Administration Assistant

Contract

This is a G-7 contract. This kind of contract is known as General Service and related categories. It is normally only for nationals. It usually requires 7 years of experience, depending on education. More about G-7 contracts.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The Regional Director's Office (RDO) supports the Regional Director in the efficient delivery of her mandate and in the provision of leadership and vision for the organization. The Office co-ordinates the RD's regular liaison and collaboration with countries, the UN system, development partners, donors and other stakeholders. It is also responsible for gathering and synthesizing relevant policy-related information for RD's decisions. The RDO provides input into policy issues referred to the RD and is intricately linked with the various Clusters within AFRO, WHO Country Offices (WCOs) and Inter-Country Support Teams (ISTs), giving leadership and policy guidance to their work.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Under the general supervision of the Regional Director and the supervision of the AO/RDO, the incumbent provides administrative and secretarial support to the Regional Director's office as follows:Oversee and monitor the information flow of the office of RDO, screening, sorting,analyzing and identifying areas requiring action by the Regional Director:- Ensure effective and timely follow up on requests for information, briefings and other actions, emanating from the office of the Regional 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 the Regional Director-'s agenda and calendar by scheduling meetings and/or rescheduling owing to disruption by unforeseen events, redirects visitors and callers as necessary,- Disseminate information on administrative procedures to GS staff in the team/department and assist staff of in adhering to WHO administrative procedures,- Monitor requests for goods and services, including receipt, payment and inventory requirements,- Coordinate and monitor office space requirements in liaison with relevant units as required.CORRESPONDANCE- 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- Monitor leave and attendance records, as required.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 Clusters or Programmes to ensure they are logically compiled, formatted and assembled to facilitate the work of the Regional Directtor.MEETING ADMINISTRATION- Arrange, coordinate and lead administrative preparation for meetings, seminars, workshops, including: preparing event plans in GSM/Oracle, letters of invitation, cost estimates 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 team/departmental meetings, according to schedules and need; taking minutes and following up on action points to ensure timely response to the requests of the Director 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.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: Completion of secondary school education; or its equivalent in technical or commercial education. Desirable: Training in Secretarial tasks and/or in an administration field is desirable. University degree inbusiness or public administration, or management studies will be an asset.

Experience

Essential: Ten (10) years of work experience in secretarial/administrative assistant positions ina recognized public or private institution. Desirable: Some experience with WHO or other UN agencies would be an asset

Skills

Thorough knowledge of secretarial skills including proven typing ability; Excellent interpersonal relationship and ability to deal with staff at all levels. Knowledge of protocol.Awareness of WHO rules and regulations, policies and procedures. Tact, discretion and ability to keep information confidential are essential.

WHO Competencies

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

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English. Intermediate knowledge of French. Desirable: The above language requirements are interchangeable.

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 XAF 14,437,000 (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.

• 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's workforce adheres to the WHO Values Charter and is committed to put the WHO Values into practice.

• 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.