Premises Officer

Switzerland through its development cooperation has been engaged in Nepal since 1959. With the establishment of its Embassy in Nepal in August 2009, Switzerland’s cooperation with Nepal continues to focus on federal state building, employment and income as well as migration. Switzerland is committed to support Nepal’s socio-economic development and federal state building at national, provincial and local level.

We are looking for qualified Nepali Nationals for 4 years fixed term contract with possibility of extension for the following positions:

Premises Officer

The candidate should have Bachelor’s Degree in Civil or Electrical Engineering or Management or equivalent qualification; at least 5 years of work experience in office premises and facility management and/or in hotel management.

Detailed job description is available here (PDF, 4 Pages, 360.3 kB).

Prepared on / by: August 2023 FAVDE
Function: Premises Officer Assessment of Function:
Assessment by: FAVDE/SHEWA
Organisational Order of: Embassy of Switzerland in Nepal
Direct Function of the Superior: Senior Finance Manager/Deputy Head of Personnel and Administration
Employment Level: 100%

Requirements

Expert Competence

• Bachelor’s Degree in Civil or Electrical Engineering or Management or equivalent qualification
• At least 5 years of work experience in office premises and facility management and/or in hotel management
• Proven experience in leading projects and negotiations
• Team management experience is an added advantage
• Knowledge of eco- friendly practices and technologies
• Ability to stay updated of new technologies and solutions
• Knowledge of health and safety related to premises
• Knowledge of soft-services relating to the aesthetics of the office environment and immediate reporting faults/issues (cleaning / maintenance / redecorations etc.)
• Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with colleagues, contractors and other stakeholders
• Ability to network
• Knowledge of cleaning products, applications, procedures and equipment
• Good knowledge and skill on computer application Microsoft Word and Excel
• Good spoken and written English

Leadership Competence

• Team Management skills
• Furthering employees
• Task delegation

Methodical Qualification/Competence

• Analytical skills
• Forward thinking skills
• Conceptual skills

Social Qualification/Competence

• Communication skills
• Intercultural skills
• Ability to deal with conflict
• Forward looking, anticipating, proactively proposing solutions
• Takes responsibility for assigned tasks, independently shapes own sphere of activity, and takes responsibility even under uncertain circumstances
• Able and ready to set objectives, orient actions towards achieving results, make decisions with prudence and foresight
• Able to remain professional under stress
• Strong self-reflection: actively analyse self-image, reflects on one’s own strengths and weaknesses
• Able to demonstrate flexibility in thinking and innovative solutions
• Customer orientation
• Ability to work in a team

Interface with:
All Embassy Staff, Counterparts in Bern (HQ) and external parties (contractors and vendors)

Work in serial order of its implication 

Purpose of job
As a member of the Administration Team of the Embassy of Switzerland, the Premises Officer directly reports to the Senior Finance Manager/Deputy Head of Personnel and Administration and is responsible for managing the official premises including the Ambassador’s residence, utility services fuel pump, Embassy cafeteria, and support team mobilisation. The Premises Officer assigns tasks to the cleaning team, gardener, general assistant and cafeteria consultants and mobilise them as required in consultation with Senior Finance Manager/Deputy Head of Personnel and Administration.

The Premises Officer supports Senior Finance Manager/Deputy Head of Personnel and Administration to supervise and ensure result-oriented service delivery from her/his team, provides timely orientation and training on Embassy values and principles/code of conduct, regularly coaches and motivates respect and team work. She/he supports Senior Finance Manager/Deputy Head of Personnel and Administration to organise yearly performance evaluation process effectively and uses this consultation/engagement platform to help set up clear team and individual objectives, ensures equal and fair assessment and growth, and a highly motivated service team.

%: 100%
Kind of completion: Independently

Task and competences
Management of premises and local procurement

• Responsible for the quality of renovations and construction activities in the Embassy and Residence
• Responsible for day-to-day management and maintenance of the official buildings and its premises in an eco-friendly way
• Responsible to look for innovative products, tools and methods to constantly improve the eco-friendly premises management
• Maintain clean, safe, and functional working environment, including clean restrooms and common areas
• Support to establish and assign clear roles and duties to office cleaners, gardener, residence staff and general assistant
• Responsible for coordinating the administrative process with external parties (contractor, consultants) for repair / maintenance of premises including Ambassador’s residence and for new construction project including day to day monitoring and follow-up
• Responsible for the FOBL_Annual building management
• Support the CFPA in coordinating with BBL for the contract management for construction projects and major maintenance work
• Prepare and submit yearly budget to BBL for the Embassy and the Residence
• Support to organise an effective relief arrangement so that absences of individual member(s) do not affect overall service delivery
• Support to plan and manage effective duty schedules of support team
• Prepare monthly over-time of support team
• Responsible for regular water plant checks at the Embassy and the residence and purchase of water filters.
• Responsible for procurement of locally available goods and services related to office premises (e.g. furniture/furnishing, cleaning agents and stationaries)
• Purchase of stationery for day-to-day office use from local market as well as from Head office through Webshop
• Work closely with the Security Manager to timely replenish and update crisis stock (consumables and materials) both for Kathmandu and Biratnagar based crisis cell.
• Responsible to read and understand product manuals and guide the users

%: 50%
Kind of Completion: Independently and in consultation with the line manager In consultation Ambassador for Residence staff

Management of fuel pump

• Responsible for day-to-day management of fuel pump
• Mobilise fuel attendant and ensure daily fuel supply to Embassy and Swiss-funded project vehicles
• Ensure safety and security of the fuel pump

%: 10%
Kind of completion: Independent/In collaboration with Senior Finance Manager

Office utilities, office inventory, office supplies and equipment

• Manage utility services and payments for office and Ambassador’s Residence (supply of electricity including Generator, telecommunication, and drinking water)
• Support Senior Finance Manager/Deputy Head of Personnel and Administration assign team members for the maintenance/servicing of office equipment in coordination with the IT Administrator
• Implement regular logistical checks on the Embassy’s premises to ensure a constant and up to date equipment management
• Implement und keep track of a monitoring system for items borrowed from Embassy
• Responsible to manage the office and residence inventory in EDA Inventory in close coordination with IT and Data Manager. Update all new and disposed furniture and equipment in EDA Inventory.
• Responsible to manage the key inventory of the Chancery building and Consular building in EDA Inventory in close co-ordination with the IT and Data Manager
• Monitoring the stationary stock and requesting stationary supplies

%: 10%
Kind of Completion: Independently

Management of Embassy cafeteria

• Responsible for overall management of the Embassy cafeteria
• Ensure that hygiene measures are followed at all times in the kitchen
• Implement regular hygiene check-ups from external service provider
• Support Senior Finance Manager/Deputy Head of Personnel and Administration to ensure adequate availability of human resources during official events
• Maintain an up to date kitchen inventory and timely replenishment
• Manage overtime of cafeteria consultants

%: 10%
Kind of completion: Independently/In consultation with the line manager

Event Management

•  Organise the logistics of formal and informal receptions, workshop/seminars and team events.
• Coordinate with the Secretariate for preparation of invitation and invitee list using EDA Contacts)

%: 10%
Kind of completion: Independently/In consultation with the admin team

Team Management

• Support the line manager to coach and motivate line managed team in maintaining a customer oriented, effective, and efficient service delivery and team work
• Support to manage conflicts and keep the team motivated towards common objectives
• Support to organise team meetings based on a clear agenda and promote open culture of consultation/inclusive participation
• Support to identify and ensure appropriate capacity enhancement initiatives for individual members as well as team’s growth

%: 10%
Kind of Completion: Independently/In consultation with the line manager

Other tasks

• Act as a relief for hospitality and ticketing
• Other tasks can be assigned by the Management

Application/Motivation letter in English with immediate contact address and a telephone number; an updated bio-data; copies of citizenship certificate and academic credentials; and reference from former employer(s) through a single email as pdf attachment (please do not provide a link to google drive or any other cloud server) at kathmandu.application@eda.admin.ch. Please clearly mark “Premises Officer” as the subject of the email and should reach latest by 17:00 hrs on 6 September respectively.

The Embassy shall not reply to any comments made on the linkedIn platform. The Embassy shall process only complete files and reserves the right to reject any or all applications without assigning any reason. Only shortlisted candidates shall be contacted through email.

The Embassy of Switzerland in Nepal promotes workforce diversity and applies positive discrimination to candidates from discriminated groups (women and candidates from Dalit, Janajati, Madhesi/Terai, and other minority community).

Tagged as: Embassy of Switzerland, Officer