scientific areas.

The role – The Pacific Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency has been operational in Tonga in the last 2 years. It has now completed its Preparatory Phase and has entered its first Operational Phase. In line with the need to accelerate the implementation of the PCREEE’s work programme and budget, there is a need to strengthen its administration and finance reporting capacity to cope with the increasing number of staff and activities of the PCREEE.

The Programme Assistant will assist in all the Administration, Finance and Secretarial works of the centre and work alongside a PCREEE team comprising the Manager, a Programme Delivery Officer, an Energy Efficiency Officer, an Energy Planning and Policy Officer, a Sustainable Energy Entrepreneurship Mentoring and Support Officer, volunteers and interns. The Programme Assistant will report directly to the Manager - PCREEE.

The key responsibilities of the role include the following:

1. Office Management

• Put in place a safe and accurate record keeping system for the PCREEE, including keeping a registry of all assets purchased and kept;
• Organize meetings, trainings and the PCREEE Steering Committee meetings while ensuring logistics are in place for these events;
• Prepare travels of the PCREEE team and those of others sponsored and covered by the SPC and PCREEE;
• Prepare invoices, payment vouchers and perform the bank reconciliation and financial reporting of the PCREEE.

2. Data Entry  

• Conduct the entry of PCREEE-specific data and info into the Pacific Regional Data Repository, IRIS and similar database for the PCREEE.

3. Communication

• Act as the receptionist and first point of contact for visitors and callers to the PCREEE;
• Note taking in PCREEE meetings;
• Participate in the general implementation of the annual work programme of the PCREEE.

4. Monitoring and Evaluation

• Assist with the reconciliation of the PCREEE staff travels;
• Provide technical assistance to recipients of PCREEE assistance on how to effectively and efficiently meet their reporting requirements;
• Assist in the organisation and facilitation of M&E activities of the PCREEE.

For a more detailed account of the key responsibilities, please refer to the attached job description.

1. Qualifications

• A relevant certificate or diploma qualifications in office management, secretarial works or a related discipline. 

2. Technical Expertise

• At least three years of experience in an office performing functions in the capacity of responsibilities outlined above;
• Demonstrated organisational skills with ability to prioritise workload and complete work under strict deadlines;
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively without constant supervision;
• Demonstrated ability to successfully organise and assist with administrative functions and logistics of training courses, workshops, seminars and meetings;
• Experience with computing environment used in SPC including Windows XP/Vista/7 workstation platforms and Microsoft Office 2007 applications.

3. Language skills

• Proficiency in spoken and written English.

4. Interpersonal skills and cultural awareness

• Possess good oral and written communication, organizational / administrative, data analysis and reporting skills;
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and flexibly, as well as being part of a team.
• Experience with working in the Pacific Islands region;

Required start date – As soon as possible.

Contract duration – Three years depending on availability of funding.

Remuneration – The Programme Assistant - PCREE is a Band 6 position in SPC’s 2019 salary scale, with a salary range of 1,435 – 1,794 TOP (Pa’anga) per month. An offer of appointment for an initial contract will be made in the lower half of this range, with due consideration being given to experience and qualifications. Progression within the salary scale will be based on annual performance reviews.

Benefits – SPC provides medical and life insurance for eligible employees and their recognised dependents. Employees are entitled to 25 days of annual leave and 30 days of sick leave per annum, and access to SPC’s Provident Fund (contributing 8% of salary, to which SPC adds a matching contribution). Tonga nationals employed by SPC in Tonga will be subject to income tax.

Languages – SPC’s working languages are English and French.

Equal opportunity – SPC is an equal opportunity employer. Recruitment is based entirely on merit; in cases where two short-listed candidates are judged to be of equal rank by the selection committee, preference will be given to Pacific Island nationals.

Child protection – SPC is committed to child protection, irrespective of whether any specific area of work involves direct contact with children. SPC’s Child Protection Policy is written in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Police clearance – Successful candidates will be required to provide a police clearance certificate.

Please note that applicants must be Tonga Nationals currently residing in the country, or hold the proper work permit for salaried employment in Tonga.

Closing date: 15 September 2019

Job Reference: AL000219

Applicants must apply online at http://careers.spc.int/

Hard copies of applications will not be accepted.

For your application to be considered, you must provide us with:

• an updated resume with contact details for three professional referees;
• a cover letter detailing your skills, experience and interest in this position;
• responses to all screening questions.

Please ensure your documents are in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format.

All positions at SPC have specific screening questions. If you do not respond to all of the screening questions, your application will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed at shortlisting stage.

Screening questions

1. Please describe your experience working in a national or regional office.
2. Tell us about a procurement policy you are familiar with.
3. Have you arranged travels for a meeting or workshop? What would a PA normally do?  

Visit SPC's link here for more details