Executive Officer, P-2, Fixed Term, Polio Eradication Programme, New York, USA

Overview

Support the Director of the Polio Eradication Programme in managing operational activities and decision making

You have:

• A university degree in International Relations, Political Science, Public Administration, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of two years of relevant work experience at the national or international levels in public affairs or international development, preferably with emphasis in planning and coordination.
• Strong communication skills (written and verbal).
• Knowledge of public procurement and financial processes, as an asset.
• Keen attention to detail and ability to multitask and deliver high quality work in short timeframes.
• Fluency in English; Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

Contract

This is a P-2 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 2 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 101,253 USD and 137,526 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Health

UNICEF has been one of the four spearheading partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) since 1988. UNICEF takes a lead in the GPEl on supporting countries in ensuring demand for polio vaccine through effective social and behavior change (SBC) initiatives including social mobilization and communication activities and in procuring and supplying polio vaccines to priority countries.

Polio eradication is a corporate priority for UNICEF globally. Although there are only two remaining countries where polio is still endemic, most of the regions are currently responding to polio outbreaks with sometimes several countries/ outbreaks per region which endangers the rest of the regions and the world. Unfortunately, the number and scale of polio outbreaks has continued to exceed expectations. As well, the quality and speed of immunization response activities in most of the key outbreak countries remain sub-optimal to stop transmission and to avoid reseeding the virus.

The final sprint to eradication is complex and requires an intensified refined focus with strong management and excellent technical capacity in place. The GPEI launched the new Polio Eradication Strategy 2022-2026: Delivering on a Promise, with continued focus on the dual emergency facing the polio eradication effort: that the programme must urgently interrupt wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in the endemics and stop circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) transmission in the outbreak countries. The Strategic Plan has also revised the overall GPEI structure in terms of governance, oversight, and accountability.

How can you make a difference?

The Executive Officer is reporting to the Director, Polio Eradication Programme, supporting the oversight and daily operational activities of the Director, including the coordination, management and planning activities in a systematic and organized manner; managing an effective system for incoming information, including correspondence, decision memos and other institutional documents that together constitute an important part of the programme’s archive; and lastly, drafting the Front Office work plans and reports, correspondence and other managerial documents pertaining to the goals of the team.

Key functions and accountabilities include the following:

Support to office priority setting and decision making

• Assist in managing the flow of information to the supervisor, in identifying priority matters that need to be urgently addressed by the supervisor and in proposing actions; analyze supporting documentation and summarize most relevant points for the supervisor; contribute to ensuring that appropriate action is taken by responsible section/division heads on matters brought to the attention of the supervisor.
• Support the smooth running of the daily operations of the Director, Polio Eradication Programme, in close collaboration with the Director’s Office Support Team.
• Support Director’s Office engagement activities, including the planning, coordination and execution of internal and external major meetings and events. Support the preparation of agendas, presentations, briefing notes, and any other material required by the Director.
• Confer with work stream/section/division Heads to secure timely and authoritative information relevant to matters requiring action, decisions or approval of the supervisor.
• Ensure that the supervisor is prepared for meetings and missions by drafting talking points and by researching relevant information; and by establishing contacts (within and outside UNICEF) on the subject matters to be discussed.
• Accompany the supervisor to meetings and on missions in order to prepare notes on the discussions, ensure follow up in matters raised, and support the supervisor with any relevant input.
• Contribute to coordinating drafts of position papers and other documents relevant to the activities of the office.
• Ensure that high-level visitors are appropriately addressed, that they receive background information as necessary, and that protocol is respected.
• Develop and maintain a monitoring system to store, retrieve and track critical correspondence, decisions, memoranda, and other documents of the office.

Support to office planning and operations

• Research, collect and synthesize qualitative and quantitative information and data to support the establishment of comprehensive and evidence-based information for the Front Office.
• Focal point for the coordination and follow up of weekly Polio Management Team meetings, including developing agendas, drafting the minutes, and following up on action points.
• Follow-up on major issues requiring Director/Deputy Director's action, coordinating with staff members and other offices as required. Draft correspondence on a variety of matters on behalf of the Director.
• Act as the Director’s Office knowledge management focal point, and support the rollout of the Director’s Office components of the Programme’s digital workplace.
• Collect, support with drafting and/or organize materials and related documentations for office strategies to ensure optimum impact, scale, and sustainability of achievements/results.
• Assess and/or recommend appropriate information and materials for office initiatives verifying accuracy and quality for dissemination.
• Support the Front Office planning, reporting and oversight activities, including strategic reviews, work planning reviews, quarterly reviews.

Support to events, meetings, and conferences

• Prepares, distributes, and maintains office event calendars ensuring key organizational and partner events, priorities and deadlines are reflected and updated as required.
• Contribute to preparations of logistics for events involving senior management participation. By participating in such meetings, follow up on the implementation of recommendations and actions by the relevant offices.
• Coordinate preparation of background documents and material for these meetings.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• A university degree in one of the following fields: International Relations, Political Science, Public Administration, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of two years of relevant work experience at the national or international levels in public affairs or international development, preferably with emphasis in planning and coordination.
• Prior experience of working in coordination, planning, or in an executive office will be an asset.
• Strong communication skills (written and verbal).
• Knowledge of public procurement and/financial processes, as an asset.
• Keen attention to detail and experience in providing high level executive support to senior leaders and ability to multitask and deliver high quality work in short timeframes.
• Fluency in English. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Potential interview questions