Technical Officer

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The Director-General's Office (DGO) provides support to the Director-General in directing the work of the Organization within the framework of WHO's Constitution, so as to maximize the Organization-wide contribution to the work of Member States in achieving significant gains in health status, and progressively realizing the objective of the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

• Direct support to Director-General:
  • Provide technical and logistical support to the Director-General where necessary, including supporting the Director-General in his/her attendance at internal and external meetings and during duty travel;
  • Preparation of Director-General briefings: Working with WHO technical departments across the Organization as well as liaising with external counterparts, consolidate and synthesize, and if necessary draft coherent, strategic and quality Director-General briefing notes addressing critical issues and aligned across the Organization, for the Director-General's participation in meetings and events, and for his/her travel;
  • Support updating of Director-General's OneDrive: Ensure advance readiness of relevant briefings, background papers and speeches in the Director-General's OneDrive for Director-General`s meetings and events;
  • Attend and support Director-General's meetings: Upon request and working with the Office of the Director-General, attend Director-General's meetings and engagements to provide logistical support, document main deliberations and recommendations and action items, prepare notes for the record and rapidly disseminate the notes for the record to relevant individuals and units;
• Support to DGO meetings:
  • Working with the Office of the Chef de Cabinet, provide secretariat support to DGO executive-level meetings and other senior management bodies convened by the Director-General, including meetings of the Global Policy Group, Executive Management Group, HQ Directors, Accountability Functions Directors and other senior level meetings;
• Meetings external to DGO:
  • Working with responsible technical units external to DGO and other DGO team members, facilitate the participation of the Director-General in other WHO and external meetings to which he/she is invited including ensuring the quality of background documents and presentations;
  • Share action points: Identify/disseminate action items from Director-General's meetings and engagements and DGO executive level meetings to the responsible person(s) and units for follow-up;
  • Follow-up on actions points: Monitor and review implementation progress of the action items and provide periodic reporting on progress in implementation to the Director-General and senior DGO management;
• DGO action tracker data base: Contribute to the maintenance and regular updating of the DGO tracking and implementation database to manage and follow-up on all recommendations and action points emerging from relevant DGO executive meetings, including working with relevant technical units to ensure the timely implementation and reporting back on decisions and action points;
• DGO document preparation: Contribute to the organization, coordination, preparation, and content generation when required, of relevant policy papers, background documents, analyses and research, draft reports and letters and briefing notes, presentations and other materials in DGO;
• Communication: Contribute to effective information exchange with internal and external partners, working closely with other DGO team members to identify and develop potential opportunities for improving office operations;
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: Advanced university degree (Master's level or above) in public health, law, international affairs, business administration / management, or in another relevant scientific, management or policy-related field.
Desirable: An additional advanced degree in another relevant scientific, management or policy-related field related field.

Experience

Essential: At least 7 years of relevant professional experience, including at least 3 years working at an international level.
Desirable: Experience working in a United Nations or multilateral agency and/or international health management consultancy. Experience in the development and use of office management systems including action tracking data bases.

Skills

Demonstrated ability to plan and think strategically. Strong expertise in policy analysis and research. Concrete skills in project management and work planning. Excellent written and oral skills, including in policy and technical writing and preparation of presentations utilizing Enterprise Resource Planning Oracle systems or similar packages. Strong skills in the area of quality assurance and quality improvement. Strong skills in building partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders and to deliver results through collaboration, diplomacy and negotiation. Abilityto anticipate risks and problems and take preventive and remedial action as required. Proven ability to lead and deliver on deadlines during periods of intense stress and activity and demonstrated ability to provide independent leadership in such periods with capacity to organize, monitor and synthesize information quickly and concisely. Ability to work independently and as a member of a team, adapt to diverse educational and cultural backgrounds and maintain a high standard of personal conduct.

WHO Competencies

Teamwork
Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
Communication
Producing results
Knowing and managing yourself

Use of Language Skills

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

REMUNERATION

WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 74,913 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 5194 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children.

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.

• Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.

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

• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.

• WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.

• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.

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

• WHO has a mobility policy which can be found at the following link: http://www.who.int/employment/en/. Candidates appointed to an international post with WHO are subject to mobility and may be assigned to any activity or duty station of the Organization throughout the world.

• Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.