un Procurement and Administration Officer 

The British Council builds connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language. We work in two ways – directly with individuals to transform their lives, and with governments and partners to make a bigger difference for the longer term, creating benefit for millions of people all over the world. We help young people to gain the skills, confidence and connections they are looking for to realise their potential and to participate in strong and inclusive communities. We support them to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications. Our work in arts and culture stimulates creative expression and exchange and nurtures creative enterprise. We connect the best of the UK with the world and the best of the world with the UK. These connections lead to an understanding of each other’s strengths and of the challenges and values that we share. This builds trust between people in the UK and other nations which endures even when official relations may be strained. We work on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2019-20 we connected with 80 million people directly and with 791 million overall, including online and through our broadcasts and publications.

Contract Duration: Fixed term until November 2021
Location: Tunis, Tunisia
Pay Band H/4

Salary: 1654 – 2092 TND/month + medical insurance
Closing date: 2 February 2021

Role Purpose

This role has the overall objective of supporting the Head of administration & compliance and the rest of the core team in the operational planning, management and delivery of the Tfanen project.

The post holder will be expected to provide support in administrative and logistic tasks, office, resources and information management.

The post holder will report to the Head of administration and compliance within Tfanen Team and will work closely as necessary with colleagues in the region/UK/Brussels.

Function Overview

This post will provide administrative support to the finance, procurement and contracts management for Tfanen, a highly successful EU-funded programme currently in its fourth year of delivery with anextension of 5 million EUR until November 2021. The overall objective of the programme is to strengthen the Tunisian Cultural Sector, with long-term ambitions that this will contribute to the consolidation of democracy and social cohesion in Tunisia. This is to be achieved by creating a cultural ecosystem where actors and beneficiaries (citizens – with a particular focus on youth and women & girls, civil society groups, private/public institutions) are involved in, and therefore actively contribute to and ‘own’, culture and development in Tunisia.
Specific Objectives (SOs) of the programme are: 

• Promotion of Tunisian Cultural Diversity and access to culture at local, national and international levels (SO1)
• Supporting freedom of expression and creativity, with a particular focus on youth, and professional development of the Tunisian cultural sector (SO2)

Main Opportunities

• Support the successful implementation of project-related events to ensure that client and British Council requirements and standards are fully met.
• Timely and accurately provide office management support (financial, technical, logistical and operational)
• Regularly monitor project expenditures and ensure that all invoices within the project are timely paid/processed and are collected to assist the Finance and Contracts/Procurement Managers
• Manage purchases according to British Council rules and procedures respecting the British Council threshold (process vendor creation, purchase order and purchase request creation, track orders to ensure timely delivery) and process any other needed relevant administrative document under the supervision of the Head of administration and Compliance and in close cooperation with the project team
• Contact vendors or agency representatives to inquire about existing and new product information, solicit bids, develop requests for quotations and confer with vendors regarding damaged goods, received invoices, delayed payments or related information
• Follow up on Monthly procurement Reports (open Purchase Orders, late good receipt of ordered goods and services, invoices received late)  
• Support the Head of administration and finance in the consistent and effective management of all aspects of project procurement, contract management and finances
• Support the project team in the preparation, coordination and management of contracts with organisations, service providers, consultants, grantees and partners
• Ensure the management and filing of the physical and electronic documentation of the project (hard and soft copies) in line with the required information management principles and ensure sufficiency of audit evidence and documentation by maintaining track of documentation related to supplier bidding & selection process and procurement, under the supervision of the Head of administration & Compliance 
• Supporting long-term and short-term experts/consultants/staff and the Tfanen team in general in all administrative and logistical tasks.
• Collecting and checking monthly timesheets and invoices submitted by consultants and processing of signatures in order to ensure timely payments.
• Establish and organise the necessary information materials required for internal and external meetings. Support the logistics component of event organisation and the documentation of meetings, workshops and seminars, in close collaboration with the Events and Office Manager

• Participate in team meetings, internal and external workshops and assist in their documentation, writing of minutes/ key actions and report to the project manager for the follow-up 
• Assist with the preparation, formatting, editing and issue of procurement, contract and finance documents
• Manage incoming and outgoing mail (mail, e-mail, courier) and arrange its processing according to priorities
• Manage office supplies and equipment, maintain a list of purchase request and regularly update the inventory list, manage office petty cash on request
• Support Maintaining effective relationships with internal partners, EUNIC members and stakeholders, to ensure effective, integrated and joined-up delivery of programme goals in a complex matrix environment. 

Qualification & Experience

• Bachelor Degree in relevant field
• Fluency in English, French and Arabic is essential
• 1 to 3 years of relevant working experience in the field.
• Proven expertise at managing procurement tasks, purchases and expenditures, Basic contract and finance knowledge. 
• Experience in working with international environments and with EU-funded projects 
• Knowledge of the Tunisian cultural/creative sector and experience in civil society

About Us

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.

We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality Statement

The British Council is committed to a policy of equality and to valuing diversity and is keen to reflect the diversity of the societies in which we work at every level within the organisation. We welcome applications from all sections of the community. We aim to abide by and promote equality legislation by following both the letter and the spirit of it to avoid unjustified discrimination, recognising discrimination as a barrier to equality of opportunity, inclusion and human rights. All staff worldwide are required to ensure their behaviour is consistent with our policies. 
The British Council has Disability Confident Employer Status. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role. Applicants are encouraged to highlight any specific requirements or adjustments needed to enable participation in the recruitment process.

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with.

We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989.

Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

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