Personal Assistant to the High Representative

The UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) launched by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and co-sponsored by the Governments of Spain and Turkey, responds to a broad consensus across nations, cultures and religions that all societies are interdependent, bound together in their development and security. The Alliance seeks to forge collective political will and to mobilize concerted action at the institutional and civil society levels to overcome the prejudice, misperceptions and polarization that militate against such a consensus. The Alliance hopes to contribute to a coalescing global movement which, reflecting the will of the vast majority of people, rejects extremism in any society.

The UNAOC is funded by multiple donors and benefits from the executive support by the UNOPS. The Office of the High Representative requires a Personal Assistant to the High Representativeto provide direct support to the UNAOC High Representative and to his personal advisers.

As delegated by the Director of the UNAOC, the person will work closely with the UNAOC High Representative. He/She will perform the following tasks:

Managing correspondence:

• Receiving general calls and correspondence, responding/forwarding as appropriate;
• Placing and receiving calls for the UNAOC High Representative and personal advisers; 
• Drafting/editing, sending and or faxing correspondence for UNAOC High Representative and his personal advisers;

Arranging calendars/meetings:

• Coordinate requests for meetings with the UNAOC’s High Representative and personal advisers; 
• Arranging hospitality and documents for international/bilateral meetings as requested;
• Making reservations for accommodation and preparing travel itineraries for High Representative and his personal advisers;

Ensure duly filing and tracking in the office:

• Keeping all contact directories updated, including GoF, letters, etc; 
• Keeping all documentation related to Executive office duly filed

• At least high school diploma is required; A Bachelor's degree may substituted 4 years of required experience.

• At least 5 years of experience in administrative support in particular to high level officials;
• Strong communications skills (both spoken and written);
• Excellent writing skills;
• Excellent IT skills and knowledge of basic MS office applications;
• Excellent knowledge of protocol procedures.

UNOPS supports the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to serve people in need by expanding the ability of the United Nations, governments and other partners to manage projects, infrastructure and procurement in a sustainable and efficient manner.

Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, our vision is to advance sustainable implementation practices, always satisfying or surpassing our partners’ expectations.

With over 7,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical and management knowledge they need, wherever they need it.

A flexible structure and global reach means that we can quickly respond to our partners' needs, while offering the benefits of economies of scale. 

Based in Geneva, the Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECR) supports UNOPS offices throughout the region through: management, financial and programmatic oversight of global and country-specific portfolios, clusters and operations centres, including hosting services; fund and management advisory services; project implementation; procuring goods and services; and managing human resources.

ECR ensures that projects are executed to the highest standards, providing a shared knowledge base and ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are disseminated between business units and projects across the entire region.

ECR strategy is to:

• Strengthen UNOPS role in operationalizing the Sustainable Development Goals with particular emphasis on health, environment and economic development.
• Position UNOPS in the Balkan sub-region, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
• Strengthen the implementation of ECR global and regional programmes, with revitalized partnerships in infrastructure, procurement and project management.

ECR operates global portfolios from offices in Geneva, Brussels and New York, and country-specific programmes from its operations and project centres located in Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries.

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  
• Work life harmonization: UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types.

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns. Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.