Assistant to the Executive Director

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The main objective of the WUN office is to improve, on behalf of all WHO, its engagement with the UN system to better position health in the debates and decisions of UN intergovernmental bodies, to anchor health in the global development agenda and contribute to a coherent and effective UN system at global, regional and country levels. The WUN office supports WHO leadership in health-related humanitarian efforts, including as the Health Cluster Lead, and promotes alliances and interagency approaches to address health issues, and promotes Universal Health Coverage agenda. To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, WUN office directly interacts with all key decision making bodies at UN HQ and pertinent political, economic, social, humanitarian and development groups.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

GENERAL

- Oversee and monitor the information flow of the office of the Executive Director, screening, sorting, analysing and identifying areas requiring action by the Executive Director.

- Ensure effective and timely follow up on requests for information, briefings and other actions, emanating from the office of the Executive Director, liaising with units/teams, as appropriate.

- Receive visitors and telephone calls with tact and discretion, and acts according to the nature and urgency of each, including redirecting as appropriate.

- Provide background information for appointments with official visitors and/or staff members.

- Maintain Executive Director's agenda and calendar by scheduling meetings and/or rescheduling owing to disruption by unforeseen events, redirects visitors and callers as necessary.

 

CORRESPONDENCE

- Draft general or administrative correspondence on own initiative or on the basis of instructions; finalize correspondence/reports for signature/clearance.

- Verify that outgoing correspondence is presented in accordance with WHO and department styles and checking language, grammar and accuracy prior to submitting for signature and clearance.

- Analyze incoming correspondence and requests in the light of background material, instructions, policies and precedents, researching, obtaining and attaching background information in anticipation of the responsible officer's needs, or redirecting them as appropriate; identify and highlight incoming documents and attach background information and identify areas requiring action by professional staff, drawing their attention to specific items.

- Ensure that technical reports and documents are in line with WHO standards, rules, practices and procedures, editing and correcting them as necessary prior to their submission for signature or clearance of relevant authority.

- Using appropriate tracking tools, follow-up on and ensure that target dates and deadlines are met, and that correspondence and queries are responded to in a timely manner.

 

HUMAN RESOURCES

- Ensure the timely appointment/renewal of contracts, initiating requests for temporary and fixed-term staff in the HR Action Plan.

 

PROCUREMENT

- Initiate, through Oracle/GSM procurement module, contracts for consultants, Agreements for Performance of Work (APW), Technical Services Agreements (TSA), and General External Services requests (GES). Monitor and record receipt of deliverables, and initiate and monitor payments as needed.

- Initiate, through Oracle/GSM procurement module, requisitions for goods procurement, and monitor and receipt of deliverables.

- Monitor requests for goods and services, including receipt, payment and inventory requirements.

 

BUDGET & FINANCE

-Assist in the monitoring and progress review of projects and tasks in the GSM/Oracle work plan.

-Provide Executive Director and team members with timely information on project and task budget ceilings, award budgets, expenditure, and funds available, as required.

- Monitor income and expenditures for planning purposes.

- Promptly follow-up on financial, budgetary and any outstanding issues concerning the team/department, including ensuring timely processing of committal documents.

 

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

- In close collaboration with other support staff, create and/or maintain filing systems; continual review of filing system to ensure information is up to date and effectively and efficiently used.

- Obtain documents and information from in-house and external sources as required; perform information searches (library, internet) as requested.

- Coordinate compilation of technical documents requested of and provided by professional staff, other Departments or Programmes or ADG to ensure they are logically compiled, formatted and assembled to facilitate the work of the Executive Director.

 

MEETING ADMINISTRATION

- Arrange, coordinate and lead administrative preparation for meetings, seminars, workshops, including letters of invitation, costs calculation and travel requests; assisting with preparation of documents, dispatching of materials and liaising with participants and others involved.

- Prepare presentations using PowerPoint and other software packages on own initiative or on the basis of instructions.

- Schedule weekly team and ad hoc meetings, according to schedules and need; taking and preparation of minutes.

- Obtain briefing and background materials for meetings, seminars, workshops, etc. to be attended by the team's professional staff, checking their availability and ensuring they have the appropriate briefing files and documents.

- Assist in coordinating WHO high level meetings with UN Protocol Department.

 

TRAVEL

- Using GSM/Oracle, prepare travel requests for official WHO travel. Make flight and hotel reservations, prepare travel files and deal with other related matters as requested or on own initiative.

 

OTHER DUTIES

- Perform other related duties as required or instructed, including providing support to other areas of work.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential\: High School Diploma with formal training in the commercial or administrative field.
Desirable\: University Degree in business administration, social sciences or related field.

Experience

Essential\: At least 5 years of relevant experience
Desirable\: Relevant experience in WHO or another UN agency. Experience in Oracle-based or other ERP system.

Skills

The incumbent maintains and updates proficiency in the use of modern office technology through in-house courses, on-the-job training or self-training. He/she keeps abreast of changes in procedures and practices, rules and regulations, organizational structure, in the department, the cluster and WHO, to be able to brief others and explain procedures.

WHO Competencies

Producing results
Communication
Teamwork
Knowing and managing yourself
Moving forward in a changing environment

Use of Language Skills

Essential\: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable\: Intermediate knowledge of French.

REMUNERATION

WHO offers staff in the General Services category an attractive remuneration package, which for the above position includes an annual net base salary starting at USD 45,884 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable) and 30 days of annual leave.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level

• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

• A written test may be used as a form of screening.

• In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link\: http\://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.

• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.

• For information on WHO's operations please visit\: http\://www.who.int.

• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.

• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

• This post is subject to local recruitment and will be filled by persons recruited in the local commuting area of the duty station.