International Union for Conservative of Nature (IUCN) Job Vacancies

IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network - a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries.

IUCN helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. It supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world and brings governments, non-government organizations, United Nations agencies, companies and local communities together to develop and implement policy, laws and best practice.

The Komadugu Yobe Basin (KYB) Project for improving Land and water Resources Management in the Lake Chad Basin and the Niger Central Basin in Nigeria is a collaborative one between International Union for Conservative of Nature (IUCN) through its Regional office for Central and West Africa (PACO) and the Federal Government of Nigeria through Nigeria’s Federal Ministry responsible for water resources and working through the Nigeria Integerated Water Resources Management Commission. The Project office is located in Kano (in Kano State, Nigeria), with possible relocation to Minna (in Niger State, Nigeria).

Vacancies currently exist for the following positions:

Position 1: Financial Administrator

Working under the direct supervision of the Project Coordinator, the Financial Administrator will report to IUCN-PACO’s Regional Administrative and Finance Manager. The incumbent main responsibilities are as follows:

i.            Elaborate and set up appropriate procedures and systems to ensure an efficient financial control that adhere to IUCN policies and rules;

ii.            Prepare financial plans, budget, cash flow and financial analysis; consolidate monthly financial reports to be submitted to the IUCN Regional Office (IUCN – PACO);

iii.            Coordinate the Project annual budget preparations.

iv.            Prepare Project staff salaries and project procurements;

v.            Ensure that spending trend is inline with the budget lines;

vi.            In collaboration with the IUCN-PACO, ensure that the obligation of financial reporting toward the donors is fulfilled.

vii.            Ensure that the project financial adhere to the term of the contract with the donors and accounting records;

viii.            Ensure a good cash-flow follow up by tracking receipt against spending; and

ix.            Provide coaching, training and assistance to administrative and accounting staff reporting to him / her.

The candidate must meet the following qualifications to a large extent:

o   Proficiency in English or French and a good working knowledge of the other

o   Bachelor degree in Accounting, Business Administration, Commerce or Finance with a recognized professional certificate in accounting.

o   Minimum of three (3) years of accounting experience and one (1) year direct supervisory experience.

o   Experience with computers and financial related software (e.g spreadsheets, accounting packages).

o   Finance administration and management experience

o   Good oral and written communication skills

o   Willing to travel frequently in basin.



Position 2: Administrative Assistant

Working under the direct supervision of the Project Coordinator, the Administrative Assistant will be responsible for insuring for day-to-day maintenance of the office. Hired under the project-contract, he/she must be a person with extensive experience in secretariat activities and general office management and computer literate. The team he/she will be supervising will be composed of drivers and other support staff. The incumbent main responsibilities are as follows:

i.            Drafting of correspondences and any other administrative document required as part of the project work

ii.            Ensuring the recording, filling and dispatching  of incoming and outgoing mails

iii.            Serving as contact persons for information requests from Project partners

iv.            Preparing purchase requests of the project

v.            Assist the Project Coordinator and the Project Management Unit in the organization of workshops, exchange visits to Project sites, seminars etc.

vi.            When deem necessary, serve as interpreter and assist n the translation of documents from Hausa (and other local language in Nigeria) into English and vice versa;

vii.            Assist the Project Coordinator in the management of the personnel of the project Management Unit, and assume the direct supervision of the Project support staff; and

viii.            Perform other duties to be assigned by the Project Coordinator.

The candidate must meet the following qualifications to a large extent:

o   Higher level education in administration / secretarial or any other relevant field

o   Have good command of English (and knowledge of the local language of the Project area would be an added advantage)

o   Have a minimum of three (3) years work experience as Administrative Assistant or Executive Assistant preferably with Public Service, Non-Governmental Organization or International Organization.

o   Be Computer literate with proven knowledge of software (such as word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail and internet)

Interested candidates for any two positions should send their curriculum vitae together with motivation letters which must specifically address the Selection Criteria / Requirements in the order presented above. In addition, applicants should provide the names and contact details of three referees, including one recent employer.

Applications should be submitted preferably by email, No later than Wednesday, December 28, 2010, to:

Human Resources

IUCN – Regional Office for Central and West Africa

Email: jobs.paco@iucn.org, Daniel.yawson@iucn.org

IUCN is an equal opportunities employer